Steelers end Pats' streak

By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
PITTSBURGH -- Unbeaten since Sept. 28, 2003, the New England Patriots walked into Heinz Field wearing Superman costumes.
After a brutal Halloween encounter with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Pats limped off the field resembling sad sack Charlie Brown after his annual "I got a rock" trick-or-treat bashing.
Twenty-one points in the opening quarter rocketed the Steelers to a surprising 34-20 blowout of the Super Bowl champions Sunday before the largest football crowd (64,737) in Pittsburgh history.
Didn't play well
Injuries, fumbles, interceptions, sacks and the inability to run the football combined to snap the Pats' 21-game win streak and give the Steelers (6-1) a two-game lead in the AFC North.
"I'm not surprised," said tailback Jerome Bettis, who rushed for 65 yards and scored a 2-yard touchdown in the third quarter that put the Steelers ahead, 31-10. "We were ready for this game.
"We've been taking baby steps, baby steps until the moment when we could step out on our own," Bettis said, "and this was the moment."
Belichick praises Steelers
Patriots (6-1) coach Bill Belichick didn't disagree.
"They won convincingly," Belichick said. "We got killed. We weren't very good in any phase of the game.
"We just didn't do anything near the way we're capable of doing," Belichick said. "Pittsburgh played an outstanding game so that's about the result you would expect when those two forces collide."
Scoring 24 points after Patriots giveaways, the Steelers also dominated on offense as tailback Duce Staley rushed for 125 yards on 25 time-consuming carries.
Rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger won his fifth straight start by completing 18-of-24 passes for 196 yards, including two touchdown passes to wide receiver Plaxico Burress.
The Steelers' top draft pick from Miami (Ohio) compiled a passer rating of 126.8.
"Ben has done a good job, there's no question about it," Steelers coach Bill Cowher said. "But he has [great support]."
No rushing game
How effective was the Steelers defense? The Patriots were limited to 5 yards on six rushing attempts.
Quarterback Tom Brady, the most valuable player in two of the past three Super Bowls, was hounded into two interceptions, one fumble and four sacks.
Brady accounted for most of the Patriots' offense by completing 25-of-43 passes for 271 yards. Wide receiver David Givens, a Youngstown native, caught eight passes for 101 yards.
"We got behind a very good team and were down 18 points at the end of the first quarter," Brady said. "We dug ourselves a big ditch and couldn't get around it."
Injuries didn't help as New England scratched running back Corey Dillon, offensive tackle Tom Ashworth and cornerback Tyrone Poole, then lost cornerback Ty Law in the first quarter with a leg injury.
Two plays after Law departed, Roethlisberger threw a bomb to Burress who had raced past backup cornerback Randall Gay for a 47-yard touchdown to put the Steelers ahead, 7-3.
"It was an all-out blitz and you have to give the line credit because there should not have been time like that," Roethlisberger said of the Patriots' rush. "With Plaxico running down field, you just want to throw it as far as you can. He ran under and made a great play."
Linebacker Joey Porter sacked Brady on New England's next play, forcing a fumble that defensive end Kimo Von Oelhoffen recovered at the Patriots 27.
Five plays later, Roethlisberger hit Burress on a fade pattern in end zone from the 4-yard with 29 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Cornerback Deshea Townsend intercepted Brady's next pass and ran 39 yards for the 21-3 lead.
"We had a blitz on so [Brady] had to get it out of his hands," Townsend said. "I just got a good jump on it."
And the Steelers had the jump they needed to vault to the top of the division standings.
williams@vindy.com