Pittsburgh's LaMarr Woodley runs with the ball after recovering one of Matt Cassel's two fumbles.

Journal photo / Glenn Osmundson

FOXBORO -- Pittsburgh's defense saw all of the numbers that Matt Cassel had put up over his previous two outings: a combined 815 passing yards and seven touchdowns (6 passing, 1 rushing).

They saw how New England's offense was shredding opposing teams' defenses over the previous two weeks -- amassing a combined 1,044 yards of total offense and 79 points over that span.

But the Pittsburgh Steelers' defense felt like it had something to prove Sunday at Gillette Stadium.

They are the NFL's No. 1 team against the rush, against the pass, in points allowed and in total defense, which makes them, they believe, the most feared defense in the league.

The Patriots found that out the hard way in Sunday's 33-10 loss.

The Steelers defense shut down the surging Patriots offense, limiting them to just 267 yards while forcing five turnovers (all in the second half) and stopping New England on 12 of 13 third-down conversion attempts in the rout.

"Our D-Line, they gave great pressure," said Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison, who led the Steelers with nine tackles, two sacks and two forced fumbles. "They didn't let [Cassel] step up or get to the outside."

"We got a lot of turnovers," said Pittsburgh linebacker LaMarr Woodley, who had five tackles, two quarterback hits, a sack and a fumble recovery. "We got two interceptions. We recovered fumbles. We caused turnovers, and if we continue to do that we'll be able to win games."

Pittsburgh sacked Cassel five times and now leads the NFL in sacks on the season (43). Harrison (14) and Woodley (11.5) have a combined 25.5 sacks, which is a Steelers record for a linebacker tandem.

"It feels good, but that's not the end of it," Harrison said. "We're trying to raise that total to 30-plus."

New England became unraveled in the third quarter, when Matthew Slater fumbled a kickoff return after Pittsburgh place kicker Jeff Reed had given the Steelers a 13-10 lead with a 25-yard field goal, and the Steelers recovered the fumble.

"I saw the ball. There's no excuse," Slater said. "I just felt like I let my team down."

The ball bounced off Slater's chest, hands and knee, and Pittsburgh linebacker Keyaron Fox pounced on the loose ball at New England's 8-yard line. Pittsburgh scored two plays later to take a 20-10 lead.

"We talked about making some big plays this year, and that was one of them," Fox said of Pittsburgh's special teams unit.

Then Harrison went to work, sacking Cassel twice on the Patriots' following two possessions, causing a fumble and a turnover both times.

"He's a big-time beast," Woodley said of Harrison.

"That's just something I try to do," Harrison said. "Anytime I can get on the blind side of the quarterback, you want to reach for the ball and grab at that arm, and I just happened to get through."

"Not to take it for granted, but that's what we've come to expect from him, because that's what he's capable of," Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin said. "He's got tremendous talent. He's got tremendous work ethic and he's a heck of a football player."

Pittsburgh forced five straight New England turnovers in the second half, including four by Cassel, who fumbled twice and was intercepted twice. The turnovers led to 20 second-half points for Pittsburgh.

"It was 10-10 at halftime, and sometimes as a defense it's our mission to go out there and make sure that they don't put any points on the board," Woodley said. "I think we did a good job by not allowing them to put points on the board, taking the ball from them and letting our offense put points on the board."

Pittsburgh has held all 12 of its opponents under 300 yards.

"We knew that if we could come out here and play the type of defense that we can play, then we would come out on top," Woodley said.

roblee@projo.com