FOXBORO -- On a day of doom and gloom, I bring you sweetness and light.

With the rain still pouring down in the darkness on Gillette Stadium as I write, I bring a ray of sunshine to frustrated, disappointed, and perhaps even disgusted Patriots fans understandably concerned about the seriously depressing, not to mention increasingly likely, prospect of having for the first time in six seasons to watch football teams other than their Foxboro favorite play in January.

There is good news: There's no reason the Patriots can't win their final four games.

The bad news, unfortunately, is that they'll probably have to. And even that may not be enough to put them in the playoff picture.

But the fact is the Pats have no excuse for failing to run the table.

Despite a second-half collapse against the playoff-bound Steelers that resulted in an every-bit-as-bad as it looked 33-10 trouncing, there remains reason for optimism when you look at what's left on the New England schedule.

The Patriots go to Seattle next Sunday to take on the 2-10 Seahawks. After that they'll remain on the West Coast, practicing in California to prepare for the 3-9 Raiders, who lost yesterday to the 2-10 Chiefs -- the Chiefs, for crying out loud, and in Oakland, to boot.

The Pats then return home to face the division-leading Cardinals, who are atop the NFC West only because it is the worst division in the NFL. Arizona is 7-5 following a turkey of a Thanksgiving Day game in Philadelphia, where they were routed by the Eagles, 48-20. That was the fourth game the Cards have played in the Eastern time zone this year, and they've lost them all. Add in that they'll be leaving the warm Arizona desert to play in potentially frigid Foxboro the Sunday before Christmas, and the home field should be even more advantageous than usual for the Patriots.

That leaves a trip to Buffalo, which yesterday lost for the fifth time in six games -- at home, to the lowly 49ers. The Pats have beaten the Bills 10 times in a row, and 15 of the last 16, and there's no reason to think they won't extend that streak.

Unless, of course, they play the way they did against the Steelers.

Which was bad, horrible, awful, horrendous.

Tied at halftime, 10-10, the Patriots literally let the game slip through their hands, as they turned the ball over five straight times in the second half.

The tragedy of errors began when, after the Steelers took a 13-10 lead on their first possession of the third quarter, Matthew Slater let the ensuing kickoff bounce off his chest, then his right hand, then his left hand and then his shin, before it was recovered by Pittsburgh's Keyaron Fox at the New England 8. Two plays later, Pittsburgh had a touchdown.

The next two times the Patriots had the ball, linebacker James Harrison beat Pro Bowl left tackle Matt Light and not only sacked quarterback Matt Cassel from behind, but also caused him to fumble the ball away.

Light offered no explanation afterward for his inability to handle Harrison.

"I got nothing for you," he said, blowing past reporters gathered at his locker, the same way Harrison blew past him to clock Cassel.

Pittsburgh's top-ranked defense continued to give Cassel headaches, intercepting him the next two times the Patriots had the ball.

"Turnovers were a huge part of it," coach Bill Belichick said of the loss, the Pats' second straight at home, and third this season in what suddenly are the not-so-friendly confines of Gillette Stadium.

"We had opportunities," Belichick said. "We weren't able to take advantage of them. Pittsburgh took advantage of theirs. That was the story of the game."

It was a game story that, from a New England perspective, could have been written by Stephen King.

The Patriots were 0 for 12 on third down until the final, meaningless play of the game, when Cassel threw for 20 yards to rookie running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis on third and 12. The Steelers, on the other hand, were 8 of 16 on third down, making a mockery of nose tackle Vince Wilfork's midweek vow that the Pats' defense was going to improve in that area, which has been problematic for them all season.

There were other problems aplenty -- missed blocks, missed tackles, missed assignments and a disturbing number of dropped balls -- including two by the usually sure-handed Randy Moss, who couldn't hang on to what would have been a TD pass (and a 17-10 lead) just before halftime.

The Pats now have lost three of their last five games, and probably need to win their last four if they're to keep their franchise-record playoff-participation streak intact and not be left on the outside looking in when it comes time for postseason play.

"Where does it leave us?" said Cassel, repeating a question directed at him in his postgame press conference. "It leaves us at 7-5, is where it leaves us.

"We've got four games left," he continued, "and we've got to play well in all of them. This is still a tight race, and we're going to go down to the wire. Five games aren't going to knock us out of the playoffs. But we've got to come out and play better than we did today."

Let us, then, look on the bright side of an otherwise dismal day.

Hopefully, the Patriots can't play any worse they did against the Steelers. And, certainly, the teams remaining on their schedule are nowhere near as good as Pittsburgh.

So the good news is that the Pats, despite yesterday's embarrassing loss, certainly can win their remaining four games. The bad news is that they'll probably have to. And, even then, it may still not be enough to put them in the playoffs.

jdonalds@projo.com