RIP Anthony Smith

Well, that didn't quite turn out the way Anthony Smith said it would, did it? After the game, a Steelers official called Smith "young and dumb." I'd say it's pretty bad when your own team is calling you dumb. I'd also call him used and abused after watching him get burned time and time again throughout the game. It was obvious from the start that the Patriots were going to teach Smith a lesson and picked on him throughout the entire game, going so far as to execute a flea-flicker play specifically designed to burn him.

I think Randy Moss put it best when he said, "They did their talking throughout the week, and we did our talking on the field." He then went on to add that no one should ever bet against Tom Brady because he has "the determination to go out and kill you at any given time."

I like the fact that Brady was right in Smith's face after the first TD, jawing with him. I've seen Brady show more emotion this year than at any other time in his career and I think the guys around him feed off of that. Smith said after the game that he didn't notice that Brady was yelling at him after the first TD. Yeah, right, you can't tell that Brady is helmet to helmet with you telling you that you suck to your face. Smith may be dumber than people think.

The Steelers came in on a roll and boasting about the NFLs best defense but I never thought they looked very good offensively or defensively. After the first quarter, it seems as though the Patriots dominated both sides of the ball. Yeah, Ben Roethlisberger is a good quarterback but I just don't think he can beat you all by himself and he certainly wasn't going to do that on Sunday, having only passed for 187 yards.

Here are a few random thoughts on the game:

∙ The Steelers came in with the best defense in the league, giving up 231 total yards a game and only allowing 154 yards passing a game. The Patriots rang up 421 total yards, 399 of which came from Brady's arm. The Steelers started the day allowing just 12.9 points per game with only one reception of more than 40 yards all year. The Patriots had two catches of over 50 yards yesterday. That's total domination.

∙ Good call by former Steelers coach Bill Cowher to say during halftime to look for the Patriots to come out and establish the running game. In the second half, the Patriots ran the ball three times and at one point called 33 consecutive pass plays. "It was obvious that they didn't care about running the ball," said Pittsburgh cornerback Ike Taylor. Umm, did the Steelers show Ike any film on the Patriots? They only employ a running back to meet equal employment standards.

∙ What the heck was that thing that Bill Belicheat was wearing during the game? Was it actually a coat? I've only ever seen him in a hoodie on game day.

∙ Hey, Mike Tomlin, way to make adjustments in the second half by coming out and scoring zero points.

∙ Randy Moss is taking the whole dropped pass bet to another level. Should we be concerned that he's now dropped at least three sure TDs? Didn't think so.

∙ Was that Rodney HGHarrison making two consecutive big plays on the goal line in the third quarter? Why, yes, it was! This was HGHarrison after the game, still yapping about Smith and how his comments inspired the Patriots. "It's almost like when you go to a pizza shop and you order your pizza, and you say I want extra sausage. There's nothing wrong with extra sausage." I'm not sure what that quote has to do with football but apparently HGHarrison likes extra sausage.

∙ I throughly enjoyed the Patriots going for it on fourth down when they were within reasonable field goal range. There was never even any hesitation after the third down play ended. Either their field goal kicker was taking a bathroom break or that was the screw you play of the game.

∙ I'm not sure what to think of the Patriots non-existent running game. They had nine carries for 22 yards for the entire game. Ten of those yards came on one carry by Lawrence Maroney, which I think was a career best for him. I keep thinking that it would be nice to have a little bit better running game but I also feel a lot more confident with Brady throwing short slant passes for short yardage than taking my chances with Maroney running into his own guys. Steelers running back Willie Parker had 124 yards rushing but I never felt like he was a very big factor or that he could single handedly control the game.

∙ For a team that was considered the best defense in the league, the Steelers didn't sack Tom Brady. He has been sacked only 16 times all season. The previous two games against Philly and the Ravens were very physical and Brady was constantly pressured, knocked down and sacked. I saw very little of that yesterday. The offensive line should get a lot of credit for giving Brady lots of time in the pocket.

∙ Here are a few tid bits on Brady's season to date: He has more touchdown passes than the rest of the AFC East combined (31), more than the combined totals of Brett Favre and Drew Brees (44), and the exact combined totals of Peyton and Eli Manning. Brady only has five interceptions in 476 pass attempts. Dallas' Tony Romo threw that many picks in a single game this season. Brady now has more touchdowns this season than he did during his entire college career at Michigan.

∙ I wouldn't read too much into the time of possession stat: Steelers 35 minutes, Patriots 25 minutes. When Brady is throwing 60 yard bombs, you tend to not need very much time to score.

∙ I am a little concerned with the third down efficiency, where we were just 4-11 yesterday. Again, when you're throwing 60 yard bombs on first down, you tend to not have many third downs. A better percentage rate on third down would be nice, though.

∙ Hopefully this will be my last ever Anthony Smith comment but I couldn't pass up Belicheat's post game reaction: "We've played against a lot better safeties than him. He's just not very good." Ouch.

∙ Up next are the Jets and I'm not sure what to think of this game. I guess I should find out the most points ever scored by one team in the NFL because the Pats might be aiming to break that record. Brady needs five TDs to break the all time NFL single season record and I wouldn't be surprised if it happens in the first half of Sunday's game. The Patriots opened as 27-point favorites over the Jets, the biggest spread ever, and I still don't think it's high enough. This past week I entertained the thought of the Patriots-Steelers game being a close contest. There is no doubt in my mind that Sunday's game will not be close. I'll have more on the upcoming throttling of the Jets later in the week.