Saunders’ Pregame Primer: Keys to Victory, Bold Prediction, Matchup to Watch for Steelers-Patriots

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Pittsburgh Steelers probably won’t be as bad on defense throughout the 2025 season as they’ve looked the first two weeks.

The big question that will now dominate their season is how quickly they can pull out of the slide. The Steelers have an opportunity with a light early season schedule to stack some wins against some subpar opponents, and a couple more playing their backup quarterbacks.

But if this lingers, and the Steelers muddle through September and October, they’ll put themselves in a situation where they’ll have to win against some of the toughest teams in the league in their stretch run.

Gameday: Pittsburgh Steelers at New England Patriots, 1 p.m.

KEY TO VICTORY: Make Big Improvements in at Least One Phase

The Steelers are a better team than the New England Patriots. They have not been playing like a better team than the Patriots. How to win?

They have to figure out a way to start to look like the team they’re capable of being. Even getting back to the way they think they can play in one phase — running the ball, stopping the run, stopping the pass or on special teams, would probably.

MATCHUP to WATCH: Steelers TEs Jonnu Smith & Pat Freiermuth vs Patriots LBs Robert Spillane & Christian Elliss

The Steelers might miss Robert Spillane today for his run-stuffing ability, but if you remember Spillane’s time in Pittsburgh, it was equal parts impressive against the run and troublesome against the pass.

The Steelers have four offensive weapons — Jonnu Smith, Pat Freiermuth, Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell — that could theoretically be covered by a linebacker. None of them are good matchups for Spillane, and his cohort Christian Elliss isn’t a lot better.

BOLD PREDICTION: Steelers Secondary Makes Maye Meek

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense has not had a great two weeks, but the team has too much talent, especially in the pass rush and on the back end, even with the injury situation, to continue to be as porous as they’ve been.

Drake Maye doesn’t move all that well, the Patriots’ offensive line is a bad combination of suspect and inexperienced, and this collection of wide receivers scares no one.

I expect them to clean up some of the coverage issues from the last two weeks, and keep their ability to land some splash with two turnovers coming from Maye, who could revert to some of his rookie ways with some added pressure.