PITTSBURGH -- The casual brilliance the Pittsburgh Steelers flashed with remarkable ease over the first month of the season -- well, save for three regrettable hours in Philadelphia -- has faded quickly.It tends to happen when the training room looks just as crowded as the locker room.The franchise quarterbacks left knee is aching. The defensive captains hamstring is still tweaked. The right tackles ankle, too. The budding deep threat wide receivers left hand is busted. And Pittsburghs confidence, like it or not, is shaken.Sure the Steelers (4-3) will still be in first place of the underwhelming AFC North when they travel to Baltimore on Nov. 6. It just doesnt feel like it. Consecutive losses to Miami and New England and a mounting injury list to bold-faced names sent Pittsburgh reeling heading into its well-timed bye.Theres plenty of time to get it together.Just got to re-energize, said defensive end Cam Heyward, whose tender hamstring forced him to watch from the sideline as the Dolphins and Patriots ran wild. We have to see the mistakes weve made and I think theres so many things we can work on individually that when we come back collectively, it can benefit all of us. Whether its tackling, whether its ailments or injuries for each player, just technique stuff.Yet the chance to make any sort of early season statement that the Steelers are ready to challenge the Patriots or the defending Super Bowl champion Broncos for AFC supremacy is gone. Yes, the offense wont be the same until Ben Roethlisberger returns from minor knee surgery, but Pittsburghs biggest issue is on the other side of the ball.The Steelers expected to take a step forward after a promising first season under linebackers coach-turned-coordinator Keith Butler, one in which they finished in the top 10 in the league in turnovers and sack, splash plays that took some of the sting out of giving up oodles of yards.Instead, Pittsburgh has taken a step back. The Steelers are tied for last in sacks (eight) and in the middle in takeaways (eight), both far off their 2015 pace. Butler pulled back on the array of blitzes he introduced last season, choosing instead to drop as many men in coverage as possible to take some of the pressure off a secondary littered with young players. When the gameplan works -- as it did in romps over Kansas City and Washington -- the defense is good enough for Pittsburgh to win. When its doesnt work, or when teams opt to pound the ball on the ground as the Patriots and the Dolphins did, the Steelers look like just another team.Its frustrating, Butler said. Were all frustrated at this point in time. We dont like being 4-3 . theres a little frustration there for all of us.There have been pleasant surprises. Running back LeVeon Bell looks as dangerous as ever since returning from a shredded right knee that cut short his 2015 season. Tight ends Jesse James and Xavier Grimble, tasked with replacing Heath Miller and holding the fort until free agent signee Ladarius Green returns to health, have combined for four touchdowns. Backup quarterback Landry Jones hardly looked limited while keeping the Steelers in the game with New England until the fourth quarter. Rookie first-round pick Artie Burns and fellow cornerback Ross Cockrell have been steady.Still, more is required. After a narrow loss to Denver on the road in last years playoffs, the Steelers knew playing home games at Heinz Field for as long as possible was vital. The loss to the Patriots means any shot at homefield advantage is likely already long gone, particularly if Roethlisberger misses another game or two.The quarterback practiced a bit last week and declined to put a timetable on his return, though hes made a habit in his career of willingly playing through considerable pain. He did it in Miami, when he tore cartilage in his left knee and kept on playing long after the matter had already been decided.Given the way Jones played against New England and the current status of the Ravens, theres little incentive to push Roethlisberger too much. The Steelers can move the ball even without their all-time leading passer. They just need to do it all the time instead of in fits and starts, a habit thats popped up regularly in their losses.Its pretty obvious we need to be more consistent game-in and game-out, Haley said. Weve shown were capable of putting up a lot of points when we execute run and pass. In the games we havent, we havent executed the finer details of the game plan.No better time to start than next week.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL Red Air VaporMax China Online . "I was fortunate to play many years at this level with a great organization and unbelievable teammates," said Hejduk in a statement. Wholesale Air VaporMax China . Tuesdays surgery at Atlantas Piedmont Hospital was performed by Dr. Xavier Duralde and Hawks team physician Dr. Michael Bernot. http://www.cheapairvapormaxchina.us/ . The judges scored it 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 for Jones (19-1). It was the champions closest call. Despite the loss, it was a remarkable show by the confident Swedish challenger, who had the best of the early rounds and then hung on in the fourth and fifth. White Air VaporMax China . -- Five former Kansas City Chiefs players who were on the team between 1987 and 1993 filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming the team hid and even lied about the risks of head injuries during that time period when there was no collective bargaining agreement in place in the NFL. Air VaporMax China 2019 . Vettel, who has already clinched his fourth straight F1 title, enters the finale with a chance to equal Michael Schumachers 13 victories in a year and match the record of nine consecutive wins by Alberto Ascari in the 1952 and 1953 seasons. CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- Robert Wright is permanently scarred from Miamis win over Duke last season .And he was on the winning side.Anyone familiar with Miamis game-ending kickoff return for a touchdown at Duke last season knows all about the eight laterals, the wild scene when Corn Elder reached the end zone, the lengthy review from the replay booth, the officiating mistakes and the Hurricanes wild celebratory reaction when they were declared winners.Turns out, there was so much more than what was seen on the field that night. With the Hurricanes set to host Duke on Saturday in the teams first meeting since that still-debated 30-27 win by the Hurricanes, some of the principals involved in The Miami Miracle recalled this week how it happened.---SETTING THE SCENEMiami was at its lowest point that week.Coach Al Golden was fired on Sunday, a day after the Hurricanes lost to Clemson 58-0. Star defensive back Artie Burns mother died in the days before the Duke game, and quarterback Brad Kaaya was ruled out with a concussion.It was a rough week, said Kaaya, who didnt even make the trip to Duke.There was more, too. A backup player was arrested that week on suspicion of domestic battery, and police came to practice on Tuesday to talk to some graduate assistants after the home they shared was burglarized on Monday night.But practice went on and something Miami installed that week was a throwback-pass kickoff return that the Hurricanes had run a couple of times in Goldens tenure, including in his first game at Maryland in 2011.The plan was to run it at Duke. They ended up running something else .We wanted to run what we called `Music City, for the Music City Miracle, said Wright, a graduate assistant coach for Miami last year and now an assistant at Illinois, referring to the throwback-pass kickoff return that lifted Tennessee over Buffalo in an NFL playoff game in January 2000. But when we called it, the GA who was on the field lost the card and we couldnt show it to players.So they scrambled and came up with a new play on the fly.I just remember thinking, `Its going to work, Elder said. We were going to win.---THE PLAYDuke scored its go-ahead touchdown with 6 seconds left -- some at Miami still say the Blue Devils didnt cross the goal line -- and everyone knew the ensuing kickoff would put the Hurricanes in a desperate spot.With Music City off the table since the card was lost, Miami set up a different throwback return. Its now known as Desperado, though that name was apparently given after the fact.Dallas Crawford fielded Dukes squib-kick at the Miami 26. Crawford was a last-second addition to the unit, after Miami scrambled to come up with something to replace Music City. His job was to get the ball across the field to Elder, which he did -- twice, actually, the ssecond of those being the eighth and final lateral.dddddddddddd.Elder took that last one 91 yards to the end zone. The play wound up taking 49 seconds. What happened next took nearly 9 more minutes.When Corn cut inside of the last defender, my natural instinct was just to like run, so I ran out of the coaches booth and started running around going crazy, Wright said. We all took off down four stories to get to the field.Thats when they saw the flag.Miami got called for a block in the back, with Mark Walton being flagged at the Duke 25. The game wasnt over. Miami was getting an untimed down.Theyre going to have to bring him back, Duke offensive lineman Casey Blaser remembers thinking, as he watched from the sideline. Even if they get one play, our defense will stop them.Maybe he would have been right. But that play never happened.---THE REVIEWConfusion reigned, but after a few minutes -- with replay still going on -- Miami figured that at worst, it would have a 57-yard field goal attempt to try to tie the game.Kicker Michael Badgley was told to get ready. There was so much chaos on the sideline, though, that Badgley didnt have enough space to warm up by kicking into the net behind the bench.So he kicked into the woods.I dont know what happened to those footballs, Miami sports information director Tom Symonds said.Finally, the word came from referee Jerry Magallanes: After review, there was never a knee down by any of the runners of Miami. However, the block in question was from the side, not from the back. Its a legal play. Touchdown. Games over.The officials and those in the replay booth were suspended for two games for botching how the play was handled, but the score stood.Miami 30, Duke 27.There had to be 35 people watching with us on TV, said Kaaya, who was watching in Coral Gables at a teammates apartment. Trick-or-treaters kept coming to the door. I was having all the candy I could eat. And then Corn took off and the whole house went crazy. People threw stuff everywhere. Dudes were running outside. It was awesome.---THE SCARAn hour after the game, Wright was changing out of his coaching attire to get ready for the joyous flight home -- one on which everyone was taking photos with the football that Elder carried into the end zone (and should have been returned to Duke, technically, since it was the Blue Devils ball).Thats when he saw the blood.Turns out he smashed his shin into a metal bench during the chaos and didnt even realize it.I now have a permanent scar right there, Wright said.An unneeded reminder, from a game hell never forget.---More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 Cheap Jerseys China NFL Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Wholesale Discount Basketball Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Baseball Jerseys Free Shipping Cheapest College Jerseys Sale Cheap Football Jerseys China Nike NFL Jerseys Canada Wholesale NHL Jerseys From China MLB Jerseys Outlet Canada Wholesale NBA Jerseys Canada Store Cheap Soccer Jerseys China Cheap Authentic Jerseys Canada ' ' '