01:00 AM EST on Monday, January 24, 2005

BY SHALISE MANZA YOUNG
Journal Sports Writer

PITTSBURGH -- At this point in the season no one expected the Pittsburgh Steelers to do anything fancy defensively.

Bill Cowher, the longest-tenured head coach in the NFL, has been leading the Steelers for 13 years, and like every coach, he has his system. His veteran defense has learned that system, and this year carried it out with such precision it was the top-ranked defense in the league.

In their first meeting of the season against New England, on Halloween, the Steelers held the Patriots to a frightening 5-rushing yards yards on six attempts. But that number is misleading for two reasons -- the Patriots were without Corey Dillon, who sat out the game with a thigh injury, and New England was down 21-3 before the end of the first quarter and relied on the passing game in an attempt to crawl out of the hole it was in.

Things were different last night.

The Patriots rushed for 126 yards, that total bolstered by a 23-yard reverse by Deion Branch for a touchdown. Still, it's a lot more than 5, and it was a key to New England's 41-27 victory.

Dillon -- who had rushed for 144 yards in New England's win over Indianapolis in the second round of the playoffs, and rewrote the Pats' record book this season with 1,635 yards -- was New England's leading runner last night with 73 yards in 24 carries. Kevin Faulk also chipped in with 20 well-placed yards on 3 carries.

Pittsburgh allowed only one 100-yard rushing game to an opponent this season -- Cincinnati's Rudi Johnson rolled for 123 in week 4, but when the teams met again in week 11, Johnson was held to 62 yards on 16 carries.

Even the AFC's leading rusher, the Jets' Curtis Martin, gained only 77 yards in the Steelers' overtime win in the Divisional round.

Like the Patriots, Pittsburgh runs a 3-4 defense, though they do more zone blitzing than New England, causing havoc and letting little get past them.

Last week, Pats coach Bill Belichick said he hadn't seen a lot of loopholes that would allow New England to have a successful rushing game.

"They're very good in the running game. They always have been," he said. "They play good techniques, they put a lot of pressure on you, they tackle well, they pursue well, they are very well coached," he said. "They have a lot of good football players, a good scheme (and) they tackle well. Even teams that get a hole and break it in there, they make the play and you gain five or six yards. They don't give up very many big plays because they pursue well and they tackle very well."