01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, October 26, 2004

BY TOM E. CURRAN
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO -- Welcome to another week of "Yeah, but who'd they beat?"

The Patriots next opponent, the Pittsburgh Steelers (Sunday, 4:15 p.m.), are standing proudly and well-rested at 5-1 coming off their bye week. But like the Pats last two opponents -- the Jets and Seahawks -- it's hard to get a grip on how good the Steelers are because they haven't beaten anyone that could be called a quality opponent.

The teams they've beaten have a combined record of 9-23. The loss they suffered came to the offensively challenged Baltimore Ravens, who scored 30 points against Pittsburgh back in Week Two. The Ravens are 4-2.

That said, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said that -- in the coaches' rooms -- there are few secrets about other teams at this point.

"You've played six or seven games at this point, your strengths are your strengths, your weaknesses are your weaknesses and other teams are starting to game plan accordingly," he said. "That being said, the personnel fluctuation at this time of year can be pretty significant and one or two key players in or out can change the game-planning and the matchups significantly."

And that's an issue the Steelers are dealing with right now. Their Pro Bowl nose tackle Casey Hampton is gone for the season and Chris Hoke, who's never started, now is in the middle. Their outstanding linebacker, Kendrell Bell, just had hernia surgery and young Larry Foote is playing his spot.

The Steelers have been pretty solid against the run this season (10th in the NFL, allowing 103 yards per game), but given the way the Patriots and Corey Dillon have been running the ball, this could be one of those spots that Belichick is referring to where player losses alter the face of a team.

"Key players going in or out can affect a lot," he said. "And they can trump and override things that would otherwise be strong points."

In other words, even though Pittsburgh is 5-1 against a weak schedule, now that they're without players like Hampton and Bell, their potency is in question even more.

Cowher has a fan

Belichick raved about Steelers coach Bill Cowher yesterday.

"He is a great coach," said Belichick. "I have tremendous respect for Bill. We go back to when Bill was the defensive coordinator at Kansas City. He coached the secondary and I was the defensive coordinator at the Giants and I coached the linebackers. It kind of switched somewhere in the late '80s, I forget exactly what year it was. Bill came to New York and we spent a full day together, like a Saturday, 12-14 hours whatever it was, and I told him everything I knew about linebacker play, so that took about a half-hour. Then Bill told me everything that he knew about secondary play and that took a long time. That was the start of, what I think is, a really good relationship with Bill."

As contemplative as Belichick sometimes is on the sidelines, he does have an appreciation for the spit-spraying, jut-jawed intensity of Cowher.

"I love watching him coach," said Belichick. "I think he represents the game with his passion for it and his intensity and as a special-teams player, he brings that kind of mentality, that real blue collar and tough mentality to the game as a coach. I have a lot of respect for him. I don't think there is any secret why he has been doing it for a long time. He is very good at it."

Stat check

Through six games (not including last night's game between Cincinnati and Denver), quarterback Tom Brady is fifth in the AFC in passer rating (95.3), second in TD passes (11) and tied for the sixth fewest interceptions (6). He's also fifth in yards (1,389). . . . Daniel Graham is tied for fifth in the conference with five touchdowns (KC's Priest Holmes leads with 11) and David Patten is tied for eighth with four. . . . Kicker Adam Vinatieri is tied for second with 52 points (16-for-16 on field goals) and Corey Dillon is fourth in the AFC in rushing with 637 yards, trailing Holmes (690), Curtis Martin (683) and Chris Brown of the Titans (663). Brown and Dillon are tied for the lead in yards per carry among backs with more than 100 carries (4.9 yards per attempt). . . . Among receivers with 20 catches or more, David Givens leads the AFC in yards per catch (18.5) and Patten is tied for second with 17.9. Givens is 10th in receiving yards with 442. Also, all of Givens' 24 catches have been good for first downs. . . . Rodney Harrison is tied for the lead in sacks for defensive backs with three. . . . The Pats' offense is third in the AFC in third-down efficiency (45.3), trailing the Colts and Chiefs. . . . Brady's fourth-quarter passing stats are not terrific. He's completing 51.4 percent of his passes and has a passer rating of 61.1, 13th in the AFC. He's also thrown just 37 fourth-quarter passes, third fewest in the AFC, which is traceable to the fact New England is almost always ahead in the final quarter. . . . The Patriots are first in the AFC defensively in terms of allowing opponents to score TDs in the red zone. They've allowed seven touchdowns on 24 possessions (29.2 average) and seven field goals.