It's a stretch that lack of talk did 'em in

PITTSBURGH

The Jets were not as talkative as usual before the AFC Championship Game, and they were even less so after it.

That's what happens when you repeatedly get punched in the mouth.

In fact, coach Rex Ryan needed only one word to describe what went wrong with his pride-and-joy defense in the fateful, fatal first half last night:

"Everything,'' he said.

And even after a second-half rally nearly salvaged the game, the defense fell flat one last time, giving up a game-clinching first down in the final two minutes as the Steelers won, 24-19.

"That's the first time in that situation our defense hasn't responded and gotten the big stop,'' Ryan said during a news conference in which he simultaneously was despondent and defiant.

It is tempting to wonder if the first-half no-show at Heinz Field was a result of not working up sufficient dislike for the opponent, as the Jets had in talking big before beating the Colts and Patriots.

And it's an understandable theory, given the much-publicized M.O. of the Jets' relentlessly confident coach and defenders.

But it's a stretch. Even the Jets know games are decided on the field, not in tabloid headlines.

It's more likely they sensed what they were up against, and that their touchy-feely week was an acknowledgment of the task at hand.

The Steelers speak softly and carry a battering ram on offense in the form of a stout running game and a massive, mobile quarterback, which they wielded mercilessly in taking a 24-0 lead.

At halftime, the Steelers had 24 rushes for a difficult-to-believe 135 yards and two touchdowns.

It would have been painful enough for the Jets if their playoff run had ended in a low-scoring game because of an off day from their young quarterback and his offense. The fact that the culprits were Ryan and his cocky, quotable defense made it worse.

"The tackling was not up to our standards by any stretch of the imagination,'' the coach said.

Before the game, the Jets surely would have signed up for Mark Sanchez outplaying the Steelers' two-time Super Bowl winner, Ben Roethlisberger.

And so he did. Sanchez's passer rating: 102.2. Roethlisberger's: 35.5.

But that didn't matter on the play that secured the victory. On third-and-6 from the Jets' 40-yard line, the Steelers went to a spread alignment, but Ryan assumed they would call a quarterback draw.

"I was shocked they didn't run the football,'' he said.

Roethlisberger said he strongly considered running as he rolled to his right away from pressure, "but next thing you know, AB comes flying across,'' he said.

That would be rookie Antonio Brown, who caught Big Ben's pass for a 14-yard gain. Game over.

The Jets had some problems on defense earlier this season, notably in a notorious 45-3 loss to the Patriots in early December. But after the playoff beatdown of the Pats, no one saw this coming.

The defense was so bad early that it made a mockery of Ryan's customary decision to defer after winning the coin toss.

The Steelers took so long driving for a touchdown on their first possession that icicles surely were starting to form on the Jets' Southern Californian quarterback as he waited on the sideline.

Ryan made no apologies afterward, saying he would defer every time he wins the toss next season. Though he did say fatigue might have set in after three playoff games, he rejected the notion of an emotional letdown after slaying two of his "personal'' dragons.

"I just think we never tackled,'' he said. "They push around a lot of people, and they pushed us around in the first half."

Linebacker Bart Scott, the defense's emotional leader, famously said last week he "can't wait'' for the game in Pittsburgh. But when the time came, he and his mates waited too long.