COMMENTARY

By DAVE GOLDBERG

updated 10:13 p.m. ET Sept. 25, 2005

PITTSBURGH - Of all the exceptional displays the New England Patriots have put on over the past five seasons, this was one of the most remarkable.

OK, maybe the first Super Bowl, the win over St. Louis, because it was far more important, ranks on top. But Sunday’s 23-20 win over Pittsburgh was close.

Safety Rodney Harrison and left tackle Matt Light went out early with serious injuries, Harrison’s adding to problems in a secondary already missing two key players. Added to that was some very uncharacteristic sloppy play: two turnovers inside the Steelers’ 10-yard line; a face mask penalty on the usually flawless Richard Seymour that negated a sack; and a dropped interception by Seymour that might have been returned for a touchdown.

No matter.

Not when Tom Brady goes 12-of-12 for 168 yards in the final quarter with a left side of the line made up of Nick Kaczur and Logan Mankins, two rookies. OK, so Mankins was a first-round choice — he’s still a rookie.

“We brought 45 guys here,” Bill Belichick said. “When one man goes down, that’s what the other is there for. He steps in.”

It sounds so simple, but no other team in football has been able to do it like the Patriots. Heck, they didn’t even use wide receiver Troy Brown in the depleted secondary as they did last season, when they were left with almost nothing back there.

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They only won a Super Bowl despite it.

This certainly wasn’t a Super Bowl. And it looked like New England’s second straight loss, something the Pats haven’t had since late in the 2002 season. It was especially grim after Harrison went out with what looks like a very serious knee injury and Light, the left tackle, left soon afterward with a serious leg injury. (Belichick wasn’t saying anything, but it was pretty clear watching them taken off the field that it wasn’t routine.)

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