It was far from pretty or necessarily convincing, but New England got its first win of the season with a 17-14 victory over the Steelers Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh.
Unlike the game stories for the two teams on opening weekend, New England won the turnover battle and the Steelers lost it this time around. That turned out to be the difference. The Patriots got 7 points off turnovers compared to just 3 for Pittsburgh, essentially the difference in the end as the New England ran the ball out on the victory by holding possession for the final six-plus minutes of the game before Mac Jones took three kneel-downs to end it.
Before turning the page to the Week 3 challenge of the Gillette Stadium home opener against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, here are some of the highs and lows from the win in Pittsburgh.
Thumbs up
Jakobi Meyers – New England’s most consistent receiver was at his consistent best early and often in Pittsburgh. Meyers caught each of Jones’ first three completions on the opening drive, including the first on a third-and-long to move the chains and jumpstart the march to a field goal.
Meyers’ success continued with big catch after big catch throughout as Jones’ most trusted target on the way to 9 catches for 95 yards in the win.
Mack Wilson – Jalen Mills was the one credited with the interception of Mitch Trubisky in the first quarter, but it was an athletic play by the linebacker Wilson that created the takeaway. Wilson dropped into the throwing lane and made a leaping lunge to deflect the football before it got to target Diontae Johnson into Mills’ waiting hands for his first interception in a Patriots uniform.
Nelson Agholor – The Patriots offense has had trouble making plays early this season but the veteran receiver made the early play of the year for New England on a 44-yard touchdown grab late in the second quarter in Pittsburgh. Agholor climbed over the back of Steelers’ cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon to take away the would-be interception and skip into the end zone for the game changing score in the closing seconds of the first half. Agholor caught all four passes thrown his way for 80 yards in the first half and finished the day hauling in 6 passes for 110 yards with the one score.
Jabrill Peppers – Continuing to work his way to full health, Peppers had his biggest impact on the defense in Pittsburgh. His biggest plays came in the third quarter, when Kyle Dugger was sidelined with a knee injury. Peppers had consecutive tackles on second and third down to help force the Steelers into a 52-yard field goal. Peppers finished with 3 tackles on the day.
Thumbs down
Myles Bryant – New England’s punt returner had been a positive story this summer, winning the job after not having done it since high school. But the feel-good story took an ugly turn on the first punt of the game when he muffed the boot while retreating toward his own goal line. He struggled to recover it a couple times in the end zone before finally securing it for a touchback and avoiding the possible Pittsburgh touchdown. Third-round rookie Marcus Jones was a two-time All-American returner in college but was a healthy scratch against the Steelers. He may now have a shot to take over the punt return job moving forward, maybe sooner rather than later.
Mac Jones – New England got the win and the Patriots had two receivers go for more than 95 yards, but Jones still had a less-than-impressive overall performance. After Mills’ interception, Jones gave the ball back with a pick to college teammate Minkah Fitzpatrick on an ugly throw down the middle toward DeVante Parker. He nearly threw a couple other interceptions, one on a screen to Jonnu Smith and another rolling to his left when Cameron Sutton dropped the ball that hit him in the chest. The offense also had issues with timeliness, earning one delay of game and having to take a timeout to avoid another coming out of a false start penalty. Jones got his first win of the season, but he can and will need to play much better moving forward.
Penalties on offense – From a delay of game to false starts on both Isaiah Wynn and Mike Onewenu to a holding calls on David Andrews and Meyers, the Patriots offense continues to shoot itself in the foot too often. The unit has enough issues with its scheme changes and lack of high-end playmakers, it’s not good enough to make things hard on itself.
