IT COULD BE STEEL CURTAINS FOR REST OF NFL.

Byline: BILLY WITZ

Patience is less a virtue in the NFL than a vice. Thirteen coaches have been with their teams for two seasons or less. Check most rosters, and the same ratio applies to the players.

So who sits atop the disposable, elastic world of the NFL at the season's halfway point?

It might well be the Pittsburgh Steelers, who Sunday ended New England's remarkable winning streak at 21 games and this weekend get a chance to knock of the NFL's last unbeaten team, cross-state rival Philadelphia.

The Steelers are 6-1, already equaling last year's victory total, and if that isn't a big enough surprise, they've done it with a rookie quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, who has won all five of his starts.

If wholesale turnover is the way most franchises rebuild, the Steelers have done it by staying true to their roots - with plenty of patience.

Fifteen of the Steelers' 22 starters have never played for anyone else, and Bill Cowher is in his 13th year as coach, the longest tenure in the league.

This is to be expected from a franchise that has known just two owners - the late Art Rooney and his son, Dan, now 71.

Mention the Steelers and most people think of the Steel Curtain, Terrible Towels and Bradshaw, Lambert, Ham and Mean Joe. Yet the Rooneys - Dan's son, Art II, is president - all remember waiting 40 years to win a playoff game. And needing an Immaculate Reception to do it.

That's why the Rooneys stayed with Chuck Noll through three losing seasons and why they rewarded Cowher, who still had two years left on his contract, a two-year extension worth a reported $9 million this summer.

This despite last season's 6-10 season, which equaled Cowher's worst season and the fourth time in six years he's failed to make the playoffs.

There have been some changes made this season - they've just been necessary ones, on each side of the ball.

The Steelers made a rare foray into the free-agent market, signing halfback Duce Staley to replace the aging Jerome Bettis. Staley, a tough, physical runner, has churned out 4.7 yards per carry and hit the Patriots for 125 yards on 25 carries.

He's helped lift a running game that was 31st in the NFL to third. And there's still been room for Bettis as a goal-line battering ram. On eight possessions inside the 5-yard line, he's delivered touchdowns each time.

On defense, Cowher fired coordinator Tim Lewis after last season and brought back Dick LeBeau, who developed the now-prevalent zone blitz when he coordinated Pittsburgh's defense during its 1995 Super Bowl run.

The Steelers defense, ninth overall a year ago, is sixth this season and has forced 16 turnovers in the last five games.

However, the biggest change - and the most unexpected - has been at quarterback. When Tommy Maddox went down in Week 2 with a shoulder injury, that was supposed to sideline him for eight weeks, the Steelers couldn't contain their disappointment.

``It's not exciting,'' guard Alan Faneca, a co-captain, said. ``Do you want to go work with some little young kid who's just out of college?''

Enthusiasm is no longer a problem, in or out of the locker room. Roethlisberger is drawing comparisons to Bradshaw and Pittsburgh native Dan Marino, all while the city's ubiquitous burger joints are rushing to put a Roethlis-burger on their menus.

His performance against the Patriots (18 for 24, 196 yards, two touchdowns) was no fluke. He's completed 70.1 percent of his passes, has thrown two interceptions in his five starts and his quarterback rating of 104.7 is fifth in the NFL.

Cowher reminded that everyone Sunday evening that the Steelers hadn't accomplished anything yet. True, but if the Steelers win against Sunday, patience will be ignored. Too many will be enjoying its rewards.

--For those who find Terrell Owens an insufferable showboat - who also has a habit of dropping passes, as he did Sunday - you won't get an argument here. That said, at least he works at it. The send-up of Ray Lewis was just as clever conceived and flawlessly executed, just like pulling a Sharpie from his sock or pompons from a cheerleader.

--The most remarkable aspect of the Patriots winning streak is that they never trailed by more than seven points.

--The 101 points the Chiefs have scored the past two weeks are more than Carolina (100), Miami (100) and Washington (98) have scored all season.

--Since 1936, the result of the Redskins game prior to the presidential election has foretold the outcome of the vote: if the Redskins win, so does the party in power. Thus, Washington's 28-14 loss to Green Bay is supposed to mean a victory for John Kerry. No word on whether he'll thank the Packers with a visit to ``Lambert'' Field.

--If this election follows Redskins' form, Seahawks running back Kerry Carter will join recently retired Raiders tackle Lincoln Kennedy as NFL players who share names with two presidents.