Well, Bill Belichick must have taken that Dolphins loss to heart. The Patriots overcame a terrible start by going into Pittsburgh and beating the Steelers 17-14, overcoming all of the doubters and bets against them.
The Patriots really made this win more difficult than it should have been.
Mac Jones and the Patriots offenses was absolutely awful for the opening 29:36 minutes of this game as the Pittsburgh Steelers straight up dominated them. Holding the Patriots to only 3 points for the majority of that first half, the Steelers defense also picked off Jones once (Minkah Fitzpatrick with the INT), blitzed that O-Line to death, and nearly sacked Mac on every play.
If it wasn’t for the Patriots defense, this game would have been lost before the first half ended.
Thankfully, the Patriots were just as good on defense as the Steelers were as they were also able to pick off Mitchell Trubisky, sacked the Steelers QB 3 times (with Matt Judon getting his first sack of the season), and forced the Steelers to punt four times at home.
Plus, spoiler alert, the Pats only allowed one TD this entire game against a team that scored four against the defending AFC Champions a week ago.
In my opinion, this Patriots defense is extremely underrated as they not only have stuffed the Steelers offense in their own backyard, but also held the high-powered Miami Dolphins offense to just one TD (there was a fumble returned for a TD in that game, remember).
And seeing what the Dolphins did to the Baltimore Ravens today, you’d realize that holding them to just one TD is a massive achievement.
Say what you want about Bill Belichick, he’s always been a fantastic defensive coach.
Regardless, remember how I said that the Steelers defense held the Patriots out of the endzone for 29:36? Well, that streak was broken just before halftime as, with only 24 seconds left, Mac Jones lobbed a deep ball to Nelson Agholor. The second-year Pats wide receiver leaped over his Steelers defender, caught the ball in his face (a classic Randy Moss catch if ever there was one), and dashed into the endzone as the half was expiring.
That TD pass was a preview of Mac Jones’ deep ball talent, while also showcasing that Nelson Agholor is still one of the best deep threats in the NFL today. If only Mac had better WRs around him to show off his deep ball more.
Anyway, that touchdown inspired the Patriots offense, and the offensive line in particular, to go back out after halftime and get another one.
Getting the ball back because of the Steelers return man Gunnar Olszewski’s fumble (a former Patriot, no less), the Pats drove the ball to the goal line with just under 3 minutes left in the 3rd quarter.
Like I said, the O-Line decided to show up by dominating the trenches against the Steelers D-Line, giving Damien Harris an open lane to squeeze himself and the football into the endzone to put the Patriots up 17-6.
I don’t know what happened to the Patriots O-Line against the Dolphins or in that first half of this game, but they snapped out of their funk and performed to the standard we know this Pats O-Lines can.
Maybe they just needed a week to gel together? Or maybe Bill Belichick threatened to cut every single one of them? Whatever it was, the message got through to this O-Line as they controlled the rest of the game for the Pats.
Sure, Mitchell Trubisky tossed a nice TD pass to Pat Freiermuth right at the beginning of the 4th quarter to make it 17-14, but the Steelers simply didn’t have the ball enough to mount a comeback. The Pats ran them over with Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson, chewing the clock away with every rushing attempt.
And when they did get the ball back, the Patriots defense swallowed up the Steelers receivers and running backs.
And so, the game finished 17-14 with the Patriots picking up their first win of the season and the Steelers their first loss.
Both of these teams are going to have an almighty fight on their hands to get into the playoffs as the AFC is STACKED with great teams. In fact, there are seven teams in just the AFC East (Pats division) and AFC North (Steeler Division) only that have a shot of making the playoffs.
And that’s just two of the four divisions
Obviously, there’s only seven spots and four of them go to the division winners of the AFC. Thus, I don’t see either the Steelers or the Patriots making the playoffs this year, but with this win, maybe the Pats can pull off a miracle and make it to the postseason for a second straight season.
One thing is for certain: Bill Belichick isn’t going down without a fight.
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