Thanks to a 20-3 win over the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers
on Sunday, the New England Patriots are in the win column for the first time this season. They got there on the back of an excellent defensive performance: the unit outscored Pittsburgh’s offense on the day and had future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers post an abysmal -0.416 expected points added per play, 31st in the league in Week 2.Needless to say, and like we already discussed previously, there were some standout performances.
After watching the tape, however, here are our film review notes and position grades from the Patriots’ victory.
Patriots film review from NFL Week 2
Quarterback: Did Drake Maye play the best game of his career on Sunday? No. Is it time to hit the panic button, though? Far from it. While he statistically once again failed to perform at his 2025 Pro Bowl level — 14-of-22 (63.3%), 208 yards, 1 INT — the third-year quarterback still had some good moments despite being under pressure on a whopping 51.9% of dropbacks and the Steelers throwing some curveballs his way in terms of blitz usage and man coverage rate. He managed to minimize unnecessary risk while also extending plays, keeping his eyes downfield, and delivering some explosive throws. Coming off a disastrous season opener and despite a rough interception off his back-foot in the third quarter, this was a step in the right direction. | Grade: C+
Running back: Rhamondre Stevenson’s first-quarter fumble after a short reception was a disappointing start, but the Patriots’ running back group as a whole actually performed well in Week 2. Stevenson, TreVeyon Henderson and Corey Kiner combined to gain 119 yards on 24 carries for a healthy average of 5.0 yards per rush. Henderson’s 39-yard touchdown was the group’s biggest play and the highlight of a successful overall season debut, but the player to find the most consistent success — outside of his turnover and a quarterback hurry given up — was actually Stevenson: he was the only member of the group to finish with a positive EPA per carry number (0.30) in his six rushing attempts. | Grade: B+
Wide receiver: The first game without A.J. Brown was a mixed bag for New England’s wide receiver group. Relying mostly on Mack Hollins, Romeo Doubs and DeMario Douglas, the group finished with eight catches for 131 yards — among them a 63-yard pickup from Doubs in the second half — but was also unable to create consistent separation or make impact plays on a steady rate. In fact, its best moment outside of the Doubs big play actually might have come in the blocking department: Douglas managed to take out two defenders in one key block on TreVeyon Henderson’s long touchdown run in the first quarter. The Patriots also need more from Kyle Williams, who continues to play a limited role even with Brown unavailable. | Grade: C–
Tight end: Combining to catch four passes for 70 yards, Hunter Henry and Eli Raridon both had big plays against the Steelers. The former hauled in a 29-yarder on New England’s first drive, while the latter caught a 30-yarder in the late first quarter to help set up a field goal. Unfortunately, for the group, it also had some issues. Henry had a rough time as a blocker both in the run game and on an unsuccessful screen pass to Efton Chism, while Raridon was unable to finish the contest because of a thigh injury. Third tight end Cameron Latu had some ups and downs in the blocking department as well, which might have prompted the Patriots to bring four free agents in for workouts at the position. | Grade: B
Offensive line: The Patriots made sure not to let Pittsburgh’s talented outside linebacker group take over the game, and they did so by using plenty of chips and double-teams on the edge. Will Campbell and Morgan Moses both performed well in that setup, even though the latter missed a cut block on the sack that got Mike Onwenu hurt in the late first quarter. Speaking of Onwenu, his departure with a reported ankle fracture was a watershed moment for the line. The group had looked mostly okay before he left, but his replacement Greg Van Roten had issues in what was admittedly a challenging setup. An exacerbating factor was Jared Wilson not playing his bet football at center, particularly in pass protection. On the bright side, Alijah Vera-Tucker bounced back from his Week 1 struggles and played with some tenacity as a run blocker. | Grade: C+
Defensive line: With Dre’Mont Jones departing due to a shoulder injury, depth remains a question along New England’s edge (to a point where even Milton Williams even was asked to line up in a two-point stance). At least on Sunday, however, the group’s youngsters — mainly Elijah Ponder and Gabe Jacas — were mostly up to the challenge and made multiple big plays: Ponder had a sack and fumble recovery for a touchdown, while Jacas hurried quarterback Aaron Rodgers on multiple occasions and picked off a pass that popped up in the air. On the interior, Christian Barmore and Milton Williams were only credited with one pressure each, but they managed to free up gaps for second-level blitzes and repeatedly collapsed the pocket up the middle. Barmore and Joshua Farmer also registered sacks, with the former forcing the fumble that was recovered by Ponder for the score. | Grade: B+
Linebacker: Defensive coordinator Zak Kuhr used an aggressive plan against Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers offense, and it included sending the off-ball linebackers on blitzes on several occasions. Robert Spillane and Christian Elliss finished with a combined 22 pass rush reps, and they notched with five quarterback pressures including an Ellis strip-sack along the way. They also limited the damage in pass coverage — in fact, Spillane even ran with DK Metcalf down the seam at one point — and where active pursuing ball carriers in the run game. Both looked decisive with their reads and quick pulling the trigger when attacking downhill. It was a promising outing from the two. | Grade: A-
Cornerback: Even though Carlton Davis missed the game with a neck injury, the Patriots continued to play their fare share of man coverage against the Steelers. This speaks for the coaching staff not being afraid of Pittsburgh’s receiving talent, but also for the trust it has in Christian Gonzalez to simply remove whoever he is going up against. On Sunday, that was DK Metcalf, and Gonzalez had him flustered all day to a point where he dropped a pass on one of the rare reps he managed to get a step on the Pro Bowl cornerback. Other than that, the highest-paid cornerback in football was in lockdown mode throughout the day. The other cornerbacks were not quite as successful — Germie Bernard in particular had some wins against Charles Woods and Marcus Jones — but the performance as a whole was still very good. | Grade: A-
Safety: Losing Craig Woodson two thirds into the game and Dell Pettus also not being able to finish it put pressure on New England’s safety corps, and forced late-August trade acquisition Jaylen Reed into the lineup. The Patriots like Reed’s progression, but his lack of experience in the system and chemistry with his fellow defensive backs is evident. He also missed a tackle while filling in for Woodson, who had looked good before his injury. Kevin Byard was solid as well, but he did get flagged for pass interference to negate a third-down stop. | Grade: C+
Special teams: Andy Borregales missed a 47-yard field goal attempt wide to the right, but he did make his other four combined kicks. Punter Mitch Wishnowsky, meanwhile, had some ups and down but seemed to get better as the game progressed. Kyle Williams gained 29 yards on his lone kickoff return, while Marcus Jones averaged 10 yards on four punt runbacks. Kickoff coverage was no issue, but New England did surrender 17 yards on a punt return in the second period | Grade: B-
How would you grade the Patriots’ performance against the Steelers? Do you agree with our assessment? Please head down to the comment section to discuss with the rest of the community.
