The Patriots fell to 1-2 after a dismal display on Sunday against their conference rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Patriots had surprisingly never lost to the black and yellow since Tom Brady’s departure with both Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe at the helm.
With Drake Maye at the wheel though, things were a different story. Maye wasn’t bad on Sunday as far as his stat line is concerned, but he was a bit disappointing. The quarterback turned the ball over twice, once in the endzone on an interception at the end of the first half and the other through a strip sack. Given that the ball was tipped on the interception, he’ll get some grace, but a pair of early would-have-been interceptions to safety Chuck Clark were both dropped. In the end, he finished with over 300 total yards, but he has some things to clean up.
The story of the game, more broadly than Maye, were the turnovers. The Patriots managed one defensively, with former Steeler Robert Spillane intercepting Aaron Rodgers and returning it inside the opposing 10-yard line. Aside from Maye’s pair of turnovers, the Patriots fumbled an additional three times, twice via Rhamondre Stevenson, who led the NFL in fumbles with seven last year. In three games in 2025, he has three fumbles. Antonio Gibson also fumbled the ball.
Despite all this, the Patriots miraculously were still in the game deep into the fourth quarter thanks to Hunter Henry, whose eight-catch performance garnered 90 yards and a pair of touchdowns. On a fourth down to decide the game, Maye threw a short pass to Pop Douglas. It appeared he would have had the first down to continue the game should he had leaned forward, but he opted for a juke back only to be tackled short of the sticks, ending their offensive effort with just 14 points.
Defensively, the team looked solid in the front but weaker as we moved to the defensive backfield. Milton Williams is looking like the star free agent he was promised to be and Harold Landry is playing at a Pro Bowl level. Aside from the Spillane interception, the unit forced an additional pair of fumbles, though neither were recovered. Christian Elliss looked lost throughout the game, and PFF’s grading seconded that feeling, rewarding him with a 38.2 overall grade. Cornerback Alex Austin has played more than expected with Christian Gonzalez’s injury and the release of Jabrill Peppers a few weeks ago, and he’s been disappointing. Another week from him meant another handful of flags and a sub-30 PFF grade. Former third-round pick Marte Mapu also ended with a 33.7 PFF grade.
While the Patriots played one of their worst games in recent memory on Sunday, there’s no way it could be repeated, at least at that level. They’ll face the 1-2 Panthers on Sunday, and as bad as they have been over the past few seasons, they shut out the Falcons this past week. Despite also being 1-2, the Falcons are a team with talent and playoff aspirations who lost 30-0 against Carolina. The Panthers defense nabbed two interceptions off Michael Penix.
The Patriots’ success on Sunday will largely rely on two factors: Bryce Young and Chuba Hubbard. Young has been very streaky, having some performances that make him look like a premier young quarterback and others that show he’s very much still developing. Dave Canales’ offense relies heavily on the run game and historically, the better Hubbard carries the ball, the more effective their offense is. In the first two weeks, he ran for under four per carry, and the offense coincidently struggled. This past week, his 17 carries for 73 yards landed him at 4.3 yards per carry and the team dominated. Young’s below par 121-yard performance was numbed by the defense and running game, whereas he helped lead an unsuccessful come back in Week 2 when he threw for over 300 yards and three touchdowns via 55 attempts.
If the Patriots can continue to have a stifling defensive front and Christian Gonzalez returns from his hamstring injury for Week 3, they shouldn’t have much of an issue controlling the Panthers’ offense. Offensively, they must limit turnovers now until the end of the year and return to their form against Miami, when they scored 33 points.
If they want to save their season, breaking even at .500 is a must.