Like all the other Steelers linebackers, Clark Haggans wore a No. 53 Seattle Seahawks jersey with the name "Butler" on the back as he walked from the locker room last night. Haggans and his linebacker mates wore the jersey to honor their position coach, Keith Butler, who played 10 seasons with the Seahawks.

But, after the way he played in a 23-20 loss to the New England Patriots at Heinz Field, Haggans could have worn any number of other jerseys and nobody would have noticed a difference.

Say, No. 56 for the New York Giants.

Or a No. 58 Kansas City Chiefs jersey.

On this day, Haggans looked more like Lawrence Taylor or Derrick Thomas, disrupting the Patriots with any number of big plays from his left outside position. In the end, though, neither he nor the rest of the defense could stop Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who completed 31 of 41 passes for 372 yards, including his final 12 in a row.

"Clark had a hell of a day," said inside linebacker James Farrior. "He really played his heart out."

Haggans finished with a career-high 12 tackles, but he also forced two fumbles and recorded his team-high third sack against the Patriots.

In a game when the Steelers were looking for a big game from Pro Bowl linebacker Joey Porter -- he had three sacks in last year's regular-season victory against the defending Super Bowl champs -- it was their other outside linebacker who caused problems for the Patriots.

And yet, no matter how many big plays he could muster, Haggans could not stop Brady, could not stop the Patriots, when the opportunity was presented. New England scored on each of its final four series, the clincher coming when Adam Vinatieri kicked a 43-yard field goal with 0:01 remaining.

Just like that, the Steelers' 16-game regular-season winning streak was ended.

"You just try to step up and do something," Haggans said afterward, sitting at his locker and getting ready to slip on his No. 53 Seahawks jersey. "And get the ball out when I could."

Haggans did that twice, part of the reason the Steelers were able to hang until the last second with the Patriots, who threatened to break open the game in the first half.

His first forced fumble came early in the second quarter after the Patriots, trailing, 10-7, used 15 plays to move from their 17 to the Steelers' 14. Haggans made a play that Butler, his position coach, should show to every linebacker -- fighting off a block by guard Stephen Neal and raking the ball from running back Kevin Faulk after a swing pass.

The second came during a two-play sequence in which Haggans sacked Brady for a 7-yard loss on second down, then stripped the ball from Faulk on third down at the Patriots' 28. That set up Jeff Reed's 24-yard field goal and a 13-7 lead.

"We came up with some big plays in the red zone," Haggans said. "At times we capitalized on them and at times we didn't capitalize.

"But it's just like any other game -- we're the outside linebackers. That's half our job. Sometimes we got to put pressure on the quarterback, sometimes we got to cover."

It is difficult to do both against Brady. Pressure him and he makes quick throws to open receivers. Sit in coverage and he puts the ball where only his receiver can catch it.

But, after the Steelers tied the score at 20-20 on Hines Ward's 4-yard touchdown catch with 1:21 remaining, Brady only had to isolate his running backs on Farrior in the middle of the field and throw underneath the deep coverage.

It worked to perfection on back-to-back plays that gained 17 yards to Faulk and 14 yards to fullback Patrick Pass, moving the ball to the Steelers' 31 with 57 seconds remaining.

"I got to play better than I did there," said Farrior, a Pro Bowl inside linebacker who finished with a game-high 15 tackles (nine solo). "I got to make those plays. He got yards and I didn't stop them."

But cornerback Deshea Townsend defended Farrior.

"[Brady] was hitting the running back and they were one-on-one with the linebacker in the middle of the field with a lot of space," he said. "We put James in a tough position."

Even Haggans couldn't help.

As Pass ran out of bounds, Haggans dived near the sideline and rolled over in pain, grabbing his leg. But the injury was only a cramp, and a Steelers timeout enabled him to stay in the game.

"He just made some passes and they got some yardage," Haggans said. "They executed better. But it's the third week of the season. We'll correct our mistakes."