The Miracle in Miami (or meltdown, depending on your perspective) may have been a dagger in the heart for many New England Patriots fans. But for the players, there’s no looking back at the past.

“We’ve processed what happened (Sunday) and we’re onto Pittsburgh," Patriots captain Matthew Slater said. “I don’t think there’s really much else to talk about.”

Patriots players credited the even keel following the disastrous loss to the structure that’s in place in New England. Under Belichick, players are rarely allowed to get too high after a win. The focus is always on the future. So after a bad loss, the structure is in place for players to avoid getting too low.

“Any time you can come in and know the schedule’s going to be the same and you’re going to get the same out of the coaches. You’re going to get the very best out of them and high expectations. We know that," linebacker Kyle Van Noy said.

It wasn’t quite “We’re on to Cincinnati” in the Patriots locker room, but it was certainly within the same mindset. The Patriots are designed to efficiently churn through wins and losses in an effort to make themselves the best team possible come playoff time.

Yes, the loss in Miami was bad. But as Belichick astutely noted Monday, no one in the locker room died as a result of the loss. The Patriots are still the No. 2 seed and control their destiny in terms of getting a playoff bye. As things stand, the Patriots' goals have not changed.

“The season’s not over," David Andrews said. "That didn’t determine our season. We’ve still got everything we want in front of us. We can only control what we can control and that’s starting our preparation here on Pittsburgh, leading into next week.”

For as bad as things were for Patriots fans Sunday, things might be worse on the other side. The Steelers have dropped three straight games, all in disastrous fashion. The first featured an endzone interception in the final minute. The second featured a series of defensive penalties giving the Los Angeles Chargers additional chances at a game-winning field goal.

On Sunday, the Steelers almost pulled a similar miracle to the one the Dolphins did on a last-minute hook-and-ladder. However, the Steelers wound up missing a 40-yard field goal that would have sent the game to overtime.

Heading into Sunday, both teams are in bad need of a win. For the Patriots, there’s no room to kick themselves about what happened Sunday.

“We’re ready for the Steelers," Van Noy said. "It’s gonna be an amazing atmosphere there. It’s gonna be a playoff atmosphere. They need a win, we need a win, so it’s gonna be a highly competitive game.”

“You never want to lose a game. But you’ve just got to take what you can from it, gotta learn from it," Andrews added. "There’s a lot of good things and there’s some bad things. So you’ve got to take the bad and try to correct them.”