The 0-1 Patriots return to the friendly confines of Gillette Stadium this Sunday for their 2026 home opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers (1-0). Last season, the Patriots dropped a turnover-marred affair to the Steelers in Week 3, their second of only four losses during the entirety of the 2025 season.
New England repeated one of those four losses in Week 1, falling 13-10 to the Seahawks with Drake Maye's three fourth-quarter interceptions playing a major role. Seattle boasts one of the best defenses in the league, however Pittsburgh currently holds that title after Week 1, coming in as the top rated-defense in both DVOA and EPA after their opening home victory over the Atlanta Falcons, 20-13.
Another zone-heavy scheme awaits Maye, while on the other side of the ball Aaron Rodgers looked rejuvenated in the first game of his 22nd season, throwing for an efficient 221 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions. But Pittsburgh's offense overall was pedestrian, rushing for just 2.8 yards-per-carry with eight of their attempts stuffed behind the line of scrimmage.
Rodgers showed he can still be effective, and he has a nice complement of weapons around him, including free agent addition Michael Pittman, who led the team last week with three catches for 58 yards. Star wideout D.K. Metcalf was quiet in his season debut (four catches on 10 targets) but remains a dangerous game changer.
How can the Patriots get back on the winning track? Here are three critical areas to watch!
1. Get Rodgers Off the Spot
In last year's Week 3 21-14 win by the Steelers, the Patriots defense didn't pressure Rodgers enough. On 23 drop backs, New England pressured the Steelers QB just five times and one of those pressures was enough to force Pittsburgh's only turnover of the day. But on the other 18 drop backs, Rodgers completed 16 passes with a 135.9 passer rating. This time around the Patriots cannot let the future Hall of Famer be that comfortable in the pocket.
Quick pressure up the middle is the best route, with Christian Barmore and Milton Williams excelling at interior disruption, but it won't be easy. Steelers center Zach Frazier allowed a pressure rate of just 2.2% in opening win. Rodgers was 4-of-11 with a 50.2 passer rating when pressured, but 20-of-29 with a 96.0 QB rating when not pressured.
But if last week was any indication, Rodgers is holding the ball a bit longer now with nearly two-thirds of his passes being thrown after 2.5 seconds. The coverage must take away the quick game, while the pressure must blow up the pocket before the receivers uncover downfield.
2. Get In the Zone
After getting 88% zone coverage from the Seahawks defense in the opener, Drake Maye and the passing game can expect a similar approach from Patrick Graham and the Pittsburgh defense that was in zone for the entirety of their win over Atlanta.
"They're going to be big, they're going to be long, and they are going to try to force the quarterback into making mistakes," said head coach Mike Vrabel assessing the Steelers defense. "That's what they do."
Last year, Maye tore up the Steelers defense, which mixed in man coverage for about a third of their passing snaps. It didn't really matter to Maye, who went 17-of-23 for 156 yards against zone and 11-of-14 for 112 yards against man, while spreading the ball around to eight different receivers who all had two catches or more.
Without A.J. Brown, Maye will have to be similarly efficient. The identity of the Patriots passing offense without Brown, and Stefon Diggs and Kayshon Boutte for that matter, must start to emerge. Working the ball around to multiple targets is the best course of action, but does the Patriots quarterback have the chemistry and trust yet to put it all together?
"So, we've got to have all hands on deck, especially with a lot of their front," said Maye this week. "They've got some great players, and they've been in that defense and been together for a while, so they know how to play off each other and count each other's strengths."
3. Start the Run, Have Some Fun
The simplest solution to the Patriots recent offensive slump is to run the ball effectively. Yes, "establish the run" is an age-old football cliché, but for Maye's woes it could be the perfect solution. Force the defense to bring an extra safety into the box, then let Maye do what he does best – tear teams apart with stunning downfield accuracy.
"You have got to get into the line of scrimmage. You have got to block force. You have got to run where they ain't," said Vrabel in assessing the Patriots run game. "You cannot just sit there and stand there. You've got to be able to move people, you've got to be able to block safeties and people that come down there and want to make tackles, or you have got to block the nickel, which we did some and we didn't do enough of, and try to combine all that together."
This is largely the same Steelers defense from last year, a defense that was 26th in rushing yards allowed and 28th in rushing EPA. Last week, the Falcons put up 120 total rushing yards, but it's hard to make comparisons when it's Bijan Robinson doing the damage.
Still, TreVeyon Henderson could be back in the lineup, bringing his big-play potential, while Rhamondre Stevenson started to find some space at the end of the Seahawks game. This is a big, tough defensive front for the Steelers, putting a huge focus on the progress of the Patriots offensive line and their ability to open up holes and get the offense jump started.
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