The New England Patriots snuck out a 17-14 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 2 to even out their record to 1-1 on the 2022 season. It wasn’t always pretty, but the Patriots did what they had to do on both sides of the football to pull out their first win of the season.
While the Steelers certainly didn’t play their best football, the Patriots cleaned up much of their mess from their Week 1 loss against the Miami Dolphins. With the win officially in the books, let’s dive in and look at three takeaways from New England’s first win of the season against the Steelers.
New England Patriots takeaway No. 3: Defense shuts down Pittsburgh’s offense
Heading into the game, it was clear the Patriots were going to have to play well on defense if they wanted to win this game. Mitch Trubisky is no sure thing for the Steelers at quarterback, and if New England allowed him to get anything going, they were going to be trouble.
Trubisky didn’t do much on the day (21/33, 168 YDS, 1 TD, 1 INT) and helped the Patriots defense out by primarily throwing short passes all day long. Still, with all the strong weapons Pittsburgh has on offense, it was no sure thing that they would be able to keep guys like Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool in check.
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On the ground, they did a great job of keeping Najee Harris quiet, which was probably the bigger concern on the day. Harris only picked up 89 total yards on the day, and couldn’t do much considering how limited Pittsburgh’s passing attack was.
The Patriots defense had a strong start to the season against the Dolphins, but it was clear they were going to have to be good again against Pittsburgh if they wanted to come out on top. A lot was asked of them in this one, especially in the fourth quarter, but they came up big to help the Patriots grind out a huge victory in Week 2.
New England Patriots takeaway No. 2: Jakobi Meyers and Nelson Agholor carry the passing attack
Mac Jones wasn’t at his best again this week, but he did show some improvement overall, and he relied heavily on Jakobi Meyers and Nelson Agholor for most of the day. Jones completed 21 passes for 252 yards and a touchdown. Of that, Meyers and Agholor combined for 15 catches, 205 yards, and Jones’ only touchdown of the game.
Meyers was the safety blanket for Jones throughout the day. He constantly found space in Pittsburgh’s secondary, and commanded a whooping 13 targets on the day. Agholor was the guy for big plays today, as his 44-yard touchdown was easily the best play of his Patriots career, and he showed up with a couple more timely receptions throughout the day as well.
NELSON. AGHOLOR.
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) September 18, 2022
📺: #NEvsPIT on @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/zA0sH2gzLq
While this can be viewed as a positive that Jones has a strong rapport with these two, it’s also a bit concerning. DeVante Parker, Hunter Henry, and Jonnu Smith all didn’t have a single catch on the day, with Jones’ interception coming on a pass intended for Parker. Kendrick Bourne, was also supposed to be more involved on offense, but he only managed to pick up two catches for 16 yards.
The Patriots did what they had to against the Steelers, but their passing game left a lot to be desired. There are a lot of weapons the Patriots are paying for that aren’t doing anything on offense, and it’s clear that’s going to have to change. But for now, we can feel good about the strong showings from Meyers and Agholor in this one.
New England Patriots takeaway No. 1: The sky isn’t falling in New England just yet
It was hard to not get caught up in the chatter leading up to this game surrounding the demise of the Patriots. Obviously they did not look great in their season opener against the Dolphins, but it was admittedly just one game. New England also has annually struggled when playing in Miami, and based off the explosion of the Dolphins offense against the Baltimore Ravens today, maybe their loss to them wasn’t as bad as we initially thought.
It’s clear there are still a lot of things that need to be fixed on this team moving forward, especially on offense. Their defense has largely held up well to start the season, but things aren’t going to get any easier for this team moving forward. Picking up a win against the Steelers was crucial considering New England will be playing the Ravens and Green Bay Packers over the next two weeks.
The Patriots are still alive this season, even after their less than encouraging start to the season, and expectations should be tempered over their next two contests. Everyone will want to continue to proclaim them out of the playoff race, which isn’t surprising given the state of the AFC.
But the offense has potential, and the defense is already solid. If Jones and the offense can figure things out, this team will be in a good spot moving forward. For now, this win against the Steelers is a huge step forward. And while there are things that can be improved upon, it may take some time. The sky isn’t falling on the Patriots just yet, and they have earned our attention with a hard-fought win over Pittsburgh.