Steelers could get injured starters back vs. Pats

PITTSBURGH -- Wide receiver Santonio Holmes, strong safety Troy Polamalu and left offensive tackle Marvel Smith could all return to the Pittsburgh Steelers' starting lineup for their showdown with the unbeaten New England Patriots on Sunday.

Pursuit of Perfection

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All three have missed the last two games since being hurt in the Steelers' loss to the New York Jets. Holmes has been recovering from a high ankle sprain, while Polamalu had a sprained knee and Smith has been dealing with a disc problem in his back.

The return of Polamalu could give the Steelers' top-rated defense an added boost.

Head coach Mike Tomlin said each of the players will try to practice Wednesday and their availability for Sunday will be determined by how they perform in practice.

The Steelers (9-3) are convinced they can ruin New England's perfect season, and they were secretly rooting for the Patriots (12-0) to stay unbeaten so they would have the chance to do exactly that Sunday in Foxborough.

The Steelers know something about stopping New England streaks, too, having halted a record Patriots run of 21 consecutive wins only three years ago and, with it, the possibility of an undefeated season. Now, the Steelers could be the best team standing in the way of the Patriots and the NFL's first 16-0 regular season.

"Obviously you think about it, because everybody talks about them because they are undefeated," quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. "Everything that has to do with news and sports is the New England Patriots, and deservedly so. They're a great football team offensively and defensively."

Tomlin willingly heaped plenty of praise on the Patriots during his weekly news conference Tuesday but, by the end, seemed to be wearying of all the how-great-are-the-Patriots questions.

"This isn't Appalachian State against Michigan," he said.

The Patriots have, by far, the league's top offense, leading in scoring average (39.1), yards per game (425.3) and passing yardage (304).

The Steelers counter with the league's best overall defense (230.8 yards), No. 1 passing defense (154 yards) and the No. 2 rushing defense (76.8).

"We'd better get ready -- we know how explosive they are," linebacker Larry Foote said. "But we're confident with our own swagger. If we play our game, we can beat anybody."

Offensive tackle Max Starks said "some teams might be star-struck by them," but the Steelers won't be.

"Some defenses might be, 'Oh my gosh, I'm going against Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Donte Stallworth. Tom Brady is the quarterback.' Some people might get enamored with that," Starks said. "But I definitely don't see that in our defense."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Source: ESPN.com