Steelers...33 Patriots...10

FOXBOROUGH, MASS. — Pittsburgh’s NFL-best defense stopped Matt Cassel’s two-game offensive surge and pushed New England closer to strange territory: a sideline seat for the playoffs.

The Steelers held the Patriots to 267 yards, got TD passes from Ben Roethlisberger and four field goals from Jeff Reed and beat the Patriots, 33-10, on a cold, rainy day.

Cassel lost two fumbles and two interceptions in the second half and was sacked five times after throwing for at least 400 yards in his last two contests.

Pittsburgh (9-3) stayed a game ahead of Baltimore in the AFC North. New England (7-5) dropped into a second-place tie with Miami in the AFC East.

Quoteworthy: “They had to start passing the ball and we didn’t have to sit back and try and guess what they were doing.” -- James Harrison, Steelers linebacker