Pittsburgh’s defense struggled to overcome a TJ-sized absence in the inaugural contest at Acrisure Stadium, but ultimately the inability to stop the run spelled a 17-14 defeat at the hands of the New England Patriots.
The Steelers first half offense was – shall we say – lackluster? They tallied 96 passing and 51 rushing yards, one give-away and 3 points with QB Mitch Trubisky at the con. Kenny Pickett’s name was probably trending on Twitter.
On the flip side, the Steelers defense largely held New England to 3 points of their own in the first half, despite recording neither a sack nor a tackle for loss. FS Minkah Fitzpatrick pulled in another interception but a deep combat catch by former Eagle WR Nelson Agholor over CB Ahkello Witherspoon was the difference on the scoreboard at the break.
The Patriots opened the third quarter with a deep drive that ended in a missed 52-yard FG. “Kenny” chants swelled after Mitch checked it down behind the line of scrimmage on 3rd&8. Regardless, he got K Chris Boswell in range for a 52-yarder of his own; as Adam Sandler once sang of Hall of Famer Rod Carew: “He converted.”
I saw a ton of pre-game predictions that included a Gunner Olszewski return TD against his former team. I’m not giving out any partial credit for a muffed punt that set New England up in the red zone. A phantom Unnecessary Roughness penalty (called on 93, MLB Mark Robinson, who was inactive today) and three straight rushes later, the Patriots were in the end zone.
Trubisky had Acrisure singing a different tune his next drive, throwing 4/5 for 43 yards, including this TD to TE Pat Freiermuth and the following toss to WR Diontae Johnson for the two-point conversion:
The fourth quarter became a battle of field position with four combined punts. The Patriots’ wheels finally found purchase and drove down to the Steelers’ side of the field at the two-minute warning. Then Renegade happened.
Immediately out of the break DT Cam Heyward and Co recorded a TFL, but they just ran away from him twice to burn Pittsburgh’s final timeouts, and the last first down sealed it.
FINAL: 17-14 NE
Steely Cam 