New England fans can breathe a sigh of relief as the Pats took care of business winning 20-3 over the Steelers to get them back to .500 on the season. And while the offense had some great plays during the game, it was the defense that has continued to turn heads through two weeks.
The Patriots defense made offense hard to come by for Pittsburgh, thanks to constant pressure most notably from Elijah Ponder and Gabe Jacas who stepped up to the challenge following Dre’Mont Jones’ injury. Ponder took a Christian Barmore strip sack of Aaron Rodgers to the house to help extend the New England lead to 20-3 and Jacas intercepted Rodgers in the fourth quarter to end Pittsburgh’s final scoring threat.
While creating splash plays on defense is great and gets the offense back on the field, they don’t mean much if the offense is going to set itself back with self-inflicted wounds that stall and/or end drives. New England’s success this season will come down to Drake Maye and the offense’s ability to limit these mistakes.
During his press conference on Monday, Coach Vrabel spoke on the team’s offensive blunders: “A lot of those things that we did, the lack of success, the continued success, consistent success, was due to us.”
When the Patriots offense doesn’t set itself back, doesn’t give away the football, the baseline immediately elevates. Last season, New England averaged 28.8 points per game, and with a better roster on paper this season, 30 points per game isn’t out of reach.
New England’s slate of games is tough enough already with a first-place schedule. The team is not good enough to be fighting the opponent and itself. If the Patriots offense can take care of the ball and eliminate the unforced penalties, a flurry of victories will follow in the upcoming weeks.
