FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Steelers' first road trip of the regular season did not go as planned Sunday at New England.
There was little momentum in a defensive struggle on a rainy day at Gillette Stadium, and the Patriots were able to pull away for a 20-3 victory at home.
"We play this game to win," said Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt, "so any time you don't come out with a win, you're left trying to figure out what happened."
Attrition set in on both sides in a hard-hitting game, as the Steelers and Patriots took turns delivering defensive blows. The Steelers took the ball away twice, one on a forced fumble by Nick Herbig recovered by Payton Wilson and another on an interception from Patrick Queen.
They also had eight tackles for loss and three sacks, plus another forced fumble that didn't stay inbounds. Watt had 1.5 sacks, splitting one with Derrick Harmon, and Alex Highsmith tallied his third sack through two games. Highsmith and Cameron Heyward each had a batted pass, too.
"Offensively, clearly it's not good enough, and that starts with me," said head coach Mike McCarthy. "Felt it in practice, frankly, coming off of last week."
Much like Week 1 against the Falcons, one glaring defensive lapse led directly to a score, but this time it changed the outcome of the game. Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson took off through a crease up front and turned a well-blocked run into a 29-yard touchdown scamper. That gave the Patriots a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
The Patriots outrushed the Steelers, 137-91, and held a 327-235 edge in total yardage. They also had four sacks, two of them strip-sacks.
One of those resulted in the final blast on the scoreboard, when defensive tackle Christian Barmore punched the ball out and outside linebacker Elijah Ponder picked it up to return it for a 19-yard fumble return touchdown with 13:37 remaining. That was the Steelers' only turnover until late in the game, but the offense got off to a slow start and it persisted throughout much of the afternoon.
"We expected pressure and got pressure," McCarthy said. "As an offensive coach, I've always welcomed the opportunity to play against a pressure defense. I think it's clearly an opportunity for big-play potential. That was not the case today. We didn't answer the bell."
The Steelers' third-down woes continued, as they didn't convert one until the second quarter, and their first two possessions of the game were three-and-outs. They finished 2 for 12 on third downs and held the Patriots to 4 for 12 in that department.
Even when the Steelers started to move the ball, they had little to show for it. Chris Boswell missed a 56-yard field goal attempt wide left when the third drive stalled. The fourth drive ended in disaster when the Patriots sent the house on 3rd-and-7 from just outside the red zone, Aaron Rodgers got hit hard by two blitzers and the ball slipped out before he could get off a throw.
Failed attempts to scoop the ball and run with it by both teams caused the fumble to bounce nearly 30 yards back over to the other side of midfield, before Troy Fautanu finally made the heads-up play to fall on it. You don't see 4th-and-43 too often, and the Steelers offense surely never wants to see it again. It would've been much worse had the Patriots recovered in Steelers territory and been given a short field.
"I've got to look at the film, but we just didn't get into a rhythm. We had too many three-and-outs again," Rodgers said. "I don't feel like there was anybody who had an exceptional game out there. We all played below our standard."
Rodgers finished with 187 yards on 23-of-39 passing with his first interception of the season. Rookie Germie Bernard led all receivers with 4 receptions for a team-high 35 yards. Jaylen Warren rushed 11 times for 43 yards and added 2 receptions for 34 yards, including a 26-yard catch-and-run that was the Steelers' longest play of the game.
Derrick Harmon led the Steelers with 8 tackles while Herbig added 7, including 3 for a loss.
"Not good enough," Heyward said. "It's a team game."
