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Feats of Strength: Timely turnovers, potent pass rush lead to rare Steelers win in New England | TribLIVE.com
Steelers/NFL

Feats of Strength: Timely turnovers, potent pass rush lead to rare Steelers win in New England

Tim Benz
Tim Benz

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New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye throws against Pittsburgh Steelers’ outside linebacker T.J. Watt (90) on Sunday in Foxborough, Mass.

It was a “Throwback Weekend” for NFL coverage on CBS. The network celebrated 50 years of “The NFL Today.”

That’s probably a good thing. Because, for the most part, you had to go back to the 1970s to find much success for the Steelers in New England. They won there in 1974 and 1979 en route to Super Bowl Championships.

They didn’t win in Foxborough again until 1997, and had won just once since then (2008) heading into Sunday’s showdown against the Patriots.

As that head-scratching contest in Gillette Stadium was winding along, it felt like another creative path to defeat was being carved in that building, as we had seen so many times before during the Brady-Belichick era of Patriots dominance.

But on this Sunday, the Steelers made just enough plays at just the right times to win 21-14 over a New England team that clearly still has a long way to go to get back to where Patriots fans remember it being as recently as 2018.

That made coming up with a list of Steelers “Feats of Strength” very easy. But our “Airing of Grievances” wasn’t exactly difficult to compile either, as the Steelers improved to 2-1.

FEATS OF STRENGTH

Instant karma: With the score tied 14-14, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye converted a fourth-down scramble in the fourth quarter to extend a New England drive in Pittsburgh territory with 8 minutes, 29 seconds left.

T.J. Watt clearly was held on the play by receiver Mack Hollins. On the next snap, Maye was sacked by Nick Herbig. The second-year QB fumbled, and Watt recovered.

The Steelers took over and converted a touchdown on the next drive when Aaron Rodgers found Calvin Austin III for a score with just over two minutes left.

Coordinator Arthur Smith’s offense went 3 of 3 in the red zone. Meanwhile, coordinator Teryl Austin’s defense forced two red zone turnovers.

The Steelers gave up lots of yards and plenty of conversions. We’ll get to those. But it also created five turnovers, five sacks, and eight quarterback hits.

At the right time: The Steelers allowed New England to convert its first four fourth-down attempts.

But on the most crucial play of the game, the Patriots decided to have Maye throw a pass to DeMario Douglas on a hook route short of the sticks on fourth down with a little over a yard to go.

Why they did that, I don’t know. But Brandin Echols blew up the play and knocked Douglas off his pins, and Payton Wilson finished off the tackle to effectively end the game.

Also, credit Jalen Ramsey for coming on a blitz and getting in Maye’s face. That might have caused the quarterback to take a little zip off the pass.

Bookending it: The Steelers had an effective first offensive possession on the ground as Jaylen Warren picked up 32 rushing yards on six carries.

Smith also brought back the yards-after-catch game with DK Metcalf on a 15-yard quick hit, stepback-throw that produced a first down, leading to a Kenneth Gainwell TD to open the scoring.

“I thought we started fast offensively, but then we stalled out, particularly in the second half,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “But a lot of credit goes to New England and their defense and what they were doing. They were major components of that defensively.”

Warren also accounted for 29 yards from scrimmage on the final touchdown drive before the Austin TD catch.

In between those drives, though, both players did very little. Warren accounted for just 47 yards rushing on 18 carries. Metcalf had only three catches for 32 yards.

Heyward’s hands: Following a quiet first two weeks (after ending his hold-in), Cameron Heyward had perhaps the biggest play of the game.

With the Steelers up 14-7, he deflected a pass at the line of scrimmage on a third-and-goal attempt with 12 seconds left to go in the first half. The pass fluttered, and Echols made a touchdown-saving interception.

The play finally halted a 17-play drive by New England that resulted in no points.

Then, Aaron Rodgers threw an interception to former Steeler Robert Spillane (who added 15 tackles) on the opening possession of the third quarter, just three snaps into the second half. Spillane returned it deep into the red zone.

Fortunately, once the Patriots went back on offense, Heyward poked the ball away from Rhamondre Stevenson for his second fumble of the afternoon.

Wilson pounced on it, and the Steelers maintained a 14-7 lead.

“We do a good job of studying our opponents, looking for ways to create turnovers. We preached all week: We’re gonna have some opportunities to punch at that ball,” Heyward said after the win. “On the quick pass, you can’t always be a rusher. You’ve got to get your hands up.”

Knew where to look: Second-team All-Pro Christian Gonzalez didn’t play for New England, even though it was thought he might midweek.

That led to more playing time for cornerback Alex Austin, who had some issues last week. Rodgers and Smith did a good job getting him isolated on — and going right at — Austin with big-bodied pass catchers.

Austin interfered with Darnell Washington on third-and-goal during the first possession to give the Steelers a fresh set of downs in the red zone. Gainwell scored on the next snap.

On Pittsburgh’s second possession, Rodgers fumbled after being stripped on a third-and-6. The Steelers recovered it, but the result of the play was washed out by a holding call against Austin, who was matched up against Jonnu Smith. That series resulted in a touchdown too.

Both penalties were borderline. But Austin was outsized, and the officials weren’t giving him the benefit of the doubt on anything.

The Steelers also drew a big pass interference penalty on Carlton Davis, guarding Metcalf, on their first fourth-quarter possession that also appeared to be uncatchable.

Add a little Pepper(s): Spillane wasn’t the only former player to bite his old team in this game.

Recently added Pittsburgh safety Jabrill Peppers made a big play against is old club when he caused and recovered a fumble in the third quarter.

That occurred on New England’s next possession after Stevenson’s red zone fumble.

The problem was that Pittsburgh simply couldn’t turn those three failed Pats possessions into points. They simply erased mistakes the Steelers made or good drives originally mounted by Maye and company.

AIRING OF GRIEVANCES

Nostalgia alert: Speaking of CBS’s “Throwback Weekend,” there was definitely a throwback theme for this game: the Steelers getting roasted by a New England tight end in Foxborough.

This time, it wasn’t perpetual Steelers killer Rob Gronkowski. Instead, it was veteran Hunter Henry. He had eight catches for 90 yards and two touchdowns.

The last time Henry had multiple TDs in a game was Dec. 7, 2023, against — wait for it — the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Another New England tight end, Austin Hooper, had two receptions for 28 yards.

Pass catching problems: Meanwhile, speaking of tight ends, the Steelers sure do play a lot of them, but they haven’t totaled much.

Sunday, Pat Freiermuth and Jonnu Smith combined for just four catches and 29 yards. Washington and Connor Heyward didn’t have a catch.

The lack of a No. 2 wide receiver appears to be an issue, as expected. Before the last drive, Austin III had one catch for nine yards. None of the other receivers had a catch.

Rodgers’ best pass catcher was Warren out of the backfield. He had five catches for 34 yards.

More defensive deficiencies: While the Steelers defense made all those big plays at key times, they still yielded lots of yards and had trouble getting off the field.

“I thought we were really tight in the red zone and things of that nature,” Tomlin said. “I thought we could have been better on possession downs. Thankfully, we took the ball away from them to alleviate some of that lack of possession-down success. But all in all, it was a good team victory.”

Maye completed 13 consecutive passes at one point. He was 28 of 37 for 268 yards, two touchdowns and 102.1 passer rating. The Patriots totaled 369 yards of offense.

New England also converted six third downs and four fourth downs in 18 total attempts, and held the ball for over 33 minutes.

Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.

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