The losing locker room is a place of trepidation for the media, especially when players can be so affected by a season-ending loss that they have trouble getting themselves dressed.

10:54 AM EST on Tuesday, January 25, 2005

BY TOM E. CURRAN
Journal Sports Writer

PITTSBURGH -- The losing locker room is an interesting place. It almost drips with a grave sense of seriousness. As inappropriate as the comparison may seem, probing for reaction feels a little like approaching grieving relatives in an emergency room to ask about a just-expired loved one.

Requests for a moment are whispered to long-faced, tattooed, 300-pound players who are either thinking about what they could have done differently to prevent the devastating loss or wondering if someone is warming up their Hummer for them so it's nice and toasty when they leave the stadium.

In the Steelers' locker room Sunday night, Pro Bowl guard Alan Faneca was dressing quietly, staring into his locker. No media was near him, which sometimes signals that the local folks know not to approach him after a loss because he could either start sobbing uncontrollably, launch into an X-rated diatribe or fling reporters about the room like playing cards.

Softly, I asked, "Alan, do you have a second for a question?

"Yup," he said, not looking at me while pulling on his shirt.

"Did the improvement of the Patriots from the last time you played them surprise you?"

Faneca paused. Then he looked down, touched his collar and turned it outward. His eyes narrowed, then he sighed.

"I put my shirt on backwards," he said.

Savoring the moment

As the postgame trophy presentation ended and the Patriots made their way off Heinz Field, tight end Christian Fauria was still in the middle of the field, squatting around the 10-yard line.

"I'm just drinking it in," he said, a half-smile on his face. "I want to remember all of it. How can you imagine this will ever happen again? You can't. I want to remember it. I feel like I'm in Field of Dreams. Once I walk off the field, I'll turn into an old man."

Hard to swallow

Can there be any greater indignity than having an opponent celebrate a championship on your home field?

It'd be like Coke people going into Pepsi's offices to revel about hitting quarterly sales figures in front of all the stockholders. And now it's the second time the Patriots have done it to the Steelers in four years.

"That's happened twice to us," said Steelers receiver Hines Ward. "That's just a sick feeling to see those guys celebrate on our field."

Tough choice

Sometimes it's hard to pick a game's key play. In yesterday's paper, we went with the Rodney Harrison touchdown (although Journal sports writer Jim Donaldson wondered if Deion Branch's first touchdown after the fourth-and-1 stop might not have been as pivotal). Either one would have done nicely.

But there's not much to debate when it comes to the key juncture of the AFC Championship. It came in the third quarter when it was 24-10. The Steelers had just scored on their first drive of the second half and the Pats, facing third-and-17, were in danger of having a second straight drive stall. Then Steelers defensive end Aaron Smith held Kevin Faulk on a third-and-17 screen, resulting in a first down. Devastating. On the next play, Tom Brady hit David Givens for 18 yards to the Steelers' 40. Willie Williams made a nice play stripping the ball, but Givens' knee had already touched the ground when the ball popped loose and Pittsburgh recovered. A lengthier than normal review process made the Steelers and their fans cool their heels awaiting the news that A) the ball was going back to New England and B) the 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty at the end of the play was still going to be assessed against the Steelers. So in two plays, New England had gone from third-and-17 at its 37 to first-and-10 at the Steelers' 25. They'd gotten a rest and the Steelers momentum had been broken. Apparently their focus was, too, because on the very next play the Steelers let Corey Dillon bust his only mega-run of the day for a 25-yard score to make it 31-10.

I told you so

Not for nothing, but I'd said all year that Pittsburgh's problem and Achilles heel wasn't talent, strength or determination but the ability to maintain mental focus and poise. Two fumbles by Jerome Bettis, blown coverages in the secondary leading to big plays, the Dillon touchdown run, Bill Cowher's fairly ridiculous decision to go for it on fourth-and-1 at the Pats' 39 instead of trying to pin the Pats in the first quarter only proved the point.

Laugh of the night

Injured corner Ty Law sitting on a baby blue scooter that was bumping across the Heinz Field turf -- his broken left foot extended -- as he made his way to the Pats' locker room, whooping and grinning like a fool. For all his offseason foolishness in 2004, he is still a personal favorite. . . . Talking points for Bill Belichick until Super Bowl Sunday: dangers posed by Eagles running back Brian Westbrook; the beautiful mind of Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson; the abundant talent of Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb. Of those three, the only items the Patriots will really need to worry about are the first two. The Patriots' defense is a bad matchup for McNabb. Very bad. . . . Steelers wide receiver Plaxico Burress took the low road after the loss Sunday night, saying he'd probably sign elsewhere in the offseason. "I just don't feel like I'm involved," he complained after making three catches for 37 yards. "I can't justify that right now. Just look at the whole season. You saw it. I thought I would have made a little bit of an impact, but that's the game plan. Three or four balls just doesn't suit me very well." . . . Pro Bowl safety Troy Polamalu joined Burress on the low road. "We were the better team this year, no doubt about it. Unfortunately, it's a one-loss tournament. You just got to win at the right time and New England knows when to peak. Give all the credit to them." Take your own advice, Troy. There's no question Pittsburgh was the best team in the regular season in 2004, but that only gives a club the right to prove it's the best team by having home field in the playoffs. . . . Sure seems like letting Corey Dillon get his 100 yards in Cleveland back in December was a pivotal point in the season, huh? . . . Richard Seymour ignored questions as he walked off of Heinz Field Sunday night. . . . The Patriots' protection for Tom Brady was excellent Sunday night and Matt Light was outstanding on Joey Porter. Even on Porter's sack, Light did a creditable job. Brady just didn't slide forward enough to avoid the sack. . . . Color me unexcited about spending two weeks speculating on whether or not the Patriots are a "dynasty." Shouldn't a dynasty be uninterrupted success for a decade or so with a few titles thrown in like the '70s Cowboys, '80s and '90s 49ers and '70s Steelers did? There are a lot of style similarities between Belichick and Andy Reid, but one difference we'll see on full display next week is that of an injured Terrell Owens being allowed to be the centerpiece of the Eagles' pregame hype. He'd be told to dummy up if he was in New England. By Belichick. By his teammates. By Scott Pioli. And eventually, he'd realize that they were right, that its unfair for a guy who hasn't played a down in the playoffs and is iffy for the Super Bowl to take the bows. But nobody from Philly will have the requisite guts to tell Owens that.