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Notebook: Faneca expecting new schemes from Belichick
Kevin Gorman can be reached via e-mail or 412-320-7812.
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"It will be a different look that will make us come to the sideline, look at the pictures from the top and figure it out," Faneca said. "They're going to throw something at us and there's going to be a couple of three-and-outs. We're going to have to stick with it, keep plugging away until we can get a drive going."
"I guess if they win a third Super Bowl, you've got to give them a lot of credit," Bettis said. "You can't deny it. If they do it, you've got to tip your hat to them."
The team's chairman declined to make a prediction Wednesday. But he did say he saw glimpses of his 1970's Super Bowl champions in the present team.
"Those teams did what they had to do, and I can see that this team is like that,'' Rooney said. "They've achieved what they had to do."
Otherwise, Rooney resisted drawing any links between this squad and the 1970s teams that brought home four Lombardi Trophies from 1974-79.
"I'll wait a couple more weeks before making any more comparisons,'' Rooney said.
"If you think it's a better choice than going and getting somebody off the street who hasn't been playing, then you do it," Burress said. "And they have a guy who can do it." When asked who could fill a similar role, if needed, for the Steelers, Burress was blunt: "Me. You have the pass-route combinations. Somebody's going in, somebody's going out. A receiver has an advantage because he knows the pass routes. He knows what you can do out of formations and what you can't do. Every receiver, if you put him on the defensive side, he can tell you pass combinations."
In the past, Burress has been stationed at the goal line to deflect Hail Mary pass attempts. He also is a member of the "hands team" for onsides kicks.
"I don't know what the weather is going to be like, but if it's snowing, it's going to be smash-mouth football," Foote said. "As a linebacker, I hope it's snowing and the quarterback can barely throw a hitch route." But safety Troy Polamalu doesn't believe it will matter. "It was freezing cold and windy last Sunday - for both teams," Polamalu said. "Weather is never a factor. Never for New England. Never for Pittsburgh."
"I wouldn't say he's automatic, but when he lines up for a field goal, you would think more make than miss," Steelers kicker Jeff Reed said. "In my eyes, he is the best kicker in the NFL right now."
"You're one step away from the biggest game in the world," Faneca said. "And we fell short. That's a tough loss. We can get what we didn't get then, but it has nothing to do with them. We can't take away their Super Bowl rings if we beat them."
