Pats Pulpit
Fresh off the first win of the Mike Vrabel era, the New England Patriots will return home for a battle of 1-1 teams: they will welcome the Pittsburgh Steelers to Gillette Stadium. While the Steelers will want to get back into the win column after a loss in Week 2, the Patriots hope to stay there — all while earning their first home win of the 2025 season.
The oddsmakers are not confident that this will happen; the Patriots are listed as a 1.5-point underdogs at home even after their 33-27 win in Miami. However, if we compare the two teams and their performances so far this season, we can see that New England coming away victoriously would certainly not be a surprise either.
Patriots pass offense vs. Steelers pass defense: Coming off the best game of his career, Drake Maye will go up against a pass defense that is ranked near the bottom of the league in multiple statistical categories through two games. There are still plenty of high-profile individual players on the unit capable of making life hard for Maye and company, but Pittsburgh’s uninspiring game plans and a lack of cohesion in the secondary has been hurting the unit so far. If the Patriots can use last week’s showing as a springboard, they should therefore be able to find success moving the ball through the air. | Edge: Patriots
Patriots pass defense vs. Steelers pass offense: New England’s pass defense has yinged and yanged its way through the season so far. On the one hand, you have one of the most productive pass rushes in the NFL. On the other hand, the second and third levels have looked rough at times. Now going up against Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf and company, that is a definitive concern for the Patriots. Then again, Pittsburgh’s offensive line has not been much better either, so the difference between the two groups might actually be negligible. For now, we are giving the Steelers the slight advantage, but it would not take a lot — a certain starting cornerback making his season debut, for example — to flip that. | Edge: Steelers
Patriots rushing offense vs. Steelers run defense: Welcome to your classic matchup between a stoppable force and a movable object. Neither the Patriots running game nor the Steelers run defense have looked good so far this season, ranking 29th and 28th in EPA, respectively, over the first two weeks of the season. New England has potential for improvement, especially with its offensive line developing chemistry and the passing game possibly opening up as well, but time will tell how quickly it will get there. | Edge: Patriots
Patriots run defense vs. Steelers rushing offense: On paper, this is as big a mismatch as you will find. Whereas New England’s run defense has impressed in Weeks 1 and 2 and is one of the top-rated units in several statistical categories, Pittsburgh has had a rough time...
