The Steelers are 1-0 but hoping to build off a game against the Cooper Rush-led Falcons last week that was much closer than it needed to be. The Patriots, on the other hand, are still searching for their first win of the season after a low-scoring loss in a Super Bowl rematch to open the season.
As these two playoff-hopeful teams meet for their first AFC action of the 2026 season, what can Steeler fans expect from New England this week? Read & React takes a look:
What to expect from the Patriots’ offense
Rushing YPG: 109 (17th)
Passing YPG:
168 (25th)
PPG: 10 (T-28th)
RB: The Patriots entered 2026 with a largely similar offense to the one that helped the team make the Super Bowl last year, with the exception of a reworked wide receiver room.
Out are Kayshon Boutte and Stefon Diggs. In are AJ Brown and Romeo Doubs — well, at least to start the season.
In a low-scoring, 13-10 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 1 of the 2025 season, the Patriots offense not only sputtered, but lost Brown — the team’s big-ticket addition this offseason — to a high-ankle sprain that eventually landed him on injured reserve. That, paired with a three-interception performance from quarterback Drake Maye on a big stage, led to a disappointing season debut to one of the league’s most up-and-coming teams a year ago.
Maye, who was an MVP candidate in 2025, remains a massive threat, and will present a much larger challenge as a quarterback than Cooper Rush was last week against the Steelers. Last season, Maye passed for 4,394 yards with 72% accuracy — partly a product of a short-game-oriented Josh McDaniels scheme, but the young quarterback also showed off one of the league’s best deep balls and excelled despite not having a high-end supporting cast.
Maye’s mobility might be the aspect of his game not talked about enough — he managed 47 rushing yards Week 1 — with strong scrambling ability and plenty of highlight reel-worthy plays under pressure in 2025.
However, against the Seahawks in Week 1, Maye at times looked like a quarterback trying to do too much, with his final interception being an especially egregious decision that sealed the loss.
Maye will be hoping for a bounce-back performance against Pittsburgh, but he’ll have to do so without the aforementioned AJ Brown. The good news for the Patriots is that Maye made a name for himself last season making the most of a middling wide receiver group.
The loss of Brown wouldn’t be as big of a concern if the Patriots’ other big addition at wideout, former Packer Romeo Doubs, hadn’t gotten off to such a slow start Week 1. Doubs had a brutal drop and failed to step up in the offense, even after Brown left with injury.
Doubs is a good player who should improve from his season-opening low spot, but it’s still not an encouraging sign for the New England offense. Elsewhere at pass catcher, the Patriots have Mack Hollins, a big-bodied possession receiver, DeMario Douglas, and 2025 draft darling Kyle Williams. At tight end, Hunter Henry is a capable veteran while third-round rookie Eli Raridon caught the team’s first touchdown of the year and could be an underrated name to watch.
In the run game Week 1, the Patriots’ offensive line struggled to create lanes against an extremely talented Seahawks front, but it’s worth pointing out that Seattle should once again field an elite defense in 2026. Big-bodied runner Rhamondre Stevenson took the bulk of the carries for New England with speedster TreVeyon Henderson out with injury, but now the second-year runner is healthy entering Week 2, adding another dimension to the New England backfield.
It’s not worthwhile to dig too much into trends with only one week of the season in the books, but in Week 1, although the Patriots saw over half their offensive snaps in 11 personnel, another quarter used 12, with another handful of snaps utilizing a fullback.
The Patriots had a fairly even run/pass split, trying to establish the run game to set up play action (around a quarter of Maye’s pass attempts Week 1) for downfield shots. However, Stevenson and the Patriots had a hard time finding success on the ground outside of Maye’s scrambling, with Stevenson averaging just 2.8 yards per carry and the team averaging only 0.35 yards before contact per rush, one of the worst marks in the league.
Still, both Stevenson and Henderson are capable receivers (the former had five grabs for 44 yards last week) meaning they could still make a big impact even if the run game falters for another week.
Odds are that the Steelers will be trying to jar the ball loose on Sunday — a big part of Pittsburgh’s win over New England wast year was a whopping four forced fumbles, including two from Stevenson.
And after barely blitzing last week against Atlanta, the Steelers will probably want to dial up the pressure on the line of scrimmage this week to help shut down the Patriots run game, and try to replicate the Seahawks’ success in making Maye uncomfortable and wanting to play hero ball.
In an interesting tidbit from Next Gen Stats, New England tackle Will Campbell had one of the best games of his career in terms of pressures allowed last week against Seattle. However, the last time he matched up with Pittsburgh’s Nick Herbig, Campbell allowed a whopping 21.9% pressure rate. It’ll be interesting to see if the Steelers try to bring back that matchup in 2o26.
The Patriots should be a good challenge for the Steelers in Week 2 — a Super Bowl contender a year ago and with a dangerous, talented quarterback. That said, after such a dismal outing on offense to start the season, New England is clearly a beatable team that’s still finding its footing in the new season.
What to expect from the Patriots’ offense
Rushing YPG Allowed: 97.0 (12th)
Passing YPG Allowed: 188.0 (16th)
PPG Allowed: 13.0 (T-6th)
Like the offense, the Patriots’ defense returns most of its core players from last year’s Super Bowl run, but the unit does include four new starters: nose tackle Cory Durden and outside linebacker Elijah Ponder take over as starters after serving as backups in 2025, and offseason acquisitions Dre’Mont Jones and Kevin Byard III are new starters at outside linebacker and free safety, respectively.
The Patriots technically have a “new” defensive coordinator this year in Zak Kuhr, but that’s a slightly misleading notion. Kuhr started the 2025 season as New England’s inside linebacker coach, but he took over as defensive playcaller early on in the season when Terrell Williams had to step away from the team while being treated for prostate cancer. Now Kuhr is officially the DC, with Williams taking on another role witht the coaching staff.
Under Kuhr, the Patriots are a team that uses an even mixture of different coverage schemes. And he’s not one who shies away from sending a high rate of blitzes.
While I expect the Patriots defense to remain a good unit this year, it is hard to glean too much from its Week 1 performance. Facing the Seahawks in a rematch of the Super Bowl, Seattle’s quarterback Sam Darnold went down with an injury just five plays into the game. Seattle’s backup Drew Lock enterered the game and played about as well as you’d expect a career backup to play. The Seahawks punted on each possession of the first half, and didn’t get on the board until late in the third quarter with a field goal. A couple of Drake Maye interceptions set them up to eventually eke out a 13-10 victory, with Lock finishing 16-for-22 for 187 yards and a touchdown. With Darnold out, the Seahawks found some life in the running game from rookie first-rounder Jadarian Price (10-52), but Seattle seemed to want to limit the amount of carries on the rookie’s plate, and veterans George Holani and Emmanuel Wilson were bottled up by the Patriots defense, combining for 10 carries and just 32 yards.
In this regard, it could be another tough day on the ground for the Steelers this Sunday, as New England offers a tougher front than the one Pittsburgh just faced in Atlanta. Last season, the Patriots allowed just 99.2 rushing yards per game. The Patriots have one of the nastier defensive lines in the AFC, with Milton Williams and Christian Barmore manning the middle with the previously mentioned Durden.
Those two are tough enough against both the run and pass, but the Patriots have only added to their firepower on the line. The team moved on from edge players Harold Landry and K’Lavon Chaisson, but they have added Jones and drafted rookie Gabe Jacas, one of my draft gems who had both a sack and two tackles for loss in his debut.
Former Steeler Robert Spillane mans the middle for the Patriots linebackers, along with Kristian Ellis. While neither of them are All-Pros, they don’t have to be behind this line. Spillane in particular is a tough run defender (generating four stops in Week 1), and while he can be someone for opposing teams to pick on in the passing game (he gave up a touchdown in Week 1 too), he’s not a player you can completely count out either. He’s totaled eight career interceptions, including two or more in each of the past three seasons.
The New England secondary is also a dangerous one. The unit is led by Christian Gonzalez, who has become one of the leagues best. Gonzalez is comfortable playing a variety of coverage schemes and techniques, and is one of the most fluid-moving corners in the game right now.
Carlton Davis is the Patriots other outside corner, and his presence with Gonzalez allows the Patriots to play man coverage at one of the higher rates in the league (33.3% in Week 1). Elsewhere, Craig Woodson is an emerging playmaker at safety, and the addition of Byard III gives New England a true ball-hawking safety. Byard III had seven interceptions in 2025, and has 36 on his career.
Ultimately, I think the Steelers will have to take their chances with the New England secondary. The Pittsburgh running game remains a work in progress and I’m not sure this New England front is the team that they will get this going against. Aaron Rodgers has made a career out of protecting the ball, so the best bet might be to rely on his pass catchers to create more yards after the catch. I’d also like to see the Steelers try to attack this aggressive New England front with play-action. Last week, the Steelers went 6-for-8 on play-action passes for 65 yards. Likewise, even without Darnold, the Seahawks went 8-for-8 on play-action passes for 78 yards.
It won’t be an easy matchup Sunday. We should learn a lot about the Steelers’ offensive prospects this season based on how they respond.
Let us know what you think in the comments. Be sure to bookmark Behind the Steel Curtain for all the latest news, breakdowns, and more!
