The New England Patriots got their first win of the season in their first home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday in Foxboro. The game itself was not the prettiest nor the most impressive display of power, but it is always good to get in the win column early.
Let’s get into the lessons we learned from the Patriots’ 20-3 victory.
A win is a win
You’re not always going to play a perfect game.
Drake Maye looked uncomfortable in the pocket for much of the day and made some bad decisions with the football,
but not too many for the Patriots to lose. Ultimately, they will need more from their franchise quarterback moving forward, but he also took some sacks and made some throwaways instead of forcing low-percentage passes.
Overall, Maye has struggled to start the season — that interception when he was targeting Hunter Henry off his back-foot was horrific — but he also started slowly last year too, and it worked out well for him and the team. The hope is that more experience and improved chemistry within the entire offense, plus the eventual return of A.J. Brown from his ankle injury, this season will end up playing out like the last.
Getting TreVeyon Henderson back was important
The Patriots were without TreVeyon Henderson in Week 1, and you could see how important it was for them to have him back this week. He is a threat to take it to the house every time he touches the ball, meaning that the defense constantly has to have their eyes on him. Having the second-year back running well is also important for the Patriots in case Rhamondre Stevenson’s ball security should become a weekly concern again.
As a side note: Henderson’s touchdown run was a great play by him, but it was really Morgan Moses and DeMario Douglas who should get the most credit. A great pull by Moses into the hole, and he put Logan Wilson on roller skates, driving him 15 yards downfield. Douglas came in and absolutely trucked the safety, pancaking him and taking out another safety in the process. That left only one guy from Henderson to beat, which he did, scampering 39 yards for the touchdown. The highlight on SportsCenter, if that’s still a thing, goes to Henderson, but the highlight in the film room belongs to Moses and Douglas.
Injury woes are real
Arguably the biggest concern about the Patriots entering this season was their depth, and it’s being tested early on.
Mike Onwenu went down with what is believed to be a broken ankle; Dre’Mont Jones and Craig Woodson both hurt their shoulders and did not come back into the game; Eli Raridon was lost with a thigh injury, and Dell Pettus also failed to finish the game with an ankle issue. On top of it, they have already lost A.J. Brown for at least four games.
Their depth is going be seriously tested in the next few weeks, and it will be fascinating to find out how they respond — and who they will rely on moving forward.
Young defenders step up
One of the reasons the Patriots had struggled before last year was their lack of young impact players, whether from the draft or as undrafted signings. Well, that has certainly changed, and it was evident on Sunday.
Former UDFA Elijah Ponder had a sack and a scoop-and-score touchdown. Rookie Gabe Jacas had a second consecutive solid game. Joshua Farmer played well in the middle and even Quintayvious Hutchins contributed some good reps. Combine that with some solid play by Jaylen Reed, who they acquired in the Kayshon Boutte trade, and you have to walk away impressed with the young talent on this defense.
The Patriots have a few elite defenders in Milton Williams, Christian Barmore, and Christian Gonzalez. If the young guys can continue to contribute the way they have as well, their defense is going to be a force this season.
Gabe Jacas looks like a player
When the Patriots took Jacas out of Illinois in the second round of the draft, there was excitement about what he could be. A contract dispute, combined with an injury recovery, forced him to miss time at the beginning of training camp, and he was never able to get anything going in camp.
As rough as he looked in camp, however, he looked significantly worse in the preseason. It was bad enough that people, including me, were concerned that this could end up being a redshirt year for Jacas.
Well, we could not have been more wrong. Through two games, Jacas has made a bunch of splash plays, regularly worked his way into the backfield, and even got an interception on Sunday. If he continues this strong play, the Patriots are going to be extremely happy with their choice to select him, and so will all their fans.
Christian Elliss has quite the highlight reel
Christian Elliss was a relative no-name when he came to the Patriots in 2023, with his best work previously coming on special teams. However, he has started developing quite the highlight package with his hard hits.
The hit on Jaxson Dart along the sideline last year against the Giants made the rounds, and is sure to be one that has staying power as well. The sack against Aaron Rodgers on Sunday that resulted in a huge loss for the Steelers will be on every Patriots highlight package the rest of the season as well. Elliss, after all, nearly sawed Rodgers in half; when he gets a clean shot, it’s a bad thing for whatever opponent has the ball.
Forget the fact that the fumble resulted in a Benny Hill-like scramble for the football, the hit is sure to live on the rest of the year, and maybe longer.
Christian Gonzalez puts the clamps on DK Metcalf
Christian Gonzalez is a stud, we already knew that going into this game, but he completely erased DK Metcalf on Sunday. Maybe Metcalf isn’t as good as he used to be, but wiping him off the board made it a lot more difficult for the Steelers to move the ball.
Gonzalez traveled with him everywhere, including in the slot. This is why you pay him all that money, because he is a true shutdown corner capable of carrying out every assignment.
Player safety worries
There is nothing too bad to complain about when it comes to the refs, but there were still some questionable calls. Marcus Jones was involved with two of those.
Mike Vrabel was quite agitated at the end of the first half because of what was a pretty clear pick play that ended with Marcus Jones injured on the ground. Thankfully he was fine, but it was a missed call nonetheless. Later in the game, Jones appeared to clearly be interfered with on a punt, but no penalty was called either.
Officiating is never going to be perfect and on the whole did not make any egregious mistakes on Sunday. Still, in a billion-dollar business like the NFL you would still like to see the refs and the replay officials do a better job than they did on those plays — especially with a player-safety perspective in mind.
Aaron Rodgers is washed
Aaron Rodgers is certainly going to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but it’s pretty clear that his best years are behind him. He looked panicked and uncomfortable on Sunday, and it led to a tough game where the Steelers offense could only muster three points.
There were chances to try to push the ball down the field, but he simply did not want to do it. Whether he was unsure of what he was seeing, or he thought he couldn’t get the ball there, Rodgers chose to check the ball down instead of making the deep throw. He finished the game with only 187 yards passing, two fumbles, and an interception.
The Steelers seemed to have hired Mike McCarthy as their head coach in order to keep Rodgers, and that plan worked. However, from a bigger-picture perspective the logic might not have been that sound. Then again, they did win last week, so maybe they bounce back in Week 3.
On to Jacksonville
The Patriots travel to Jacksonville next week to take on a Jaguars team that looked fantastic for a game and a half, and then fell apart in the second half this Sunday to lose to Denver and drop to 1-1.
The Jags offense has looked solid with Trevor Lawrence, and the defense had a pick for the second week in a row, and, while they didn’t get a sack this week, they had six in Week 1. They present a tough challenge for the Patriots, especially with the reigning AFC champions dealing with some serious injury issues.
