Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin meant to say he planned to “educate” his team’s younger players about the franchise’s long-simmering — and largely one-sided — rivalry with New England.

Only, Tomlin didn’t use “educate.” At least, not at first, instead letting forth a Freudian slip that perhaps more accurately describes how the Steelers feel about their longtime nemesis.

“I am going to agitate our guys,” Tomlin said before correcting himself.

No need. Tom Brady has been agitating the Steelers for a decade.

The Patriots quarterback has spent the last 10 years shredding one of the NFL’s proudest defenses, beating Pittsburgh six times in seven meetings heading into today’s showdown at Heinz Field that could be a preview of the AFC Championship Game.

New England (5-1) is rested after an open week. The Steelers (5-2) are surging after a sluggish start.

Yet it doesn’t seem to matter how Pittsburgh is playing when the Patriots come to town. Good teams. OK teams. Rebuilding teams. All of them lose to Brady.

Pittsburgh’s only victory over New England with Brady under center came in 2004 when the Steelers ended the Patriots’ NFL record 21-game winning streak.

No biggie. The Patriots returned to Heinz Field three months later and won the AFC Championship Game en route to a second straight Super Bowl title.

Running backs change. Wide receivers change. Linemen change. Coordinators change. Brady’s mastery over the Steelers does not.

The two-time MVP’s secret is no secret to the Steelers. He takes care of the ball — he’s thrown three interceptions in 255 career attempts against the Steelers — and he doesn’t back down.

“We’ve got to minimize our miscues and be physical and play our game,” Pittsburgh nose tackle Casey Hampton said. “I think a lot of people get involved with trying to do too much against them, instead of just doing what you do. So, you have to do what you do and do it well.”

The Steelers will probably have to do it better than that to slow down the NFL’s top offense, a unit led by the former sixth-round pick whose greatest moments in his Hall-of-Fame career have come Pittsburgh’s expense.

Brady was still finding his footing after replacing injured Drew Bledsoe in 2001 when he helped the Patriots to an upset victory over the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game. He threw for just 115 yards in that first meeting before leaving with an ankle injury.

Most times against the Steelers, he has that number by the half.

He’s won four straight against Pittsburgh, averaging 332 yards passing in the process, including a 350-yard, three-touchdown performance in a 39-26 victory here last year.

“I tell you that the times we’ve beaten them, we’ve had to play very, very, very good games, and we have,” Brady said. “I think that’s probably what I am most proud of. Some of our greatest games that we’ve ever played have been against them and that’s just the level of execution.”

Something that rarely changes regardless of who surrounds Brady in the huddle.

“There are certain plays in our offense that I’ve literally run thousands of times,” Brady said. “You make a lot of mistakes over the course of those plays and you learn from them and hopefully you don’t make them again.”

He rarely makes them against the Steelers, who stress they respect Brady but they don’t fear him.

“You can’t go into a game and put the other team on a pedestal or you’re going to play them different or anything like that,” Hampton said. “Who cares? You’ve just got to go out there and play. Sure, they’re a good team, but we’re a good team, too.”

One that finally seems to be rounding into form.

The Steelers have won three straight games to climb into first in the tight AFC North. A rematch with Baltimore — who whipped Pittsburgh 35-7 in the season-opener — looms next week.

It might as well be next year.

“If you’re in this locker room and you’re thinking about Baltimore, you have a problem,” safety Ryan Clark said.

Both teams have tried to downplay the importance of a late-October game, noting there’s still half a season to go. Yet the Steelers know there’s a message just waiting to be sent. Their five wins have come against teams with a combined 8-24 record.

“This is a measuring stick game for us,” defensive end Brett Keisel said.

The same could be said for the Patriots, who needed a late rally to edge Dallas two weeks ago and whose eye-popping numbers have come back to Earth.

Tom Brady hasn’t always been perfect. Not even against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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The Patriots quarterback has had more than his share of success against the black and gold, though, beating the Steelers six times in seven tries in his career, including two victories in the AFC championship game.

His only loss to Pittsburgh was on Halloween 2004, when he and the Patriots fell 34-20 at Heinz Field.

“It was a tough day for us. That was a rough day,” Brady recalled in his weekly news conference. “The fans were going crazy, the towels were waving and they were really into it.”

The Terrible Towels will be whipping round and round again on Sunday when Brady and the Patriots (5-1) visit Heinz Field once again in what figures to be a stellar matchup against the streaking Steelers (5-2).

Pittsburgh is coming off a 32-20 victory over the Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium and almost immediately after the game, Steelers players were already getting geared up for Brady and the Patriots.

“Oh, man, we can’t wait,” receiver Antonio Brown said. “We’re definitely looking forward to next week. It’s going to be a great challenge and we’re going to put a great week of work in to make sure we’re ready for those guys.”

Expert marksman

Brady has been exceptionally sharp in beating the Steelers each of the past four meetings. He’s averaged 332 passing yards and has thrown nine touchdowns against just one interception.

Reminded of those numbers by reporters last week, Brady shrugged it off as if it meant nothing.

“They’ve played us pretty good a few times, too,” he said. “We’ve had our moments and they’ve had their moments. I think we realize the kind of challenge that it is and we put a lot of time into the preparation and we put a lot of effort into understanding what we’re trying to accomplish from a game-plan standpoint and then we’ve executed well.

“But they’ve got a good defense. It’s a very good defense.”

The Steelers are ranked second in the NFL against the pass, allowing an average of 171.9 yards per game. Brady leads the league in passing, averaging 360.5 yards per game. His 16 touchdown passes are tied for third in the NFL.

But no matter what the Steelers and defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau have thrown at him, Brady has been able to pick Pittsburgh apart. He’s avoided blitz pressure, spreads the field, and gets rid of the ball quicker than most.

Brady torched the Steelers for three touchdowns and 350 yards last year in a regular-season game at Pittsburgh, which the Patriots won 39-26.

“They beat us pretty convincingly,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said in a conference call with reporters. ” . . . We have to play better. We have to prepare better. We have to put together a better plan than we did a year ago and ultimately, we have to perform better.”

Pick your poison

The Steelers chose to defend Brady by sitting back in zone coverage, preferring not to let him beat them with the big play. But if LeBeau decides to blitz Brady repeatedly, Pittsburgh’s defensive backs will be put in numerous one-on-one situations – and that’s where Brady can kill a defense.

But Brady knows how dangerous the Steelers defense can be.

“These guys make it tough on you,” he said. “I think they’re very physical, they cover well, and they have continuity in their defense. If you watch the Super Bowl from last year, they get after the quarterback, they really do. That’s the hallmark of this defense: They rush the passer, they stop the run, they’re a big, physical defense that plays hard and is very well coached.”

Pittsburgh’s offense has started to put it together, too, during its three-game win streak. After the victory in Glendale over the Cardinals, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said the Steelers are making strides.

“I still don’t think we’re there yet, but we’re getting closer,” he said. “I still think there are some things we can do to get better, but that’s good. It’s early enough in the year still where we can make those improvements.”

Tomlin likes the direction his team is headed, but he isn’t satisfied, either.

“We’re perfect by no stretch,” he said after beating the Cardinals. “I think we’re improving, we’re finding ways to win along the way. The arrow is pointing up and we’ve got to keep it pointed in that direction.”

Steelers-Patriots a litmus test for both teams

By Will Graves / Associated Press

PITTSBURGH – Steelers coach Mike Tomlin meant to say he planned to “educate” his team’s younger players about the franchise’s long-simmering — and largely one-sided — rivalry with New England.

Only, Tomlin didn’t use “educate.” At least, not at first, instead letting forth a Freudian slip that perhaps more accurately describes how the Steelers feel about their longtime nemesis.

“I am going to agitate our guys,” Tomlin said before correcting himself.

No need. Tom Brady has been agitating the Steelers for a decade.

The Patriots quarterback has spent the last 10 years shredding one of the NFL’s proudest defenses, beating Pittsburgh six times in seven meetings heading into Sunday’s showdown at Heinz Field that could be a preview of the AFC championship game.

New England (5-1) is rested after a bye week. The Steelers (5-2) are surging after a sluggish start. The Patriots will face the Steelers without cornerback Leigh Bodden, who was released by the team Friday.

Yet it doesn’t seem to matter how Pittsburgh is playing when the Patriots come to town. Good teams. OK teams. Rebuilding teams. All of them lose to Brady.

Pittsburgh’s only victory over New England with Brady under center came in 2004 when the Steelers ended the Patriots’ NFL record 21-game winning streak.

No biggie. The Patriots returned to Heinz Field three months later and won the AFC championship game en route to their second straight Super Bowl title.

Running backs change. Wide receivers change. Linemen change. Coordinators change. Brady’s mastery over the Steelers does not.

The two-time MVP’s secret is no secret to the Steelers. He takes care of the ball — he’s thrown three interceptions in 255 career attempts against the Steelers — and he doesn’t back down.

“We’ve got to minimize our miscues and be physical and play our game,” Pittsburgh nose tackle Casey Hampton said. “I think a lot of people get involved with trying to do too much against them, instead of just doing what you do. So, you have to do what you do and do it well.”

The Steelers will probably have to do it better than that to slow down the NFL’s top offense, a unit led by the former sixth-round pick whose greatest moments in his Hall-of-Fame career have come Pittsburgh’s expense.

Brady was still finding his footing after replacing injured Drew Bledsoe in 2001 when he helped the Patriots to an upset victory over the Steelers in the AFC championship game. He threw for just 115 yards in that first meeting before leaving with an ankle injury.

Most times against the Steelers, he has that number by the half.

He’s won four straight against Pittsburgh, averaging 332 yards passing in the process, including a 350-yard, three-touchdown performance in a 39-26 victory here last year.

“I tell you that the times we’ve beaten them, we’ve had to play very, very, very good games, and we have,” Brady said. “I think that’s probably what I am most proud of. Some of our greatest games that we’ve ever played have been against them and that’s just the level of execution.”

Something that rarely changes regardless of who surrounds Brady in the huddle.

“There are certain plays in our offense that I’ve literally run thousands of times,” Brady said. “You make a lot of mistakes over the course of those plays and you learn from them and hopefully you don’t make them again.”

He rarely makes them against the Steelers, who stress they respect Brady but they don’t fear him.

“You can’t go into a game and put the other team on a pedestal or you’re going to play them different or anything like that,” Hampton said. “Who cares? You’ve just got to go out there and play. Sure, they’re a good team, but we’re a good team, too.”

One that finally seems to be rounding into form.

The Steelers have won three straight games to climb into first in the tight AFC North. A rematch with Baltimore — who whipped Pittsburgh 35-7 in the season-opener — looms next week.

It might as well be next year.

“If you’re in this locker room and you’re thinking about Baltimore, you have a problem,” safety Ryan Clark said.

Both teams have tried to downplay the importance of a late-October game, noting there’s still half a season to go. Yet the Steelers know there’s a message just waiting to be sent. Their five wins have come against teams with a combined 8-24 record.

“This is a measuring stick game for us,” defensive end Brett Keisel said.

The same could be said for the Patriots, who needed a late rally to edge Dallas two weeks ago and whose eye-popping numbers have come back to earth — at least by their lofty standards — over the team’s last three games.

New England scored a season-low 20 points against the Cowboys, the third straight game their point total has declined from the previous week. In the Patriots’ lone loss Buffalo picked Brady off four times by disrupting his timing.

A chink in the armor? Not really.

“Let’s be honest, that probably happens once every five years,” Tomlin said. “So we have about four years and nine months before we see that again.”

The Steelers hope they don’t have to wait that long to beat Brady again.

Though Pittsburgh has won two Super Bowls since the Patriots won their third title, they’re well aware Brady has kept them from a chance at grabbing two more Lombardi trophies. If the 2001 and 2004 AFC championship games go the other way, maybe it’s the Steelers and not the Patriots that are crowned the 2000′s “Team of the Decade.”

Hampton and wide receiver Hines Ward are the only Steelers remaining from the 2001 team. Sure, they remember the slow walk back to the locker room after the championship game. They also know it’s ancient history, no education from Tomlin required.

“We definitely want to come back and put on a different showing,” Ward said. “There’s nothing we can do about the past.”

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Steelers respectful but not in awe of Patriots

(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

By WILL GRAVES

AP Sports Writer

PITTSBURGH (AP) Brett Keisel’s short-term memory is a little hazy. Actually, his long-term memory is clouded, too, at least when it comes to the New England Patriots.

The Pittsburgh defensive end isn’t quite sure how many times Tom Brady has beaten the defending AFC champions.

Is it four? Five? All Keisel knows is, whatever the number is – six, actually – it’s too many. He also knows he’s not dwelling on it heading into their showdown Sunday at Heinz Field.

“I really haven’t thought about what they’ve done in the past, honestly,” Keisel said.

Good idea.

The Steelers have won 129 games (including a pair of Super Bowls) since Brady took over as the Patriots’ starting quarterback in 2001. Only one of those victories came against the two-time MVP.

Does that mean New England is in the Steelers’ heads? Keisel has the ultimate respect for the Patriots, but he’s not ready to go there.

“If they feel good about themselves for beating us back in whenever, and it’s an advantage for them, so be it,” Keisel said.

The Patriots haven’t just beaten the Steelers through the years, however, they’ve dominated.

New England’s average margin of victory against Pittsburgh since 2001 is 12.3 points with only one game decided by fewer than seven points.

Impressive, to be sure.

Also, the Steelers point out, irrelevant.

“The amazing thing is none of that counts,” safety Ryan Clark said. “They clearly have no reason to be afraid of us, but neither do we.”

Maybe, though the Steelers (5-2) are well aware they’ve played second fiddle to the Patriots (5-1) over the last decade in which the two organizations combined to win half the Super Bowls and seven AFC titles.

“That’s how it always is,” linebacker LaMarr Woodley said. “They’ve got a great organization, great coaches, great players. Last time I checked, we were pretty good, too.”

Just not good enough to beat Brady.

The Steelers insist there’s no secret formula to beating Brady. Put pressure on him, disrupt his timing and try to put him on the ground.

“If I knew the reason why they’ve beaten us more than we’ve beaten them, we wouldn’t have that problem anymore,” nose tackle Casey Hampton said. “So, we’ve just got to go out there and do what we do.”

And just do it better than they’ve done it in the past even if Brady seems immune to whatever schemes the Steelers throw at him. If they blitz, he finds the hot receiver. If they drop back and give him time, he picks them apart.

Brady’s numbers against the Steelers seem as if they’ve come out of a video game. He has racked up 2,008 yards passing with 14 touchdowns against three interceptions against Pittsburgh, remarkable statistics against any team, mind-blowing considering the Steelers annually rank among the league’s top defenses.

This year is no different. The Steelers are third in the league in average yards against and first against the pass.

Yet Brady is in a different league than the likes of Curtis Painter, Blaine Gabbert and Tarvaris Jackson, and the Steelers know it.

New England has beaten the Steelers in a variety of ways. Early in Brady’s career the Patriots relied on the defense and running game. Now coach Bill Belichick lets his quarterback throw it all over the field.

Whatever button the Patriots push works. That’s typically not the way it goes when teams face the Steelers.

“You see them one week and they do this, then the next week they do something completely different,” Clark said. “One week it’s five receivers and the next it’s two tight ends.”

And sometimes it’s both in the same game.

The Patriots slogged to a 10-3 halftime lead a year ago only to pull away for a 39-26 victory, with Brady throwing for 350 yards and three scores.

“We scored points and our defense played pretty good but it was like something that was missing, like we were trying but we just couldn’t get there,” Steelers receiver Mike Wallace said. “You always going to keep that in the back of your head that you have to beat this team because of what happened.”

If the Steelers need advice on how to turn things around, they need only look within their own locker room.

Wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery spent seven seasons in New York before signing with Pittsburgh during training camp.

The Patriots whipped the Jets regularly early in Cotchery’s career before New York evened things out over the last three seasons. The Jets went 4-3 against New England from 2008-10, including an upset victory last season in the divisional playoffs that served as an exclamation point in one of the AFC’s most heated rivalries.

How did the Jets go from patsies to Pats-beaters? Cotchery says it started with an attitude adjustment. Former Jets coach Eric Mangini – a longtime New England assistant – gave his players the belief they could hang with New England.

Rex Ryan, Mangini’s replacement, took it a step further by telling the team to ignore New England’s star power and just hit the delete button.

It’s a lesson Keisel is already following. Cotchery thinks it would be wise for the rest of his new teammates to follow suit.

“You just have to play ball, you don’t play history,” he said. “It’s not Steelers versus history. It’s Steelers vs. Patriots.”

Updated October 27, 2011

Tom Brady will try to extend his mastery over the Pittsburgh Steelers when he leads the New England Patriots into the US Steeltown for a crucial National Football League game on Sunday.

The Patriots are 6-1 against the Steelers with Brady as their starting quarterback, including triumphs in their past four meetings, and New England‘s attack is the NFL’s most prolific so far this season with Brady at the helm.

“It’s just execution,” Brady said. “It’s guys getting open and us completing (pass plays). I don’t think there’s (some) special thing we do. There’s no magic dust we put in our cereal in the morning.”

Brady has looked magical at times in throwing nine touchdowns in his personal four-game win streak against Pittsburgh, which includes a victory to reach the 2005 Super Bowl. Brady has four triumphs in five games at Pittsburgh.

“The Steelers are tough to beat at home,” Brady said. “The times that we beat them we’ve had to play very good games. That’s what I’m probably most proud of. Some of our greatest games have been against them.”

Both division leaders are on three-game win streaks. The Patriots, atop the AFC East division at 5-1, are coming off a bye week while the Steelers, atop the AFC North at 5-2, won 32-20 last week at Arizona.

New England leads the NFL in total offense with 474.5 yards a game and tops the passing totals with 350.5 yards a game. Brady tops the American Conference with 2,163 passing yards and 16 touchdowns and his top receiver, Wes Welker, leads the NFL with 51 catches and ranks second with 785 reception yards.

The Steelers boast the NFL’s second-best pass defense, allowing 171.9 yards a contest. They rank third in overall defense, surrendering 279 yards a game.

“They give everybody problems,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “They give you a lot of different looks and they have a lot of good players. They have different skills. They get a lot of mileage out of everybody.”

Brady completed 30 of 43 passes for 350 yards and three touchdowns, all to tight end Rob Gronkowski, and ran for another touchdown last year in a 39-26 victory at Pittsburgh.

“You’re always going to keep that in the back of your head that you have to beat this team because of what happened (last year),” Steelers receiver Mike Wallace said.

If the Patriots win, it will give the coach-QB combination of Belichick and Brady 117 victories, moving them past the former Miami tandem of coach Don Shula and Dan Marino as the all-time winningest such duo.

“You just have to play ball, you don’t play history,” Pittsburgh receiver Jerricho Cotchery said. “It’s not Steelers versus history. It’s Steelers versus Patriots.”

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who has lost four of six career meetings with the Patriots, will test a New England defense that ranks worst in the NFL, yielding 322.2 yards a game.

“Those are just numbers,,” Roethlisberger said. “It’s not indicative of who they are. It’s really because their offense is scoring so many points and other teams are trying to catch up.”

Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin has made sure “Big Ben” and his teammates are not taking the Patriots’ defenders lightly.

“If you come in and you think they are the 32nd best defense in football you are kidding yourself,” Tomlin said. “They are whacking people pretty good. People are throwing the ball every down and they accumulate some yards. It’s insignificant.”

Undefeated Green Bay, 7-0, is idle this week, as are Chicago, Oakland, Tampa Bay, Atlanta and the New York Jets.

The only other 5-1 team besides New England, NFC West leader San Francisco, will play host to Cleveland (3-3).

Sunday’s other games find Dallas at Philadelphia, Arizona at Baltimore, New Orleans at St. Louis, Indianapolis at Tennessee, Jacksonville at Houston, Miami at the New York Giants, Minnesota at Carolina, Detroit at Denver, Cincinnati at Seattle and Washington versus Buffalo at Toronto.

San Diego will visit Kansas City on Monday night, when a victory by the host Chiefs would leave both clubs level with Oakland atop the AFC West.

FOXBORO (CBS) – While nearly every other quarterback in the NFL seems to struggle with the Pittsburgh Steelers defense, Tom Brady thrives against it.

In five regular season games against the Steelers, the Patriots quarterback is 4-1 and has completed nearly 70-percent of his passes. Brady has a 104.1 passer rating against the Steelers usually vaunted defense, throwing 12 touchdowns to just three interceptions.

When the Pats play the Steelers, they are not afraid to throw the ball. Brady has attempted at least 41 passes in all five meetings (43, 46, 41, 43, 43), averaging 29 completions.

So what is the secret to Brady’s success against one of the top defenses in the NFL?

“It’s just execution; guys getting open and us completing it,” Brady said on Wednesday. “I don’t think it’s a special thing we do. There’s no magic dust we put in our cereal in the morning or anything like that. We’ve played really well. That does pretty well against any defense.”

Read: Levan Reid’s Patriots Blog

“They’ve played us pretty good a few times too,” said the Pats QB. “We’ve had our moments; they’ve had their moments. I think we realize what kind of challenge it is. We put a lot of time into the preparation, a lot of effort into what we’re trying to accomplish from a game plan standpoint, and we’ve executed well.”

“It’s a good defense; a very good defense. They’re first in the league against pass defense,” Brady said of a defense allowing a league low 171.9 passing yards per game. “They’re pretty damn good if you ask me.”

“These guys make it tough on you,” he said. “I think they’re very physical, they cover well. They have continuity in the defense. If you watch the Super Bowl last year, they get after the quarterback. That’s the hallmark of this defense. They rush the passer, they stop the run. They’re a big physical defense that plays hard.”

Read: Big Ben Talks Big Vince

Brady is also 2-1 in Pittsburgh, which is not the easiest place to play in.

“The Steelers are pretty tough to beat at home. The times that we’ve beat them, we’ve had to play some very, very good games, and we have. That’s what I’m probably most proud of; some of the greatest games we’ve played have been against them.”

And when the Patriots play well at Heinz Field, it means all those “terrible towels” won’t be waiving all afternoon.

“If we make good plays, the crowd is not going to be a factor. If we don’t, you better believe they’re going to be there all day long. The better we play, the less of a factor it’s going to be.”

Read: Gronk Apologizes For Bye Week Photos

Tune in to the Patriots-Steelers on 98.5 The Sports Hub and WBZ-TV on Sunday at 4:15pm. Pregame coverage begins Sunday morning at 11:30am on WBZ with Patriots Gameday, with coverage on The Sports Hub kicking off at 1pm. After the game, tune in to the Patriots Postgame show on 98.5 and Patriots Fifth Quarter on MY TV38.

Tom Brady owns the Pittsburgh Steelers. There is no simpler way to put it.

The New England Patriots’ future Hall of Famer dominates the “Steel Curtain” defense like no other quarterback in NFL history. Brady beats Pittsburgh at Heinz Field. He beats Pittsburgh at Gillette Stadium. He owns the Steelers in the regular season and in the playoffs.

Brady is an impressive 6-1 all-time against Pittsburgh. He will look to add to that record Sunday when the Patriots (5-1) travel to meet the Steelers (5-2) in a possible playoff preview.

Brady is the one quarterback Pittsburgh’s vaunted defense doesn’t want to see on the opposing sideline. According to ESPN’s Stats and Information, he’s thrown for 2,008 yards and 14 touchdowns, with only three interceptions.

Brady also has a 104.8 career passer rating versus Pittsburgh and a 67.8 completion percentage.

“It’s just a terrible matchup for the Steelers,” Matt Williamson of Scouts Inc. explained. “Any time you design a defense or offense, you’re going to have strengths and weaknesses. … Their defense isn’t a good fit for the Patriots. If you’re just looking at the roster, you want to force the Steelers to play nickel. You want to take Casey Hampton off the field when he’s healthy and replace him with William Gay. Hampton is a good player and Gay isn’t. The Patriots have the weapons and the receiving threats to do that.”

On paper, this looks like it will be a tough battle between New England’s No. 1-ranked offense against Pittsburgh’s third-ranked defense. But Brady’s history with Pittsburgh proves that the battle may not be so tough after all.

Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau’s zone-blitz scheme thrives off disguise and confusion. But Brady, 34, is so cerebral that he stays one step ahead of Pittsburgh.

[+] Enlarge

Jason Bridge/US PresswireAgainst the Steelers in 2010, Tom Brady was 30-of-43 for 350 yards and three touchdowns.

The most recent meeting in 2010 was a perfect example. Brady read Pittsburgh’s defense like a book. He utilized short, decisive passes to carve up the Steelers and was 30 of 43 for 350 yards and three touchdowns.

Brady makes it look easy against Pittsburgh. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, now in his fifth season, has yet to beat Brady.

“He is just very good physically and mentally,” Tomlin said this week. “He is very talented in both areas. He is tough to trick, he makes quick decisions, he has pinpoint accuracy and he has the arm to do the things he desires to do.”

Schematically, Pittsburgh has a hard time adjusting to New England’s multiple formations. For years the Patriots have used the spread offense to pick apart the Steelers’ 3-4 defense. Other teams are starting to catch on. The Green Bay Packers did some of the same things to beat Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLV this past February.

Pittsburgh’s biggest strength is its front seven and its biggest weakness is cornerback depth. New England is able to dictate Pittsburgh’s personnel groupings by putting three or more receivers on the field. Stud tight ends Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski often are moved outside the box and used as receivers. This forces Pittsburgh to go three- and four-deep at corner, while removing a linebacker or defensive lineman.

If Pittsburgh stays in its base defense, Patriots receivers like Wes Welker, Hernandez and Gronkowski could have a field day against far-less athletic linebackers James Farrior, LaMarr Woodley and Larry Foote.

If Pittsburgh takes its linebackers off the field in favor of extra cornerbacks like William Gay and Keenan Lewis, New England will have an easier time running the ball with its deep stable of running backs. The Patriots are tied for 10th in the NFL in rushing and average 4.6 yards per carry.

There are no easy answers for the Steelers.

“Both teams know each other well, so I don’t think there will be a ton of surprises here,” Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said this week. “It will come down to preparation, execution and decision-making on game day.”

It also doesn’t help Pittsburgh that Pro Bowl outside linebacker James Harrison will miss his fourth consecutive game with an eye injury. Getting to Brady is key, and Woodley (seven sacks) has been Pittsburgh’s only consistent pass-rusher this year.

“I think [Harrison] is one of the top 10 or 15 players in the league, and now they’re weaker at two positions,” Williamson said. “Lawrence Timmons was a force on the inside. Now, he’s disappeared on the outside. So they’re much weaker there, and they’re much weaker inside where Timmons used to be.”

The key chess match in this game will be between Brady and Pittsburgh safety and reigning Defensive Player of the Year Troy Polamalu. Brady usually gets the best of Polamalu with his ability to make great pre-snap reads.

But Brady knows Polamalu is capable of making big plays at any time. Polamalu has 43 tackles and one sack this season.

“Troy is a phenomenal player,” Brady said this week on WEEI radio in Boston. “I watched a bunch of his highlights with Coach Belichick yesterday in our film study. He’s as good as he’s ever been. He flies around the field. He’s incredibly fast and instinctive. He covers a lot of ground out there. You have to keep your eyes on him on every play.”

Giving the Patriots two weeks to prepare is bad news for opponents.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, New England coach Bill Belichick is 8-0 after the bye since 2003. The Patriots have the second-longest active win streak following the bye, trailing the Philadelphia Eagles, who have won 12 in a row.

“New England adapts week-to-week to their opponent better than anyone in league on both sides of the ball,” Williamson said. “Where I think the Steelers are more like ‘We’re the Steelers, and we’re just better than you.’”

The Steelers have won championships. But they haven’t been better than the Patriots for a long time.

It will remain that way until Pittsburgh solves the Brady conundrum.

If the New England Patriots are the NFL’s team of the last decade, the Pittsburgh Steelers are a close runner-up.

Indeed, Pittsburgh has won two Super Bowls since the Patriots last grabbed the title. Since 2005, the Steel Curtain owns three AFC crowns to one for New England.

But the Patriots (5-1) have won three of the last four meetings and Tom Brady nearly always outplays Ben Roethlisberger when they face off. New England is 6-1 against Pittsburgh when Brady starts and he’s averaging 286 yards passing a game with 14 touchdowns against three interceptions versus the Steelers.

Even when the Steelers have been strong on the turnover charts, it hasn’t helped much against Brady and Co. Now, Pittsburgh (5-2) is at the bottom of the conference with a minus-9 differential and has just three takeaways. That must change Sunday at Heinz Field when the three-point favourite Patriots visit.

“I’ve been here for most of those losses, (Brady) has had our number,” linebacker Larry Foote said. “We have to try and correct that this Sunday.”

It is no easy chore, particularly with AFC East leader New England coming off a bye. Still, the Patriots are struggling on defence, Brady has been sacked 11 times and thrown eight picks.

Pittsburgh has 17 sacks and has won three straight to take the AFC North lead.

“They don’t dance around. They’re not finesse whatsoever,” Patriots defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth said. “Everybody runs hard. They don’t mind hitting.

“They like to hit. It’s a very physical team. More physical than we have seen this year.”

And New England is more potent offensively than anyone the Steelers have seen, ranked first in yards passing and overall offence and averaging just under 31 points a game.

“They are doing what they usually do,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin said.

Which means beating the Steelers.

PATRIOTS, 30-23

Miami (plus 10) at New York Giants

We get the feeling last week’s collapse will carry over for woeful Dolphins. Giants getting healthy after bye.

BEST BET: GIANTS, 28-10

Cincinnati (minus 3) at Seattle

Tough week to find an underdog we project to win outright.

UPSET SPECIAL: SEAHAWKS, 17-16

Dallas (plus 3 1/2) at Philadelphia

Huge NFC East matchup that could determine future of division.

EAGLES, 24-23

San Diego (plus 3 1/2) at Kansas City, Monday night

Have to like the way Chiefs turned it around despite major injuries.

CHIEFS, 21-20

Buffalo (minus 6) versus Washington at Toronto

Things are falling apart in DC. A trip to the Great White North won’t help.

BILLS, 27-17

Cleveland (plus 9 1/2) at San Francisco

Niners have kind of schedule that could earn them a bye if they stay on track.

49ERS, 20-6

Arizona (plus 13) at Baltimore

Angry and embarrassed Ravens are more fierce than these Cardinals.

RAVENS, 22-7

Indianapolis (plus 9) at Tennessee

Both teams come off humiliations. Titans more likely to bounce back.

TITANS, 24-13

Jacksonville (plus 9 1/2) at Houston

Banged-up Texans got possible season-defining win last week. Jags impressed against Ravens.

TEXANS, 26-13

Minnesota (plus 3 1/2) at Carolina

Newton versus Ponder. Go with the more-veteran rookie.

PANTHERS, 27-16

New Orleans (OFF) at St. Louis

Too bad this is off the board (Sam Bradford’s injury); would’ve been Best Bet.

SAINTS, 38-13

Detroit (OFF) at Denver

No line because of Matthew Stafford’s right ankle injury. Shaun Hill is a decent backup.

LIONS, 23-20

___

RECORD:

Against spread: 8-4-1 (overall 59-38-3); straight up 9-4 (overall 71-32).

Best Bet: 2-5 against spread, 4-3 straight up.

Upset Special: 6-1 against spread, 4-3 straight up.