Pittsburgh Steelers "Too Little - Too Late"

     Have you ever noticed how some teams come out of the locker room ready to play and other teams seem less prepared and unenthusiastic? Well, that was the scene in Pittsburgh on Monday Night Football. A week ago the New England Patriots got blind-sided by the Cleveland Browns. That high powered Tom Brady offense stumbled as the Browns poked holes in their defense. Well, Monday night the Patriots figured out what was wrong and put a 'W' on the sleep-walking Steelers.

     I know Pittsburgh has some key injuries to their offensive line and Hines Ward was hurt early in the game. But, they still managed to get 26 points on New England's ''D'. We know Ben's going to try and do too much and give up a couple of sacks and an interception or two. He still has a good core of receivers, even without Ward. And let's not forget how Cleveland exploited New Englands' young secondary.

     Even with the injuries to the Steelers defensive linemen, the soft coverage and lack of aggression was noticeable in the first half, especially. You give Brady the kind of time the Steelers did and you have no chance to make a play. He went virtually untouched for most of the game and Belicheck had his team ready. Mike Tomlin didn't.

     The Steelers defense had given up an average of 15.7 points a game. The Patriots almost tripled that in the 39-26 beating of the Steelers. I just hope the Pittsburgh coaches can do what the Patriots did when the Steelers play the Raiders next week. Pittsburgh remains tied atop the AFC North with the Baltimore Ravens at 6-3. New England is tied with the New York Jets form the best record in the NFL at 7-3.