The Patriots beat the Steelers on Sunday, and the biggest topic in New England all week will be Drake Maye. Understandably so.
For one, we are a quarterback-obsessed nation, so we can’t help it. But even outside of that reality, Maye has not looked very good to start the season. Last year through two games, he had a 100.9 passer rating. This year, he has a 63.1 rating.
Will that get better? Sure. Probably. Maybe? Nobody can say for sure.
In the meantime, let’s flip to the other side of the football, where the Patriots are riding a surprise of the more pleasant variety with their pass rush.
We need not rehash the entire offseason, but it went something like this: Harold Landry’s hurt and MIA, K’Lavon Chaisson left in free agency, Dre’Mont Jones isn’t great, Elijah Ponder is still largely unproven, Gabe Jacas is very late to getting his pro career started, and it’s going to be very difficult for the Patriots to generate pressure on opposing quarterbacks in the 2026 season.
Through two games, it’s actually been no problem. Just ask Aaron Rodgers.
Kevin DuCharme-NBC Sports Boston
Kevin DuCharme-NBC Sports Boston Christian Ellis jars the ball free from Aaron Rodgers. Kevin DuCharme-NBC Sports Boston
That one-two shot from Christian Elliss and Robert Spillane had to have Rodgers wondering why he’s bothering to play football at the age of 42, and it was one of countless plays where the Patriots generated a steady pass rush that made life very difficult for one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history.
Of course, Rodgers isn’t nearly the athlete he was in his prime. Still, limiting him to 187 passing yards on 59 percent passing with a pick and two fumbles (one lost) was a feat, especially considering 78 of those yards came on short, underneath passes when the Patriots held a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter.
The Patriots, quite simply, smothered the man.
The work has been a collective effort. Christian Barmore put forth a dominant two-play stretch, drawing a holding penalty on a second-and-11 and then strip-sacking Rodgers on the next snap. Elijah Ponder breaking a tackle was impressive, but just watch the sheer dominance of Barmore over Spencer Anderson.
On third down of the following Steelers drive, Joshua Farmer recorded a sack on a play when three pass rushers — Farmer, Jacas, and Elliss — all collapsed on Rodgers simultaneously. Those two plays essentially sealed the win for New England.
Elliss’ sack also came on a third down, forcing a fumble that resulted in a Yakety Sax, fumbling, bumbling effort to recover it. (Jones and Christian Gonzalez couldn’t recover it, but the Steelers faced a fourth-and-43 when it was all said and done. Drive killer right there.)
Ponder also had a sack that turned a first-and-goal at the 4-yard line into a second-and-goal at the 17-yard line, a sack he recorded despite being held on the play. And after that sack, it was the rookie Jacas making the first pick of his career.
That was, obviously, a fortunate bounce, but the rookie reacted well to the quick pass and ended up getting himself in the right place to make a play to put the exclamation point on a dominant day for the defense.
Unfortunately for the Patriots, they did lose Jones to a shoulder injury, and they really can’t afford many — or any — injuries on the edge. More on that later.
Still, with the Patriots getting six QB hits in Seattle in Week 1 and seven more in Week 2 against Pittsburgh, something that was expected to be a weakness has been surprisingly effective.
Here are a few more leftover thoughts from the Patriots’ 20-3 win over the Steelers.
–Christian Gonzalez had a tremendous response when he was asked postgame for some information on when he knew that he’d be spending a lot of time shadowing DK Metcalf.
“Um,” Gonzalez said before a long pause. “I mean, I think you know. As soon as I see the schedule.”
It was some extreme CB1 talk from a true CB1.
–TreVeyon Henderson reminded everybody that he’s got home run ability, which is certainly a rare trait. Yet for as impressive as his quickness and speed may be, three blocks on his touchdown run deserve some more shine.
Left guard Alijah Vera-Tucker walled off Sebastian Joseph-Day. Good battle there.
Morgan Moses got a full head of steam as a pulling tackle to absolutely drive Payton Wilson out of the running lane and continue blocking him for 10 more yards upfield.
Yet the least likely block of all came from Pop Douglas, who made a beeline safety Rashawn Jenkins and decleated the 10-year veteran. Douglas hit Jenkins so hard that he took out Jaquan Brisker, too.
Just a symphony of blocking on display on that run, with Henderson having the burst to make it count. A real “football rocks” play if there ever was one.
–The Patriots’ defense faced a sneaky-critical moment early on, after Rhamondre Stevenson fumbled. Considering the way Week 1’s game ended, the home crowd was due to be a little sensitive when it came to turnovers in this one. The Patriots got off to a great start, forcing a three-and-out on defense before Drake Maye and Co. easily sliced their way up the field … until Stevenson fumbled.
It was a bad fumble, reminiscent of the ones Stevenson had last year. It’s how they lost to the Steelers last year. Turnovers are how they lost to Seattle last week. Tensions were high.
Yet Jacas pressured Rodgers into a second-down incompletion, and Robert Spillane covered Pat Freiermuth with ease up the seam to force another three-and-out for Pittsburgh.
Had the Steelers been able to turn Stevenson’s fumble into points, who knows how the rest of the quarter plays out. Yet the defense quickly made it a moot point, and the offense would need just four plays to get into the end zone to take a 7-0 lead.
–I’m not sure what the Patriots do to activate the 2025 version of Drake Maye. It’s not a simple situation. But, it also probably isn’t an overnight fix. And Sunday’s game, while very much imperfect, was an improvement upon Week 1.
The pick was still ugly ..
… and another deep shot to Eli Raridon was underthrown. And the 63-yard deep shot to Romeo Doubs was underthrown, too. But he’ll likely remember how to throw once he gets comfortable again.
That’s the challenge that I believe we’re watching play out with Maye. He has a new center, a new left guard, and now a new right guard. He had a new No. 1 receiver for a little more than two quarters of football, and he’s now trying to incorporate Doubs into that role.
Maye still trusts Hunter Henry more than anyone (which might explain the interception thrown when Henry wasn’t even looking for the ball), but the offense isn’t currently designed for Maye to be able to go heavy targeting one receiver. Three receivers — Mack Hollins, Pop Douglas, Kyle Williams — were targeted just twice all game, with Maye going 4-for-6 for 37 yards on those passes.
Maye hasn’t looked very good, and I don’t think Josh McDaniels has quite found his rhythm yet, either. It’s fixable, but building the offense to where they both need to get it might take a bit more time, based on the way it looks so far.
–Doubs caught the 63-yarder, which is good, but he still had an up-and-down performance. He made his first catch as a Patriot on a second-and-5 late in the first quarter.
He then lost the race to the first down marker and fumbled. His fumble went out of bounds though, so it didn’t get the spotlight.
Doubs also could have caught a pass on a slant to convert a third-and-9, but he let it go right through his hands. The pass was a bit behind him, which is obviously on Maye. But teams also give receivers $68 million contracts so that they can catch passes that are slightly behind them. It is part of the job.
–A demerit goes to Mike Vrabel, too, for calling a timeout after a Patriots injury. The delay of game penalty gave the Steelers 5 free yards and making Chris Boswell’s field goal attempt before halftime that much easier. Without that gift, the Steelers might have left Gillette with zero points on the day.
–A win is a win, which seemed to be the message Mike Vrabel wanted to impart after the game. But if you’re the Patriots, you have to be deeply concerned about the injuries suffered on Sunday.
Mike Onwenu appeared to have broken his ankle on the field, which will end his season. The Patriots had such a lack of depth on the interior of their line this summer that they had to sign Greg Van Roten and trade for Walter Rouse in August. Those two plus Ben Brown will now come into focus.
The Patriots also have nonexistent depth at safety, and they lost starter Craig Woodson (Woodson) and backup Dell Pettus (ankle) to injuries against the Steelers. Neither returned to the game.
Another area where the Patriots lack depth is at tight end. That’s why rookie Eli Raridon has had to play so much. Yet Raridon suffered a thigh injury, left the game and didn’t return. Undrafted rookie Tanner Arkin was inactive for the game, so the depth was stretched to an extreme in this one.
As previously mentioned, the Patriots are without Landry already and then lost Dre’Mont Jones to a shoulder injury. He did not return to the game.
Vrabel stated plainly that he didn’t play starters in the preseason because the Patriots don’t have a deep roster. This game felt like a bit of a bad joke with both the volume of injuries and the areas on the roster affected by them.
So while Vrabel didn’t want to let Ben Volin or Greg Bedard ruin his Sunday with some probing questions, he may find himself struggling to feel too upbeat during practices this week if those injuries prove to be significant.
