New England's defensive backfield, led by veteran safety Rodney Harrison, intercepted three Ben Roethlisberger passes last night.

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

BY SHALISE MANZA YOUNG
Journal Sports Writer

PITTSBURGH -- When, exactly, does a patch become permanent, not just temporary?

If it does its job, if it stretches but doesn't snap, if you can't tell where the patch is, isn't that a good thing?

So why do people keep calling the New England secondary "patchwork"?

The Patriots' "patchwork" secondary intercepted Pittsburgh rookie Ben Roethlisberger twice in the first half last night -- one, by Eugene Wilson, leading to a field goal, and the other, by Rodney Harrison, being returned 87 yards for a touchdown -- and again in the second half, by Wilson. Harrison's TD was the turning point in New England's AFC championship-game triumph, and Wilson's second pick was the final nail in Pittsburgh's coffin in the Pats' 41-27 victory.

It's been quite some time since either All-Pro cornerback Ty Law or nine-year veteran Tyrone Poole have been on the field for the Patriots -- Poole has effectively been out since the third game of the season, while Law broke his foot in the team's first visit of the season to Pittsburgh, on Halloween.

In their stead, Wilson, Asante Samuel, Earthwind Moreland and Randall Gay have lined up at starting cornerback.

That patchwork, or makeshift, or second-string unit -- whatever you prefer -- isn't really any of those things anymore.

The Patriots are 10-1 since Law went down. Not only that, prior to last night they had given up almost the same number of passing yards per game -- 214.5 with Law, 213.6 since.

But maybe they should keep hearing how substandard they are. Second-year man Samuel, whom Harrison said "really came into his own" this season, said hearing criticism of the secondary motivates him.

"It definitely motivates me when people doubt you and people think you can't get the job done," he said last week. "So I just go out there with a chip on my shoulder and try to prove them wrong."

Harrison, who should have been a Pro Bowler this season, has been called the MVP of the Patriots by Colts head coach Tony Dungy for the way he masterfully unified the group, though Harrison passes off credit to someone else.

"I think our defensive backs coach, Eric Mangini, did a wonderful job of really bringing our secondary together and helping us out and guiding us in the right direction," Harrison said. "Even myself, it has been a lot of added responsibilities sometimes, you know, communicating with the guys and helping them come along, but I think they have responded well."

Communication has been a factor for the secondary, though that has been improving with every passing game.

"From week to week you see gradual improvement, so I think every week we got better and better at it," Samuel said. "Rodney is definitely our leader."

Not that there weren't some adjustments that Harrison had to make.

"Basically, you look back there (to the secondary) and go from having two 10-year vets with you, and me and Ty Law, we play on the same side, and just our communication was so key to the success that he had last year," he said. "And you look out there now and you don't know if you're seeing Randall Gay or Asante Samuel or Earthwind Moreland out there or whoever but it really hurt us that those guys are lost."