The New England Patriots return home in Week 3, hosting a longtime rival at Gillette Stadium: the Pittsburgh Steelers will come to town in a battle of 1-1 teams. The Steelers are still led by longtime head coach Mike Vrabel, but are field starting a new quarterback this year: Aaron Rodgers.
In order to find out more about the new-look team, we reached out to Ryan Parish of Pats Pulpit’s sister site Behind the Steel Curtain — the SB Nation community for all things Steelers. Here is what he told us
about the upcoming game and what to expect from New England’s Week 3 opponent.
1. What impact has Aaron Rodgers made on the Steelers’ offense, both on the field and as a leader?
Two weeks in, it’s hard to have any definitive takes, but the style of play has noticeably changed. With Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, the Steelers were essentially limited to the areas of the field outside the hashes. Rodgers led the Steelers to a comeback win over the Jets in Week 1 and had the Steelers in a position to win last week before a tipped-ball interception in the endzone and a kick return gaffe provided the Seahawks with a 14-point swing. The Steelers aren’t going as deep as often as they did last year, but that’s a fault I’m placing more on the line than with Rodgers.
2. Is DK Metcalf being put in the best position to succeed after being traded to and getting a big new contract from the Steelers? I was surprised to see that Jaylen Warren is the team’s receiving yards leader and Calvin Austin has more explosive catches.
I think some of the stats you’re citing are a bit noisy because we’ve only had two games played. Warren has only 3 yards more than Metcalf on the year, and a lot of that came from a 65-yard catch and run to the back against Seattle. As for Austin, he had a pair of big catches in Week 1 and then no-showed for much of Week 2.
As for Metcalf, he left some meat on the bone in Week 1. In that game, he caught four passes for 83 yards on seven targets, including a screen he turned into a big gain. But he also had a pair of drops that would have pushed him past the 100-yard mark if he’d secured them. Against Seattle, he had three receptions for 20 yards and a score. Seattle gave him a lot of attention, and the box score reflects that.
We haven’t seen him winning on many vertical routes yet as a Steeler, but I wouldn’t put that on him or Rodgers. The Steelers’ line has had its struggles, and the lack of depth behind Metcalf allows opposing teams to use coverage shells that take away many of the vertical routes he’s made his money on in previous years.
3. The Steelers are known for being strong in the trenches. Have this year’s offensive and defensive lines upheld that standard early?
To be frank, they’ve been awful. The coaching staff isn’t putting players in great positions to succeed, and outside a handful of players, they’ve shown poor pad level and physicality on both sides of the ball. It’s been a real problem and one that I address in our weekly column this week on Behind the Steel Curtain.
4. How is Pittsburgh’s new-look secondary coming along? Do Jalen Ramsey and Darius Slay still have gas in the tank?
Another issue we tackle in our weekly column. The Steelers are down two starters (Joey Porter Jr. and DeShon Elliot), and the defense hasn’t been put in great positions by the staff. Ramsey has made multiple impressive plays each week so far, including a game-sealing pass breakup in Week 1 and an interception in Week 2. However, the Steelers’ coverage shells are bland and use little deception, which puts their corners behind the 8-ball. Here’s just one example:
I think it’s less an issue of “how much is left in the tank” and more an issue of lack of chemistry and a bland game plan.
5. How can the Patriots pull off an upset this weekend? How can the Steelers secure a road win?
If the Patriots can have the same success running the ball as the Jets and Seahawks have, AND they can win the turnover battle, I think they can be competitive with the Steelers until the final whistle.
Inversely, if the Steelers can force the Patriots into third-and-long frequently, and can improve their own ground game, they should have a decent chance to escape with the win.
