Steelers' offense dominated

The running game took control and Ben Roethlisberger was outstanding.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
PITTSBURGH -- As impressive as the Steelers defense was in shutting down the unbeaten Patriots, linebacker Joey Porter was more impressed with how much time Pittsburgh's offense gave his unit a break on the sidelines.
"With Duce [Staley] running the ball like that and then Jerome [Bettis] comes in to spell him, I like our chances," said Porter after the Steelers limited the Patriots to 17 minutes, 2 seconds in time of possession.
The Steelers ran 49 times for 221 yards to control the clock and end New England's 21-game winning streak.
"That's frustrating," Patriots linebacker Richard Seymour said. "Any time a team can keep itself balanced and run the football whenever they needed to, that's definitely frustrating."
Two TDs and no interceptions
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger passed for 196 yards and just as importantly threw no interceptions.
"Pick your poison, what you want to do, who you want to shut out because we're real balanced right now," wide receiver Hines Ward said after the Steelers' fifth straight victory.
"The 2001 team was real balanced and we're starting to look that way," said Ward, referring to Pittsburgh's 13-3 team that played host to the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game.
Roethlisberger had a shaky start, missing his targets badly on his first two passes as the Steelers opened with two three-and-out series.
He quickly made up for it, completing his next 11 passes.
"It's not an easy defense," said Roethlisberger of the Patriots' schemes. "They throw a lot at you."
Downplayed success
Roethlisberger downplayed his success. "The line gave me time -- they did a great job and the receivers were getting open and making plays.
"It is much more than just me," Roethlisberger said. "We have a great team offensively and defensively. We are playing unselfish football right now. Our defense gave us great field position many times."
Roethlisberger said the game plan was to attack the Patriots' weakened secondary.
"Absolutely, we know when a player like Ty Law goes out," Rothelisberger said.
Law was knocked out of the game in the first quarter with an leg injury, forcing the Patriots to use inexperienced defenders to guard Ward (six catches, 58 yards) and Plaxico Burress (three catches, 63 yards, two scores).
Wide receiver Antwaan Randle El also had six catches for 44 yards.
"Ty is a great cornerback but Plex and I are great wideouts," Ward said, "so we're going to go out there and attack. When he went down, they tried to play a lot of cover-2 [pass defense]. Playing cover-2, they couldn't stop the run.
"We ran the ball effectively and when they did try to stop the run and gave us one [defensive back], Plex hit them for a big touchdown on that all-out blitz," Ward said.
No running game
Defensively, the Steelers stopped worrying about the Patriots' ground game once they jumped out to a 21-3 lead.
"They didn't have the star running back in Corey Dillon so we knew they were going to try and pass because they couldn't run it," Porter said. "So when you have a team playing to your strengths, you have to take off and do what we did. It was definitely a statement game for us."
Patriots coach Bill Belichick said, "It was pretty clear out there that the Steelers were the better team. They outcoached us, they outplayed us."