Steelers' Smith Confident, Just not Smart

Considering the New England Patriots have struggled in back-to-back weeks to put away less-than-mediocre ball clubs, this Sunday's contest with the Pittsburgh Steelers promised to be a solid test. That is, until safety Anthony Smith handed Bill Belichick's boys a little added motivation in the form of a guaranteed win.

"We're going to win," Smith told Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after practice Wednesday. "Yeah, I can guarantee a win."

Mark it down. A 13-0 record for the Patriots is on the horizon.

Legendary songwriter Jim Croce once wrote, "You don't tug on Superman's cape", and what Smith did Wednesday was the football equivalent. Smith should have heeded Croce's advice, but instead has given the master motivator fuel for his team's fire. Keep in mind this is a club that gained motivation from a situation created by getting caught, shall we say, bending the rules. If they can turn that into a positive, what do you think they can do with an outright guarantee by an upcoming opponent spreading like digital wildfire across the internet?

The Patriots thrive on this sort of thing, always utilizing the us-versus-the-world mentality to maintain their intensity from week to week and year to year. Smith would have been wise to keep his comments to himself instead of feeding the monster. And if that wasn't bad enough, he singled out the team's receiving corps in particular.

"I think we were facing great receivers last week too and we shut them down," Smith said. "Those three guys, I don't think it gets much better than Cincinnati's corps of receivers. We've already seen the best."

Now that statement isn't particularly inflammatory, but you know Randy Moss isn't going to take kindly to the insinuation that the Bengals have better receivers (although it may be true), and he's likely to have a return message to send Smith's way on the football field come Sunday. When it comes to superstars like Moss, it's better to let a sleeping dog lie than to stick it with a fork.

Smith is a young guy who still has a lot to learn at the NFL level, obviously. If they haven't already, one or more of the veteran leaders on the Steelers needs to take this guy to the side and explain to him that this just isn't the best time for something like this. Unless Smith backs up his comments with some big plays, and the Steelers somehow manage to come out on top, he is going to walk away from this game a goat.

The one thing he does have going in his favor, however, is the fact that guarantee's in sports have become so cliche over the past few years that few will remember his comments two weeks from now.

But you can bet the Pats will remember them on Sunday.

Photo: Doug Pensinger / Getty Images