Steelers update.

Cowher shrugs off clock mistake

Two days after the NFL apologized for a game-clock gaffe, in which 52 seconds were inadvertently added to the Steelers-Patriots contest due to an error by the officials, coach Bill Cowher weighed in on the matter.


Starkey: Backup plan
If a major injury was going to strike somewhere in the Steelers' starting lineup, this was not the worst spot.

Not by a long shot.

It's terrible for Clark Haggans that he's out for at least a month, but it would be far worse for the Steelers if Hines Ward, James Farrior, Alan Faneca, Troy Polamalu or Marvel Smith went down.

PG STEELERS' NOTEBOOK
Linebacker Clark Haggans was the star of the Steelers' defense Sunday, but he wasn't celebrating after the Patriots won, 23-20.

"It just sucks," Haggans said with disgust. "Any loss -- if you have a crappy game, a big game, if you don't win the game, that's what we're out there for. When you lose a game, there's nothing good to really talk about."

Haggans' 12 tackles Sunday doubled his total of six from the previous two games. He also had a sack (his third) and two forced fumbles (three for the season).


Passing game sputters
Hines Ward caught two touchdown passes to give him four in three games and matching his entire output from last season. But there was little else from the Steelers' passing game Sunday as the Patriots poured in on quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to sack him four times and force him into many bad throws. He was 12 of 28.

"Their scheme," Ward explained. "They blitzed. They blitzed tons. Overall, we've got to pick up the blitz. Players quarterback, wideouts, we've got to see the blitz, react to it [and] execute the play.

"We had some letdowns here and there. That's why we've got to learn from it, take this off week, get everybody healthy and let's get ready to go 13 straight."


Quick outs
The Steelers-Patriots game was CBS' second-highest rated national game for the first three weeks of the season since the network began broadcasting AFC games in 1998. The game had an overnight rating of 14.0 and a 36 share. ... The Steelers did not issue any injury updates for any of their players yesterday, including Roethlisberger, who left the game with a left shoulder injury but returned and did not miss a snap.