PITTSBURGH — Tom Brady’s dizzying numbers have covered up a multitude of Patriots sins and shortcomings this season.
But No. 12 couldn’t work his magic yesterday, leaving the Patriots’ sorry defense with nowhere to hide in a 25-17 loss to the Steelers that gave the Jets’ hopes of an AFC East title a fuel injection despite an early three-game losing streak.
Even with consecutive opening-round home playoff exits, the Patriots still loomed as the conference’s emperor with a 19-3 record going into yesterday in the past two regular seasons.
And though not totally without clothes, that emperor is at least down to his skivvies after Bill Belichick’s team let Ben Roethlisberger pick it apart on defense and allowed the Steelers to draw up a blueprint for slowing down Brady.
As a result, the 5-2 Patriots now look a lot less imposing to both the Giants and the Jets — the next two teams on their schedule — and perhaps the rest of the NFL.
“We all have to individually look in the mirror and figure out what we need to get better at,” a disgusted Brady said after throwing for a season-low 198 yards against the Steelers’ heavy blitz and press coverage.
Although Brady and the Patriots offense struggled mightily, they aren’t close to the overriding concern for Belichick. No, that would be his disaster of a defense.
With almost zero pass rush and a secondary depleted by injury and odd personnel decisions (Friday’s abrupt release of veteran cornerback Leigh Bodden just the latest), the Patriots let Roethlisberger and the Steelers bleed them to death to the tune of a 39:22-20:28 advantage in time of possession.
Belichick had so little confidence in his defense that he decided to attempt an onside kick with 2:35 left and the Patriots down just 23-17 despite having the chance to stop the clock four times through three timeouts and the two-minute warning.
And if that defense — ranked last in the NFL in total yards all season — doesn’t inspire Belichick, it certainly doesn’t intimidate their opponents.
“It just wasn’t a good day for us in any phase of the game, in any area,” Belichick said.