Patriots’ offense explodes for 21 unanswered points in first half
by Bo Marchionte
Published December 8, 2023, 01:37 AM
Pittsburgh, PA – New England looked reminiscent of the Tom Brady era as the Patriots took their opening drive 75 yards on eight plays to take a 7-0 lead. Bailey Zappe went 3-of-4 for 60 yards and one touchdown as New England would control the game from the get-go in their 21-18 win over Pittsburgh.
The last two teams to enter Acrisure Stadium against the Steelers were a combined 4-20 and they leave 2-0 as Pittsburgh searches for answers to an offense that remains inefficient even without former offensive coordinator Matt Canada at the helm.
“A to work on,” a frustrated Mike Tomlin said postgame. “But in terms of how the game unfolded, the significant difference is they got seven points off their turnover on the short field; we got zero off of ours.”
Down by 18-points (21-3), Pittsburgh embarked on duplicating the come from behind win by the same margin back in 1995 against the Bengals by defeating Cincinnati on the road 49-31. Imagining 49-points with the Steelers current offense wasn’t realistic but nonetheless optimism remained as Mitchell Trubisky found Diontae Johnson right before halftime to make the score 21-10.
Midway through the second quarter (7:38) the Steelers gave up their final points of the game and began to crawl their way back into it, but as Tomlin mentioned the inability to capitalize on turnovers in critical situations led to another mind-bending experience for Steelers Nation.
Tight end Pat Freiermuth’s locker is nestled behind a pillar in the farthest point from the entrance and as the mob of reporters surrounding linebacker Elandon Roberts I took aim at No. 88 and an opportunity for some one-on-one inner action.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Freiermuth replied on one of the lowest points of his NFL career. His breakout return against Cincinnati seems like ages ago as the offense has fallen back into the abyss. With four games remaining, Pittsburgh is at the crossroads of sinking or swimming.
The Good
There is not much to be excited about after two horrific performances. Pittsburgh did win the time of possession which was something that has eluded them for much of the season but has bettered their opponents over their last three games. Averaging 33.26 over that span has improved them to 22nd overall in the NFL. A category they ranked 29th in earlier in the season.
The Bad
Second-year receiver George Pickens’ aggravation is almost impossible to ignore, especially perched high in the press box behind the Steelers bench. A young player eager to help his team comes off the field more and more agitated with the lack of opportunities that exist in the Steelers current situation in the Pittsburgh offense.
“I tried to talk to G (George Pickens) on the sidelines,” Mitchell Trubisky said after the game. “Obviously, he is frustrated. We are all frustrated. The game didn’t go how we wanted it. I’d like to get him the ball more and get him going. He’s a special talent.”
Pickens caught 52 passes for 801 yards and four touchdowns as a rookie last season. Absent an injury he’ll surpass those numbers easily with four games remaining on the schedule. With 59 catches for 767 and three touchdowns, Pickens is bordering on that slippery slope of emotion that can hurt a team if not corrected.
“But he cares, man,” Trubisky said. “He shows it in different ways and those frustrations come out, but everyone is frustrated. I talked to him. Gave him some time. We’ll come back tomorrow and go back to work. That’s all I know how to do, back to work.”
Pickens is a magnificent talent, but some patience on his end is needed to help the offense and not create another obstacle to try and fix.
The Ugly
As mentioned early in this piece the Steelers faced two 2-10 teams in their last two games and were outscored 44-28. Unacceptable but in the NFL that is the reality.
“The NFL, I mean, you can play an 0-15 team and that team can dust you if you’re not careful,” Cam Heyward said after the loss. “Everybody has professionals, and everybody prepares, but I think the execution, and especially in this game, the execution has to go up.”
The Ugly
Pittsburgh was flagged once in the game, compared to the seven flags thrown for 59 yards on the Patriots. However, the five-yard penalty and only flag thrown on the Steelers was the nail in the coffin.
Long-snapper Christian Kuntz was called for abruptly moving his head as the Steelers were preparing to punt the football on their own 38-yard line with just over five minutes to go in the fourth quarter. The drive started on the Steelers 20, and it was vital to keep the football out of New England’s hands.
“I don’t think I looked up until they jumped offsides,” Kuntz said postgame.
Immediately following the flag, the reaction from the Patriots players was unmistakable. They felt they caused the infraction, and the five-yard penalty would give the Steelers a first down and allow them to continue offensively.
“I thought for sure we were going to get another chance,” Trubisky said after the flag. “I didn’t see exactly what happened, what Christian did to draw them offsides, but I watched the Patriots player reaction, and you could see that he felt like he was offsides, so to me it seemed like he was just based on his reaction.”
Elation manifested into frustration as the only penalty on the Steelers came at such a pivotal time in the game.
Photo Credit Frank Hyatt/College2Pro.com
