Things to work on: The Steelers defense held on at the end, coming up with a huge stop on fourth-and-one with 1:07 remaining in the game to secure a 21-14 win over the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.
The win improved the Steelers record to 2-1 on the season, heading into next week's game against the Minnesota Vikings in Dublin, Ireland.
"It's great to win in the National Football League," said Coach Mike Tomlin. "Appreciative of the efforts today. It certainly required 60 minutes of effort on all three phases to get it done.
"Certainly, there are a lot of things to work on, but it's good to do that with the win."
The Steelers jumped out to an early 14-0 first half lead, but the offense wasn't able to keep that going in the second half.
The Patriots tied the game at 14-14 in the fourth quarter, and the Steelers were able to re-take the lead with 2:16 to play when quarterback Aaron Rodgers hit receiver Calvin Austin III for a 17-yard touchdown.
"A couple things of note," said Tomlin. "I thought we started fast offensively, but then we stalled out obviously, particularly in the second half.
"A lot of credit goes to New England and their defense and what they were doing. They were major components of that."
The Steelers defense came up with some big plays at key times, with five turnovers, including two turnovers in the red zone. One was an interception by Brandin Echols in the end zone after a Patriots drive that lasted more than seven minutes.
"Huge," said Tomlin of Echol's play. "That's why we spend as much time practicing down in that space as we do as a collective. We've got to be great on defense in an effort to win the points. We've got to be great on offense.
"When you take the ball away, you get all seven points. Usually you're fighting for four, but man, those takeaways, particularly down there, were big.
"Defensively I thought we were really tight in the red zone and things of that nature.
"I thought we could have been better on possession downs. Thankfully we took the ball away from them to alleviate some of that lack of possession down success.
"All in all, it was a good team victory. We fought for 60 minutes. We utilized a lot of people -- specialization of talent, division of labor, things of that nature. Still finding our way with the number of new people, people out and things of that nature. So, it was a good experience."
Moving up the charts: The Steelers came out strong against the Patriots, scoring on the first two drives to take a 14-0 lead. But it would take until late in the fourth quarter until the Steelers were able to get back in the end zone, scoring the game-winning touchdown with 2:16 to play.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers connected with Calvin Austin III for a 17-yard game winning touchdown pass on a drive that went 62 yards on nine plays in 5:25.
"We had to have a drive there," said Rodgers. "Guys made some plays. I thought the important play was the screen there, Kenny (Gainwell) cutting it back inside to give us a third and manageable.
"Then we actually just talked about that in the huddle before the drive, about just a subtle signal on what I might want if I gave that when Cal was on the other side. That was nice he was on the same page. I didn't throw the best ball, but Cal's so dang fast, he made a great play.
"That's what we're supposed to do. We've got to make those plays so we're not in those positions. Up 14-0 we're feeling pretty good about ourselves. We haven't been ahead by two scores yet, two drives, two touchdowns, started fast for the third straight week. Then I just didn't play great. We kind of lost our rhythm, too many penalties and negative yardage plays, and didn't make them pay when we had opportunities."
The strong start the Steelers got off to included several milestones for Rodgers.
With his 12-yard touchdown pass to DK Metcalf, he moved into fourth place all-time in career touchdown passes with 509. He passed his former Green Bay Packers teammate Brett Favre to move up the charts.
The touchdown pass capped a 12-play, 90-yard drive that gave the Steelers a 14-0 lead at the time.
Rodgers, who is in his 21st season in the NFL, threw the first touchdown pass of his long career to Packers receiver Greg Jennings in 2007, in a game where he replaced an injured Favre.
Rodgers also passed Philip Rivers for sixth place overall in all-time passing yards in the NFL. Rodgers has now thrown for 63,448 career regular-season passing yards. Rivers has 63,440 all-time passing yards.
"It means I played a long time," joked Rodgers after the game. "I grew up, and Niners quarterbacks were my favorite, and then Brett, and I got to play with Brett. I was drafted the year after Philip Rivers. Had a friendship through the game with him for years.
"Loved watching Phil play, just his mannerisms, his lack of swearing, trash talk. Phil was one guy I really enjoyed watching on tape, and the only guy to get out of the Pro Bowl with an excuse that he had his eighth or ninth kid right before that. Good to be mentioned with those guys."
Not a finished product: The Steelers defense came up big when needed on Sunday in the win over the New England Patriots.
The defense had some big moments, creating five turnovers, but also gave up some big plays as well.
Defensive tackle Cameron Heyward knows it doesn't have to be perfect, but they are working each week on getting better.
"We're not a finished product," said Heyward. "We talk about not riding the roller coaster, win or loss. This is something we can continue to keep improving on. And I think it's great for our younger guys, even better for our older guys, because we got a lot of work to do.
"But I'd rather be 2-1, than 1-2."
The Steelers got productivity from all over the board on Sunday. Cornerback Brandin Echols saw increased playing time and made it count. He had an interception in the end zone to kill a Patriots drive right before halftime and he made a huge tackle on fourth-and-one on the Patriots final drive of the game.
"I think it just speaks to being ready for your moments," said Heyward. "Injuries are part of this game. You might be thrust in there, but it's on you to be ready. We appreciate him being ready for that moment.
Safety Jabrill Peppers, who spent the last three seasons with the Patriots, also was impactful.
"I think he enjoyed it a lot," said Heyward of Peppers happy to get the win over his former team. "We always talk about getting 'petty game balls' (against players former teams). I think Jonnu (Smith) got a petty ball as well. Jonnu has played for everybody.
"When we have these guys that have played elsewhere and are welcoming themselves to the Steelers, it's really special for us to get the 'W' for them."
