The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense struggled once again on Sunday afternoon, as the New England Patriots took home a narrow 17-14 victory at Acrisure Stadium.
There should not be a quarterback controversy as this is only the second week of the NFL season. However, Mitchell Trubisky does not have this offense clicking by any stretch of the imagination. The inability to work the ball down the field, and the third down attempts being thrown well short of the first down marker became a disturbing trend on Sunday afternoon.
That being said, the Steelers certainly had their chances. As expected, this was a “grind it out” type of game. Neither offense was very impressive, but the Patriots made the plays when they mattered most.
Mac Jones threw for 252 yards with a touchdown and an interception for New England, while Trubisky has 168 yards with a TD and INT for Pittsburgh. Najee Harris, clearly the best offensive weapon for the Steelers, had just 49 yards rushing and 40 yards receiving.
The two teams traded field goals in the first quarter, a 28 yarder by Nick Folk for New England and a 36 yarder by Chris Boswell of Pittsburgh. Late in the second quarter, Jones hit Nelson Agholor to give the Patriots a 10-3 lead at the half.
A 52 yard field goal by Boswell in the third quarter cut the Patriots’ lead to 10-6, but a costly Pittsburgh turnover led almost immediately to a touchdown run by Damien Harris, making it 17-6.
Trubisky led the Steelers down the field on an 11 play, 75 yard drive, capped by a touchdown pass to Pat Freiermuth and a two-point conversion toss to Diontae Johnson.
Unfortunately, though, despite multiple chances, the Steelers couldn’t complete the comeback, falling by the 17-14 score.
This was a difficult loss for the Steelers. They were riding high on the momentum of last week’s upset over the Cincinnati Bengals, only to come out flat and miss out on a number of opportunities in the fourth quarter to tie or take the lead. The defense clearly ran out of gas late in the game, and they just couldn’t get off the field.
The Steelers will not have long to lick their wounds before they begin preparations for next week’s game. They have a short week, hitting the field Thursday night against the Cleveland Browns.
Overall Record: 1-1
