How can the Patriots overtake the Steelers?

The Super Bowl is in the books; Steelers fans everywhere still are sleeping off celebration hangovers. Bill Belichick and his staff, however, should be right back to work today trying to figure out a way to wrest the AFC title back away from the Terrible Towelers.

The Patriots aren't all that far off. We all know that. They have one of the best head coaches in the game. They have playmakers on offense. (Did that Santonio Holmes toe-tapping catch look familiar to anyone else?) They have playmakers on defense. They have one of the best kickers in the league. They have youth and experience mixed beautifully.

We all saw, however, the Steelers absolutely take it to the Patriots at Gillette Stadium a couple of months ago. That game revealed a gap between the two teams that needs to be closed during this offseason if the Patriots are to return to the Super Bowl for the fifth time this decade.

How do they do that? Bringing back Tom Brady -- healthy -- is an obvious first step. But what else?

1. Patch up the offensive line.
Three New England offensive linemen went to the Pro Bowl a season ago, a well-deserved reward for their part in the Patriots' 16-0 regular season. But starting with the Super Bowl, in which Justin Tuck and the Giants were all over Brady all night, the Patriots' offensive line hasn't seemed like such a strength.

Kris Jenkins dominated Dan Koppen and Logan Mankins in the Patriots' overtime loss to the Jets. James Harrison twice torched Matt Light around the edge in the rout against the Steelers. No one managed to keep Bernard Pollard away from Brady. Whether it's the personnel or the scheme, something has to change next season.

2. Find some depth on defense.
Injuries killed the Patriots this season. We all could see that. But the Patriots never used injuries as an excuse -- and nor should they. Great teams have players who can fill in the gaps. Great teams don't let just a couple of significant injuries -- Laurence Maroney doesn't count as a significant injury -- keep them out of the playoffs entirely.

Say all you want about the Patriots' ability to unearth talent, but you're not going to win the Super Bowl relying on undrafted free agents (Gary Guyton, Pierre Woods), Bengals castoffs (Deltha O'Neal), or all-but-retired 30-somethings (Junior Seau, Rosevelt Colvin).

And those players weren't just backups or fill-ins. Every player in the previous paragraph made at least one start for the Patriots this season. Guyton, in fact, was the Patriots' fourth-leading tackler in his team's loss to the Steelers.

For comparison: When the Steelers lost cornerbacks Deshea Townshend and Bryant McFadden for a couple of games midway through the season, they still could plug in former fifth-round pick William Gay -- a second-year corner who had 19 tackles and two pass break-ups as a rookie and who was averaging more than a tackle a game even before he was plugged into the starting lineup for the first time.

Injuries hurt, sure. But the Patriots need to find some quality depth so they're not left scrambling when the inevitable happens.

3. Get some luck.
The funny thing about the Steelers was that injuries didn't test their depth much at all. Quite a bit was made about Ben Roethlisberger and Hines Ward in the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, but that really was only because there isn't enough to talk about to cover two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl. Roethlisberger played 19 games. Troy Polomalu played 19 games. James Farrior played 19 games. Larry Foote played 19 games. Four of the Steelers' five offensive linemen played 16 games. Harrison played 18 games -- he only sat out Week 17 with a hip injury because the Steelers already had wrapped up a first-round bye.

And though the Steelers did lose Willie Parker for five games, not once did they have to go any deeper on their depth chart at running back than backup Mewelde Moore (who played in every game from Week 3 on). They didn't have to deal with anything close to what the Patriots had to deal with when they lost Maroney, Sammy Morris and LaMont Jordan -- all at the same time.

Football is a funny game. The Patriots had to deal with all sorts of bad luck this season. The Steelers seemed to get breaks all season long. That won't necessarily happen again next year.