Last modified: Monday, December 1, 2008 2:42 AM EST Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) throws under pressure from Tedy Bruschi. (Staff photo by Keith Nordstrom) PATRIOTS NOTEBOOK: Steeler linebackers no sad sacks BY JAMES SCHNEIDER SUN CHRONICLE STAFF FOXBORO - With three sacks between the two of them Sunday, James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley did what no two teammates in Pittsburgh Steeler history have accomplished. The outside linebacking duo now have 25.5 sacks combined on the year, breaking the Steeler team record for a duo that previously stood at 24. The record was first set by Greg Lloyd and Kevin Greene in 1994. Considering the historic linebackers the Steeler franchise has been privileged to call its own, the feat is quite the accomplishment, especially since there are still four games left in the season. But the duo are not resting with the record in hand. "I mean it definitely feels good," Woodley said, "but you look across the board and our defense is good all across the board. We've still got a lot of games left." Four games to be exact; enough for Woodley and Harrison to set the bar very high. "It feels really good, but that's not the end of it," Harrison said. "We're trying to raise that total to 30-plus." To do that the duo might do what only one other pair of teammates has done in NFL history, each record 15 or more sacks. The only other time that was done was in 1989, when Chris Dolman (21) and Keith Millard (18) did it for the Minnesota Vikings. Coming into this season, Harrison, in a five-year career, had a career-best sack total for a season of 81/2, set last year. He had just 121/2 total sacks in his career to begin the season. Meanwhile, Woodley, a second-year player, had four sacks last year in 13 appearances, none of them starts. The Steeler team record for sacks in a season is 15, set by Mike Merriweather in 1987. Harrison's 14 sacks are good for a tie for second place with Kevin Greene and Keith Willis, Woodley's 11.5 put him in a tie for 10th with Ernie Holmes. A first for everything Coming into the game, Steeler's quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had taken on the Patriots in three regular season games and thrown for 599 yards and five touchdowns, but more importantly, no interceptions. That changed on the first possession of Sunday's game, as Roethlisberger dropped back on second-and-12 from his own 22 and fired a pass to Heath Miller that was picked off by linebacker Mike Vrabel who had dropped off into coverage. "(Mike) Vrabel, he's a heck of a player and he just made a great play on it," Roethlisberger said. "Heath (Miller) was open behind him and he goes up and catches it and it was one of the frustrating things." The Patriots would score three plays later to take an early 7-0 lead, but Roethlisberger didn't panic, as the Steelers would eventually cruise to victory without another turnover. "I just talked to Kevin Colbert, he said 'it's not how you start, it's how you finish,' and that's what we did a good job of," Roethlisberger said. Welker knocked out Late in the third quarter Matt Cassel threw a ball in Wes Welker's direction that was tipped at the line. Sensing an opportunity to deliver a big hit, Steeler's cornerback Ryan Clark lowered his shoulder and drove into a defenseless Welker, knocking the receiver out for the game and earning himself a 15-yard penalty. "You can tell that was a hard hit because if Wes Welker says down then it must have been a pretty hard hit," Kevin Faulk said. Asked if he thought Clark would face a suspension for the bone-jarring hit, Tomlin wouldn't comment either way. "I'll let the league do their job," Tomlin said. "I'll let the officials do their job. I'm not going to express my opinions in regard to any of that." Streaks busted Two streaks came to an end on Sunday. The Patriots had won 23 straight regular season games when scoring first before Sunday, and Wes Welker had a streak of 15 straight games with six or more catches broken ... Kevin Faulk hauled in a 9-yard reception in the third quarter to move into sole possession of fourth place on the Patriots' all-time receptions list with 364 receptions. In playing in his 134th game, Faulk moved into the top 25 on the Patriots' all-time games played list.