Behind the Steel Curtain
The Steelers’ Week 3 matchup will be a battle of 1-1 teams as Pittsburgh takes on the New England Patriots on the road.
Despite identical records, each team is heading in a different direction. The Steelers won their first game with a surprising offensive showing but couldn’t keep the momentum in a Week 2 loss to the Seahawks where both sides of the ball disappointed.
New England, on the other hand, opened the season with a loss to the Raiders but rekindled some of their offseason hype with a win over the Miami Dolphins last week.
Only one of the Steelers or Patriots will escape Week 3 with a winning record. What will Pittsburgh have to gameplan against to succeed in Sunday’s game?
RB: After an ugly 13-point showing in Week 1 against the Raiders, the Patriots showed a lot of improvement in Week 2 against a struggling Miami Dolphins team, winning 33-27 on the road.
One of those touchdowns came on a kick return from the dangerous Antonio Gibson, the current AFC Special Teams Player of the Week, but New England still looked far more balanced and competent on offense in the second week of the season.
In 2025, the Patriots offense is led by coordinator Josh McDaniels, a fixture of the Tom Brady years now in his third stint with the team. He’s calling plays for one of the more promising young quarterbacks in the league in second-year passer Drake Maye, even if his supporting cast is a little lacking in star power.
Under McDaniels, the New England offense has unsurprisingly looked a little old school Patriots at times. Against Miami, Maye was at his best in the death by a million papercuts approach, peppering a subpar Dolphins secondary with quick passes near the middle of the field. At one point, McDaniels even spammed the three-step drop from under center for a couple of easy completions to tight ends to quickly move the chains.
They also use a good bit of play action.
As for pass catchers, the Patriots employ two solid veteran tight ends who know what they’re doing in Austin Hooper and Hunter Henry. The result is a lot of 12 personnel, with some occasional tight-end-as-fullback usage.
The receiver room is similarly solid but unspectacular. Stefon Diggs isn’t close to the player he was in his prime, but he remains a good underneath target. Mack Hollins was a folk hero in Buffalo who now operates in a glorified Ben Skowronek role in New England.
DeMario Douglas has had a quiet start to the year with just six receiving yards, but former LSU receiver Kayshon Boutte has impressed in his third NFL season. He leads the team with 119 receiving yards through two games, including a highlight-worthy touchdown snag against the Dolphins:
If there’s a name to watch among the Patriots’ pass catchers, it’s Boutte.
The quick game is where the Patriots’ passing game has lived this year, and...
