Quick Hits:

As the Week 13 matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots approaches, here are some thoughts on the game and the history between these two teams.

Patriots – Steelers History

The Patriots host the Steelers at home where they’ve never lost to Pittsburgh holding a 2-0 advantage at Gillette Stadium.  The Patriots have won 3 out of the past  4 regular season meetings between these teams dating back to 2002.  The Patriots also hold a 2-0 postseason record against Pittsburgh during that time.

The Steelers have the second best post-Thanksgiving record in NFL History with 36 wins and just 16 losses (.692).  The No. 1 team?  New England with 48 wins and just 9 losses, a .842 winning percentage.

The two teams have met 24 times with New England winning 7 of the past 10 contests.

Trash Talking Not A Good Idea

Last week former Pittsburgh Steeler linebacker Joey Porter participated in an interview on ESPN with former New York Jet Keyshawn Johnson. While both players may have had an axe to grind against New England, Porters comments about New England’s videotaping scandal stood out. 

Porter claimed he was cheated out of two AFC Championship games when the team played New England while Porter was a member.  When asked for clarification Porter claimed New England won because of the videotaping which they were caught doing in 2007 against the New York Jets.

“Come on, man. They’ve been videotaping for years, man,” Porter said. “You cannot sit up there and honestly tell me if it wasn’t working, why was he doing it so much?”

When asked why he still felt that way even after the Patriots were punished and went on a record-setting pace on offense in 2007, Porter just lobbed accusations at head coach Bill Belihcick.

“I don’t know, Porter admitted. “Maybe he found a new way to do it or not to tell you the truth. The boy cold, man. He showed us, he’s cold.”

After the Dolphins lost to New England on Sunday, Porter avoided the media.  Later in the week, he released an apology to his head coach for refusing to come off the field late in the game. 

"I’d just like to apologize for not respecting Coach Sparano’s orders to come off the field," Porter said. "I wasn’t looking at it that way. I was just staying on the field playing football, I wasn’t trying to make it as being disrespectful to the team or not obeying his order."

With Porter’s comments behind them, the Patriots were able to move on.  Porter did get a sack on Matt Cassel, but was ineffective for most of the game.

“He completely disappeared,” said Dolphins beat writer Alain Poupart via email.  Porter registered just

Smith Gets In On Trash Talk

Maligned Pittsburgh defender Anthony Smith made the mistake of not backing away from comments regarding his guarantee of a Steeler victory in 2007.  Smith was burned twice by Tom Brady and company in a 34-13 rout vs the Steelers with Tom Brady getting into Smith’s face after one of the long throws which burned the young defender.  He have up two big plays on the day.

Then Smith made the mistake of repeating his brash comment.

"If they ask me again, I’ll say the same thing," Smith told the Indiana Gazette. "We’re the No. 1 defense. If we play like we’ve been playing, and our offense comes around and has a good game, and we’re clicking on all cylinders, we’re going to win the game."

The thing is… Pittsburgh was the No. 1 defense in 2007, and that didn’t stop them from giving up 399 yards through the air and 34 points overall.

Being Top Ranked Is Overrated

The Pittsburgh Steelers are the top ranked defense in the NFL allowing just 14.5 points (1st), 235 total yards (1st), 168.8  passing  (1st) and 15 touchdowns (1st) per game.

But in week 13 last year, Pittsburgh had the same ranked defense in 2007 allowing just 12.9 points (1st), 230.8 total yards (1st), 154.0 passing (1st) and 17 touchdowns (1st).

Brady and the Patriots used a combination of play action, spread offense and big plays to rack up 34 points, 421 total yards, 399 passing and 4 touchdowns.

Injuries An Issue for New England

Ty Warren, Richard Seymour, Tedy Bruschi, Adalius Thomas, LaMont Jordan are all ailing for this week’s game against the Steelers. With concerns over losing Rodney Harrison , Tom Brady and Laurence Maroney for the season, the Patriots can ill afford more injuries.