Steelers just keep executing scheme

Bill Belichick has a pretty thick file on the Pittsburgh Steelers, dating all the way back to his days as head coach of the division rival Cleveland Browns from 1991-95. Now, Belichick keeps files on every team the Patriots play, but his Steelers file might be the most valuable because, over the years, it has changed the least.

Offensively and defensively, Pittsburgh has played the same general scheme for at least the last decade and a half, Belichick said during his weekly meeting with the media on Wednesday. Be it Kevin Greene (35 sacks from 1993-95), Jason Gildon (a franchise-best 77 sacks from 1994-2003), Joey Porter (60 sacks from 1999-2006) or now James Harrison (24.5 sacks since 2002, including 12 this season), the names change but the scheme -- and its ruthless effectiveness -- does not.

His notes from 1995 on, for example, the Cincinnati Bengals or Jacksonville Jaguars are beyond useless because coaches and schemes have changed so often. But the scheme Mike Tomlin inherited from Bill Cowher -- and the scheme defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau first instituted from 1992-96 and then brought back in 2004.

But Belichick saw some much that was familiar about the way the Steelers are playing this season that he went back to his notes from the early 1990s. Sure enough, the scheme was pretty much the same.

"Most teams have changed eight times since then," he said. "Just out of curiosity, we were talking about it; (football research director) Ernie (Adams) was there in Cleveland, and we were sitting around and talking about it and saying, 'That was the same way they ran it back then, right?' and we went back into our notes, and it's the same thing."

Belichick has collected quite a file on Pittsburgh since his arrival in New England as well; in his nine seasons with the Patriots, he's now had to game-plan for the Steelers seven times, including twice in 2004. Before that, he had to game-plan for the Steelers four times in three seasons (including two playoff games) as the Patriots' defensive coordinator under Bill Parcells.

And while some tendencies have changed -- the arrival of tight end Heath Miller, for example, gave the Steelers reason to employ more three-receiver formations than four-receiver formations -- much has stayed the same.

Belichick emphasized that Pittsburgh's consistency isn't a bad thing; in fact, it's a good thing. That stands to reason, given that the Steelers rank first in the NFL in rush defense, pass defense, total defense and points allowed per game. Harrison has 12 sacks, but LaMarr Woodley has 10.5. Troy Polamalu has five interceptions. Linebacker James Farrior has 81 tackles -- and the fact that he's the only Steeler among the top 30 in the NFL in tackles says something about the way the entire defense has played.

"Watching them play 11 games this year has a lot more impact on what we do than anything that happened back in the '90s or '02 or '03 or anything else," he said. "But I am saying that it's pretty much the same. Harrison is different than Gildon, and Gildon was different than Kevin Greene, and Kevin Greene was different than Greg Lloyd. But they're all 10-sack-a-year guys -- or more. Whoever those players are, they've been able to maintain a lot of continuity in their system even though the players have changed, in some cases, multiple times through the years."

About all that's changed, really, is the handwriting in which Belichick has taken his notes.

"It was better then," he said with a smile.

But Belichick isn't the only one who has noticed the similarities in scheme for which the Patriots have had to prepare every time they play the Steelers.

"Over the years, it's always been a certain style down in Pittsburgh," said left tackle Matt Light, who was informed Wednesday he would not be suspended for his fourth-quarter fight with the Dolphins' Channing Crowder. "They've always been a physical team. I think back to my rookie year, going there and playing those guys -- it was always about going and playing a very physical team that can move around a lot. They'd hit you at every angle. For us up front, it's just a matter of recognizing what they do, trying to get a hat on a hat. It really comes down to the physical side of it and who can outlast the other guy."