Week 2 of the 2026 season saw the Pittsburgh Steelers drop a 20 to 3 decision to the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.
Given the dynamics of NFL scheduling and Steelers tortured history in Foxborough the loss itself should surprise no one.
- But the Steelers complete offensive impotence should alarm everyone.
Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy manned up, acknowledged his offense’s poor play and took full responsibility. Good for him. The critical question McCarthy must answer now is this: Can we chalk Pittsburgh’s offensive ineptitude to sloppy “September football” or are the Steelers woes more systemic?
How bad was it? This Gabe Jacas hit on Aaron Rodgers wasn’t even a sack…. Photo Credit: AP via the Tribune-Review
SOSO: Same Old Steelers Offense. And Then Some…
Art Rooney Sr. had a term during his franchise’s 40-some-odd years in the wilderness: Same Old Steelers. While the term hasn’t been forgotten, it hasn’t been used much since Chuck Noll’s arrival in 1969.
- Yet the term certainly applies to the Steelers offense throughout this decade.
Yes, during the first third or maybe even half of the 2020 season, the Steelers fielded an NFL varsity-worthy offense. But outside of that, the 2020s have seen the Steelers win in spite of their offense and almost never because of it.
The remedy, social media commentators have readily assured us:
- Hire an offensive-minded head coach
- Surround him with younger, innovative assistants
- Be more aggressive in improving talent
Art Rooney II hired McCarthy, an offensive minded coach. McCarthy’s staff is well-renowned. Omar Khan has aggressively addressed the offense in the draft, free agency and with multiple trades.
Yet, two games into the 2026 campaign, the Steelers offense not only doesn’t look better than anything Mike Tomlin fielded in 2024 or 2025; against the Patriots it looked worse:
- The Steelers went 2-12 on third down conversions
- Patriots defenders sacked Aaron Rodgers 4 times and hit him 7
- Rodgers suffered not one but two strip sacks
- Pittsburgh’s best receiver, Germie Bernard caught 4 balls but bobbled a 5th that got picked off
- D.K. Metcalf, the supposed No. 1 WR, had 4 catches for 27 yards – including garbage time
- The Steelers defense secured 2 turnovers; the offense squandered both
Those numbers, while bleak, really fail to paint a picture of how pitifully Pittsburgh’s offense failed in Foxborough.
The Steelers offense opened with twin three and outs followed by a missed field goal. After that they opened the third quarter with a workmanlike drive where Rodgers found the rookie Bernard several times and Pat Freiermuth executed the tush push on 4th down.
They made it all the way to the New England 25. A three yard pass to D.K. Metcalf brought up to the 22. Rodgers then tried and failed to find Darnell Washington, bringing up 3rd and 7. Here’s what followed:
The Patriots sack Aaron Rodgers and the ball comes out leading to a loss of 36 yards on 3rd and 7#NEPats #PITvsNE pic.twitter.com/eIBdczSwca
— False Finish (@FalseFinishHQ) September 20, 2026
Christian Elliss folded Aaron Rodgers in half, knocking the ball loose, and a 3rd & 7 with a very makeable field goal became 4th and 43. Credit Troy Fautanu for recovering the ball, but the Steelers drafted him to protect the quarterback, not recovery strip sacks.
Troy Fautanu saves six and recovers a strip sack. Photo Credit: AP via Tribune-Review
A similar self-sabotage sequence unfolded in the 4th quarter when the Steelers, theoretically at least, still had a chance rally.
The Steelers moved the ball deftly with Jaylen Warren’s running and Aaron Rodgers hitting Metcalf and Roman Wilson on underneath routes. At the Patriots 30 , Rodgers hit Warren who zigged, zagged and powered his way 25 yards to the 4. On cue, the Steelers’ offense self-destructed:
- Elijah Ponder sacked Aaron Rodgers on first down, knocking them 9 yards back.
- On second Rodgers hit Bernard, who had the ball bounce off his hands and into Gabe Jacas’.
Rodgers saved the touchdown with a tackle, but again, he didn’t stay out of retirement to make tackles.
Sandwiched in between these twin debacles was Christian Barmore’s strip sack of Rodgers and Elijah Ponder’s recovery of the ball that he returned for a touchdown.
There’s no sugar coating how bad the Steelers offense was against the Patriots. Sure, Warren, Rico Dowdle and Travis Homer logged some nice runs, but the running game never broached establishing a rhythm.
The offensive line deserves every ounce of criticism coming its way, but the truth is that several of Rodgers’ passes were off target and, when they weren’t, his receivers weren’t giving him any help.
Steelers Defense Solid Despite Lapses
Only 7 of the Patriots points were supplied by their defense. Their offense scored 13 more, not including a missed field goal. The truth is, the Steelers defense played well enough to win.
Patrick Queen Intercepts Derrick Maye. Photo Credit: AP via Tribune-Review
No, they didn’t deliver a 5 turnover performance that propelled the Steelers to victory in New England this time last year. But one has to wonder if would have been sufficient with this offense. Still, Patrick Graham’s defense made its share of splash plays:
- Derrick Harmon and T.J. Watt combined for 2 sacks
- Cam Heyward had another deflected pass
- Patrick Queen had a gimme interception thrown his way and he got it
- Nick Herbig forced a fumble which Payton Wilson recovered
The offense, however, only netted 4 yards following that fumble, although they were not helped by Jalen Ramsey’s jawboning that cost the offense 15 yards.
There were other lapses of course. New England’s only touchdown came on a 39-yard run where TreVeyon Henderson sliced through the middle of the Steelers defense with only Asante Samuel Jr. barely getting a hand on him.
Romeo Doubs also found a gaping hole in the Steelers secondary to steal a 63 yard reception, although Patrick Graham’s defense held there, forcing a field goal.
But when a defense holds an NFL offense to 13 points is playing winning football.
Take Away for Mike McCarthy: Stop the Offense from Self-Destructing
In beating the Falcons last week, Mike McCarthy joined his three immediate predecessors by winning his first game as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Alas, in week two he continued to follow in Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin’s footsteps, as both men lost their first games at Gillette Stadium, and lost them badly. These parallels are useful because they sharpen the focus on McCarthy’s challenge this morning.
Bill Cowher lost his first game at Gillette, because he couldn’t stop Bill Belichick’s spread offense. Mike Tomlin lost his in his first visit to New England because Tom Brady, in route to a 19-1 season, toasted his secondary.
- In both cases, it wasn’t a question of scheme but rather one of talent.
Neither coach could find in-season fixes the fundamental deficiencies plaguing their defenses, but both men led their Steelers squads to division titles.
- Its Mike McCarthy’s offense that needs fixing.
Whether talent or scheme is driving its disfunction remains to be seen, but the best good take away from the loss to the Patriots for McCarthy is a simple one: Find away to stop his offense from self-destructing whenever it reaches scoring position.
