Steelers’ Mike Tomlin backs Troy Polamalu, Dick LeBeau

After being dismantled by what was a struggling Tom Brady and the New England Patriots’ offense, the Pittsburgh Steelers have had a lot of questions to answer this week.

Most of the questions centered around the poor performances of defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau and starting safeties Ryan Clark and Troy Polamalu.

“That was a sub-standard performance, and I appreciate their willingness to accept responsibility for that,” Tomlin told Scott Brown of ESPN.com. “I share that. But at the same time, I’ve got a great deal of confidence in them and their abilities to play winning football for us.”

Brady completed 23-of-33 passes for 432 yards and four touchdowns. The Patriots piled up 610 yards and scored 55 points, the most yards and points given up in Steelers’ history.

“After really combing through the tape, there were really no blatant breaches of [effort],” Tomlin said. “I really feel like more than anything we were beaten. As humbling as it may seem, I think we can grow from this and move forward.”

The 2-6 Steelers will try to begin to turn things around Sunday when they host the Buffalo Bills.