SERIES HISTORY
This series began in 1972 with the Steelers winning the first two matchups and five of the first six. Overall, New England leads 19-16 including five playoff matchups. Pittsburgh's only postseason win over the Patriots was a 7-6 victory in the divisional round after the 1997 season. The Patriots have won the last three meetings. During the last 19 meetings dating back to December of 1998, New England is 15-4. The Steelers have been to eight Super Bowls, winning six. New England has been to 11, also winning six.
MATCHUP OVERVIEW
- The Patriots were 2-6 at home last year and finished the season with a -128-point differential, fifth worst in the league. They are 0-1 in New England in 2025.
- Pittsburgh has been outscored by 12 points this year. The Patriots have been outscored by one.
- Before last week, the Steelers had won 14 straight games when leading at halftime.
- New England held the ball for 33:45 last week. For the season, New England sits at 31:55. The Steelers time of possession for the season is 27:00.
- Pittsburgh's opponents have run the ball 27 more times than the Steelers and have produced 174 more yards on the ground while producing 1.4 more yards per carry.
- The Patriots were penalized 12 times for 75 yards in Week 2 while Pittsburgh was penalized just twice for 15 yards against Miami. The Steelers are the least penalized (6) team (tied with Seattle) in the league thus far and only have one more yard in penalties (41 to 40) than the Seahawks for best in the league.
- Aaron Rodgers needs one touchdown throw to pass Brett Favre on the passing touchdown leaderboard to sit third all time.
- Since 2000, the Steelers are tied with New England with 20 seasons with a record above .500.
WHEN PITTSBURGH HAS THE BALL
- The Steelers average 4.8 yards per play. New England allows 6.6 yards per play.
- New England gave up 6.9 yards per play last week in Miami.
- 84.3% of the yardage New England has allowed has come through the air, the highest rate in the league.
- Pittsburgh's offense has utilized 12 Personnel on 50.4% of their plays.
- Pittsburgh's offense turns a set of downs into a new set of downs or a touchdown 66% of the time. Only the Raiders, Vikings, and Titans are worse.
- New England's defense is giving up 315 passing yards per game, most in the league and their 8.4 yards allowed per pass play is only better than Chicago.
- Aaron Rodgers has averaged 5.7 air yards per attempt, with 70.9% of his passing yardage has come after the catch, over 10% more than any other quarterback.
- The Patriots have allowed the third most yards after the catch (290) this season.
- Tua Tagovailoa threw for 315 yards last week against New England.
- DK Metcalf has played 109 snaps compared to 102 by Calvin Austin this season. The third most snaps played by a wide receiver is Roman Wilson with 32.
- Metcalf is averaging 5.6 air yards per target in 2025, with 76.9% of his targets have been shorter than 10 yards downfield.
- Pittsburgh's tight end snap distribution through two games is as follows: Jonnu Smith (72), Pat Freiermuth (59), Darnell Washington (49), Connor Heyward (13). In Week 2, Freiermuth was on the field for 61.5% of the passing plays compared to 56.4% for Smith.
- New England had four sacks in Week 1 but had the fewest in the NFL in 2024 (28). They sacked Tagovailoa five times last week. They are sacking opposing quarterbacks at an 11.8% rate, best in the league.
- Harold Landry had 2.5 sacks against the Raiders in Week 1 and Milton Williams had two in Week 2.
- Jaylen Warren has played 61 snaps this season compared to 56 by Kenneth Gainwell. Warren averages 6.2 yards per touch compared to 3.3 by Gainwell.
- Warren accumulated 134 total yards vs. Seattle. His running back rush share jumped from 58% to 70% in Week 2 and his route participation jumped from 27% to 41%.
- The Steelers average 3.0 yards per rush attempt, only ahead of Cincinnati and Las Vegas.
- Pittsburgh only has one run play that has gone for 10+ yards through two games.
- The Patriots have stopped opposing ball carriers at or behind the line of scrimmage 35.9% of the time, best in the league. New England also allows 1.83 yards after first contact, also best in the league.
- New England only allowed 61 yards on the ground last week.
WHEN NEW ENGLAND HAS THE BALL
- The Patriots average 5.4 yards per play. Pittsburgh gives up 6.3.
- New England produced 6.1 yards per play in Miami while the Steelers allowed 6.2 to Seattle.
- The Patriots threw the ball on 73.5% of their snaps in Week 1-only one offense was higher. Pittsburgh's opponents are passing at a 46% clip.
- Pittsburgh has allowed a league-high 13 plays of 20+ yards.
- New England has utilized 21 Personnel on 8.1% of their snaps, but with two true running backs on the field rather than a fullback.
- The Steelers are giving up 8.4 yards per pass play.
- After a 28.3% motion rate in Week 1, the Patriots used motion on 56.87% of Maye's dropbacks in Week 2. He is 22 of 27 for 10.4 yards per attempt when using presnap motion compared to 27 of 42 for 5.6 yards per attempt without it.
- Drake Maye set a career high with 46 pass attempts and 287 passing yards in Week 1 as well as a career best 82.6% completion percentage.
- Stefon Diggs ran a route in Week 1 on 69.8% of dropbacks, just third highest on the team.
- Diggs was the only wide receiver with multiple receptions in Week 2. In that game, New England's wide receivers had just nine total targets and Diggs had five of them. In Week 1, Diggs, Kayshon Boutte, and Demario Douglass each had at least seven targets.
- Boutte led the Patriots in receiving yards in Week 1 with 103 and was on the field for a team-high 83% of dropbacks. Boutte has led the Patriots wide receivers in snap share in both games.
- No Patriots player has above a 17.5% target share through two games.
- Hunter Henry played 93% of the snaps in Week 1 and 85% in Miami. Austin Hooper played 32% in Week 1 but shot up to 62% last week.
- Stevenson had 88 receiving yards last week, a career high.
- In 2024, Steelers opponents threw over the middle of the field at a 26% clip. That was the second highest rate behind the Packers. However, that 26% was still lower than 2021, 2022, and 2023 for Pittsburgh's defense. In Week 2, Seattle attacked the middle of the field at a 48.5% clip.
- The Steelers defense is facing an average time to throw of 3.04 seconds.
- Pittsburgh is blitzing at a 41% rate. Only the Broncos and Chiefs are higher.
- As a team, New England is generating 2.07 yards per rush attempt after first contact, tied with the Bears for last in the league.
- The Steelers have given up 10 rushes of 10+ yards, the fourth most in the NFL.
- Pittsburgh has stopped opposing ball carriers at or behind the line of scrimmage 23.5% of the time, sixth best.
- In Week 1, Rhamondre Stevenson played 46 snaps compared to 25 for TreVeyon Henderson, but Henderson out touched him 11 to 9. In Week 2, Stevenson out snapped Henderson 39 to 19 and had 16 touches compared to just five for the rookie. There were eight plays last week in which Stevenson and Henderson were on the field together. In terms of snap share, Stevenson has been at 65% in both games and Henderson 35% and 32% last week.
- Henderson had a 39% rush share in Week 1 compared to 16% last week.
- Antonio Gibson received five carries last week compared to just one in Week 1.
- Kenneth Walker averaged 8.1 yards per carry last week in Pittsburgh on his 13 carries. Pittsburgh has allowed 299 rushing yards in two games.
- From Week 6 to Week 18 of his rookie season, Maye led the NFL with 395 scramble yards. Through two games this year, Maye has only scrambled on 86% of his dropbacks, resulting in just 36 yards. He's had four designed runs this season, three coming last week.
- Henderson was called for three holding calls in Week 2.
- Keeanu Benton leads all Steelers defensive linemen with 94 snaps played. Cameron Heyward is second at 91 and Yahya Black is third with 64. No other defensive lineman has played more than 37.
- Five Steelers defensive backs got snaps in Week 2. None of which were with the team in 2024 and that doesn't include Jabril Peppers, who didn't see the field last week.
SPECIAL TEAMS
- The Patriots allowed a punt return for a touchdown last week and then on the subsequent kickoff, returned that kickoff (Antonio Gibson) for a touchdown.
- Andres Borregales missed two extra point attempts in Miami.
- The Steelers average kickoff return has been for 24.3 yards. The average kickoff return that they give up has been for 28.3 yards.
KEY MATCHUPS
Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson vs. Steelers Run Defense-Rookie TreVeyon Henderson will also factor in here as a ball carrier for the Patriots, but Stevenson is currently New England's lead running back. Drake Maye is also a very effective rusher of the football. Pittsburgh's run defense has been a massive problem this season and surely, New England will try to exploit this in Week 3.
Steelers Offensive Line vs. Patriots Pass Rush-The Patriots had the fewest sacks in the league in 2024. That has drastically changed after a few major offseason additions to their defensive line. New England has nine sacks through two weeks of play and the Steelers have allowed seven.
