The Pittsburgh Steelers will play their 3rd game of the 2025 season on Sunday, on the road, versus the New England Patriots. They will look to bounce back after their first loss of the season and will have to do so without several defensive starters.
Below are five key things I believe the Steelers will need to do to get back into the win column.
T.O.P. the Charts – The Steelers defense is struggling. The team allowed over thirty points in each of their first two games. It doesn’t help that they will be without multiple defensive starters this week, including Alex Highsmith, Joey Porter Jr., and DeShon Elliott. There is a possibility of a Derrick Harmon sighting on Sunday, so that could provide some help. While they started off solidly last week, they seemed to wear down in the second half.
The Patriots, through the first two weeks, have been able to win the time-of-possession battle. They rank ninth in the NFL at just under 32 minutes per game. They were essentially even in week one at 30:05 and were particularly good in week two at 33:45. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, is ranked 27th. Losing the possession battle in both games: 25:17 in a week one win and 28:43 in a loss in week two.
It doesn’t guarantee a win by any means, but it helps in two ways. It keeps the Steelers’ defense more rested, and the Patriots’ offense can’t score when they aren’t on the field. Arthur Smith needs to rediscover the groove he had in week one.
Blow Things Up – Big plays. Every team wants them. Nobody wants to give them up. They can take the wind out of the sails of the opponent and change the momentum of the game. But they aren’t easy to come by, for some teams more than others.
It’s a small sample size, but through two games, the Patriots have allowed 13 plays of 20 yards or more. That is the most in the NFL. They allowed just 45 last season, good for 7th in the league. Pittsburgh isn’t much better, giving up 8 such plays, which is tied for third worst in the league (tied for ninth best in 2024).
Offensively, the Steelers have 8 plays of at least 20 yards this season, good for 5th this season. The Patriots have 5, tied for 18th.
Both Mike Tomlin and Mike Vrabel are more known for teams that want to run the ball and be physical. If that is how the game plays out, whichever team makes a couple of big plays can turn the game in their favor.
One if By Land(ry) – Paul Revere is most famous for riding through town and letting everyone know the British were coming. One lantern in the Old North Church signaled they were coming by land, two lanterns coming by sea. Someone needs to put one lantern out to let Aaron Rodgers know Harold Landry is coming.
Landry, who played for Vrabel in Tennessee, had 31.5 sacks over the last three healthy seasons. He missed 2022 with a torn ACL. Not only do the Patriots lead the league in sacks with nine, but Landry leads the league with 3.5. He’s not alone. Super Bowl standout Milton Williams has two, and three others have at least one, including former Steeler Robert Spillane. They also have 14 quarterback hits. The bottom line is that they are getting after the quarterback.
This is troublesome with the current performance of the Pittsburgh offensive line. Through two games, they have allowed seven sacks (tied for 4th worst in the league with three other teams, including New England). Additionally, Rodgers has taken several other big hits or had to escape the pocket.
There was an improvement last week, with Rodgers’s time to throw improving to 2.87, up from 2.43 in week one. It went from third worst to 11th best. The offensive line needs to continue to improve and must keep Rodgers upright.
Rook to RB2 – As stated earlier, both of these head coaches like to promote physical football. However, neither of these teams has demonstrated that ability so far. The Patriots have 182 yards on the ground, and the Steelers have a dismal 125 yards. And their backfields are mirror images.
New England is led by veteran Rhamondre Stevenson, has another veteran in Antonio Gibson and a rookie TreVeyon Henderson. Overall, this group has been adequate, with Stevenson leading the way with 69 yards on eighteen carries.
Pittsburgh is led by a veteran in Jaylen Warren, has another veteran in Kenneth Gainwell and a rookie in Kaleb Johnson. Overall, this group was adequate, with Warren leading the way with 85 yards on 25 carries.
Running the ball well is an obvious hope each week, but the key for both teams could be the rookies. Henderson was really impressive in the preseason and is averaging 4.6 yards per carry. Johnson has only two carries to this point and has been removed from kick return duties.
They don’t want to lose Johnson mentally after the special teams demotion, so let him do what he was drafted to do. Warren is still going to carry the load, but take the six carries per game average that Gainwell is getting and give those to Johnson. It may not be the traditional chess move at this juncture, but getting him involved doing what he does best could boost his confidence and help the running game.
Coincidentally, in 1990, Barry Foster, who had a similar kickoff return brain freeze, received six carries and gained 53 yards in the following game after his mistake. Up until that point, through seven games, he had only nine carries total.
The team that runs more effectively will have the advantage.
Become Strippers – I am not suggesting a career change. I’m talking about creating turnovers and forcing fumbles.
Through two games, the Steelers’ defense has not forced a fumble. They had 22 in 2024. The only forced fumble was caused by Kenneth Gainwell on a kick return in week one.
The defense has not created as much pressure on the quarterback as we might like, but they are getting rushers in the backfield. They’ve managed just three sacks in the young season, but they do have 14 quarterback hits. They were able to get players around Sam Darnold last week, but didn’t finish the job every time.
Drake Maye, quarterback of the New England Patriots, has played pretty well in his young career. However, he has played 15 games to this point and has 10 fumbles, one of those coming in week one. If they can’t get him on the ground, swipe at the ball and force the ball out.
Additionally, Stevenson has seven fumbles in 2024 and 14 in his career.
First defender wraps him up to limit yards after contact, and the next player goes in for the ball.
