Despite showers moving through Foxboro, the Patriots and Steelers took the field on Sunday, with the Patriots looking to bounce back from their season opener loss to the Seahawks and the Steelers looking to stay undefeated after their victory over the Falcons in Week 1.
The Patriots defense came ready to play as they held the Steelers Offense to 235 total yards on the day and two turnovers forced. One being an interception that bounced off of rookie WR Germie Bernard’s hands and into the hands of Patriots rookie Gabe Jacas, and the other being a forced fumble by Christian Barmore that was picked up by Sophomore defender Elijah Ponder and taken into the End Zone for a Touchdown. The Patriots defense also forced a fumble from Aaron Rodgers that took the offense from a 3rd and 7 to 4th and 43.
The Patriots offense wasn’t perfect either however. Despite a great run from 2nd year Running Back out of Ohio State TreyVeon Henderson that resulted in a 39 yard Touchdown, the offense still was stagnant through most of the game. The Patriots had a fumble lost courtesy of Rhamondre Stevenson who had two fumbles in this same matchup a year ago in Week 3, and a Drake Maye interception of their own. New addition Romeo Doubs had a major bounce-back performance today as he tallied 96 yards on just 3 catches.
Both offenses struggled when it came to 3rd down. The Patriots finished with an abysmal 4/12 conversion:attempt ratio, while the Steelers somehow did even worse as they converted just 2/12 of their 3rd down attempts. While the Patriots did pick up their first Home Opener win since 2020, there is hardly any time to celebrate as they get ready for a tough Week 3 opponent in the Jacksonville Jaguars. As for the Steelers, they fell to 1-1 on the young season as they prepare for a divisional matchup against the 2-0 Cincinnati Bengals.