NEW ENGLAND BLITZES WAY TO AFC TITLE GAME : NEW ENGLAND 28, PITTSBURGH 3.

Byline: Ed Duckworth Providence (R.I.) Journal-Bulletin

For an entire week, all they had heard about was how powerful the Pittsburgh Steelers defense is; how Chad Brown, Levon Kirkland and Jason Gildon were going to stop Curtis Martin cold and blitz Drew Bledsoe from here to Worcester.

``It did get to be a bit much,'' said New England Patriots center Dave Wohlabaugh. ``I mean, we knew we were in for a fight, but we felt like we had a chance to win if we executed our game plan.''

They did exactly that Sunday, as Martin ran for 166 yards and three touchdowns, Bledsoe completed 14 of 24 passes for 164 yards and another score and the Patriots' underrated defense shut down Jerome ``Bus'' Bettis in a 28-3 rout of the Steelers in an AFC divisional playoff game.

Now only the upstart Jacksonville Jaguars, whom New England will play host to Sunday for the AFC championship, stand between the Patriots and a trip to the Super Bowl.

``We played well today,'' coach Bill Parcells said. ``We got off to a good start, hit a few plays early and got a little momentum. I felt that was important because they would have liked to run Bettis and play the way they played last week (in a 42-14 victory over Indianapolis).''

The Patriots landed a haymaker on their first play from scrimmage, a 53-yard pass from Bledsoe to rookie wide receiver Terry Glenn that set up Martin's 2-yard run up the middle for a touchdown on the next snap.

On the fourth play of its second possession, New England raised a few more welts when Bledsoe flipped a screen pass that veteran fullback Keith Byars carried 34 yards to the end zone for a 14-0 lead.

``They came in with a bully mentality, and the best way to beat a bully is to throw the first punch,'' Byars said. ``Indianapolis forgot to be aggressive against these guys.''

Once they had grabbed the lead, the Patriots defended it with ferocity.

``I kept my mouth shut all week because, like everybody else, I wanted to focus on my job,'' said Willie McGinest, the usually outspoken pass-rusher out of USC. ``We knew we had to stop the run, and once we stopped the run we had to get after the quarterback.''

McGinest said that while he didn't want to badmouth the Steelers, the AFC Central champions' press notices had been a motivating factor for the New England defense.

``It was Slash this, Slash that and Bettis,'' he said, referring to speedy quarterback Kordell Stewart, nicknamed Slash, and Pittsburgh's 250-pound tailback. ``We were upset. Nobody gave us a chance.''

Cornerback Ty Law said he and his defensive teammates had accepted a personal challenge.

``We had a great scheme because everybody knew who he had to cover, and he stuck to him like glue,'' he said. ``I don't know if there was a matchup we lost. We might not have played a perfect game, but we played well enough to win.''

In fact, the gang-tackling Patriots kept on Bettis from the get-go, limiting the former Los Angeles Rams star to 43 yards on 13 carries.

Thanks to up-front pressure by McGinest and others on the defensive line, New England did an equally impressive job against the pass, limiting Mike Tomczak, whom they sacked twice, to 16 completions in 29 attempts for 110 yards.

Steelers coach Bill Cowher turned to Stewart early in the second quarter after the Patriots had extended their lead to 21-0 on a brilliant 78-yard run by Martin. Cowher's move helped New England.

Although Stewart gained 19 yards on four runs, he didn't complete a pass in 10 attempts and failed to spark Pittsburgh.

``I think he's a terrific athlete with a very bright future, but right now he's playing a role,'' Parcells said of Stewart. ``I could almost sense . . . In fact, I told my defensive coaches the series before they put him in . . . I said, `I guarantee you, this is the series he's coming in.' So we were ready. We had our players alerted to what we wanted to do when he was in there.''

Without Bettis shaking loose or Tomczak or Stewart throwing effectively, the Steelers never really had a chance to make a game of it after New England had jumped to a two-touchdown lead.

But it wasn't until early in the second quarter, when Martin took a pitch from Bledsoe and burst into the secondary on a play designed to go around right end, that the Steelers' chances expired.

Pittsburgh's linebackers were blitzing when Martin cut to the inside, eluded diving safety Carnell Lake, and began racing toward the end zone 78 yards away.

``I just remember cutting back, and I remember seeing No. 37 (Lake), and then, I don't actually know,'' Martin said.

Martin's second touchdown came on his longest run as a professional and it represented a team record in a playoff game.

The score gave the Patriots what would prove to be a safe, 21-0 halftime lead. Even though their offense mostly sputtered through the last two quarters, their defense never let up.

``We were determined to play hard the entire way,'' said linebacker Chris Slade. ``We'd heard all about how good the Pittsburgh defense was. We wanted to show we can play good defense, too.''

New England limited Pittsburgh to 12 first downs and a total of 213 yards, 140 of which came in the second half when Cowher began taking more chances.

The Steelers' only points came early in the third quarter on a 29-yard field goal by Norm Johnson. The kick followed Chad Brown's interception of a Bledsoe pass near the New England 40, one of two interceptions by Pittsburgh.

The Patriots' insurance touchdown, later in the third quarter, was set up by a Lawyer Milloy interception of an underthrown Tomczak pass to Andre Hastings at the New England 39.

Martin also scored that TD, running 23 yards through a hole created by right guard Todd Rucci.

The Steelers, Rucci said, ``spent the whole season putting people back on their heels by blitzing. Well, I guess we set them back on their heels today.''

And this time, for a change, the Patriots never let their opponent up.

``We had two weeks to prepare for this game, and it showed,'' Byars said. ``In fact, we couldn't wait for the game to start.''

RUN DOWN

Curtis Martin of New England and Pittsburgh's Jerome Bettis are two of the AFC's top running backs. Here is a statistical comparison in their divisional playoff game.

Rushing: Bettis- 13 carries, 43 yards; Martin- 19 carries, 166 yards and 3 TDs.

Receiving: Bettis- 2 receptions, -1 yard; Martin 2 receptions, 9 yards.

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos, Box

Photo: (1,2) New England's Curtis Martin is off and running on a 78-yard touchdown, leaving Pittsburgh's Kevin Henry (76) and Carnell Lake (37) in his wake. It was one of three rushing touchdowns on the day for Martin, who was expected to have a much tougher time of it against an aggressive defense. The AFC playoff game at Foxboro Stadium, right, began in a thick fog. The Steelers ended in one.

Ruben W. Perez / Providence (R.I.) Journal-Bulletin

Associated Press

(3) Pittsburgh quarterback Mike Tomczak (18) braces for a collision with New England linebacker Chris Slade.

Associated Press

Box: RUN DOWN (see text)