Bill Burt
FOXBORO — Sympathy was nowhere to be found in the confines of the Pittsburgh Steelers locker room after the New England Patriots' ugly loss, 33-10, at Gillette Stadium.
The bet here is there wasn't much in the several million homes outside of New England that viewed the contest, either.
Nope. A lot of people are enjoying this.
The Patriots may be only a game out of first place — the New York Jets somehow lost, too, to the "psycho" Broncos — with four games to play, but for all intents and purposes they look like dead meat.
Tom Brady, Rodney Harrison, Laurence Maroney and (probably) Adalius Thomas aren't coming back. Who knows about Ty Warren and LaMont Jordan? Lest we forget about yesterday's entries to the next injury report, Wes Welker and Pierre Woods, both whom may have suffered "mild" concussions.
Around the country, when the Pats losing anything, be it games or players, it is cause for celebration.
The Bill Belichick Factor, which means a lot of bad things outside of New England, adds flames to Hatriots Nation.
"(The injuries) are their problem," said Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward, who had the key touchdown catch after the botched fumble by rookie Matthew Slater on the third quarter kickoff return. "These guys have been whippin' our tails the last few years. They've had our number since, when, 2004? I don't care about the Patriots. I care about the Steelers."
Two plays best exemplified the difference between the two teams.
The first was the "illegal" hit by Steelers cornerback Ryan Clark on Welker. Clark appeared to hit helmet on helmet on the airborne receiver, long after a pass had been knocked away. The other was Slater's fumble.
Clark said all of the right things afterward about Welker.
"I pray for him. ... I never would try to hurt someone. ... I told Kevin Faulk, who I went to school with (at LSU), to tell him I was sorry."
Clark also added this tell-tale nugget.
"I don't forget last year, when (Tom) Brady was mouthing off at Anthony (Smith)," said Clark, referring to the Patriots mocking of Smith, who wrongly predicted the Steelers would beat the Patriots last November.
Slater's mishandling of the kickoff basically ended the game. The Steelers recovered the ball on the Patriots 8-yard line and scored two plays later.
"I'm not saying they quit, but you could tell it was very demoralizing," said Ward, of the turnover-turned-touchdown.
The Patriots didn't quit. The defense had to overcome another turnover soon after, a second Matt Cassel fumble. They kept the Steelers from scoring a touchdown when they had second-and-goal from the 2.
From the Patriots' perspective, the fourth quarter was painful to watch. There were more turnovers (two Cassel interceptions) and more easy scores (a touchdown and field goal) for the Steelers.
From a national perspective, it was a thing of beauty.
The Patriots are 7-5, but considering division and conference tiebreakers, it's a mirage. They are hurting now more than ever. And, for the first time in a long time, hope is not so close anymore.
E-mail Bill Burt at bburt@eagletribune.com.
