Gabe Jacas and Elijah Ponder played like they were the future of the Patriots' defense in Week 2.
Everyone wanted it to be quarterback Drake Maye slinging it down the field to lead the New England Patriots to a victory. Time will have to tell on that scenario. Instead, the defense stayed consistent all afternoon and eventually sealed the win for the Patriots.
To take a step forward, some of the young additions to the Patriots' defense made it happen on Sunday in Foxborough.
A 20-3 win says a few things. Sure, the offense moved the ball; Maye went 14 of 22 for 208 yards. 63 of those yards came from a beautiful throw to Romeo Doubs downfield, and TreyVeyon Henderson ran for a 39-yard touchdown to get the momentum going early for New England.
But many felt the Pittsburgh Steelers' offense would show some signs of life for at least the first half in this matchup. Instead, anytime Aaron Rodgers got the team moving two steps forward, it turned into one step back.
The Steelers found themselves in the red zone in the second quarter. Christian Eliss strip-sacked Rodgers, and the ball traveled back 36 yards, putting the Steelers out of scoring range.
DK Metcalf was a non-factor as long as Christian Gonzalez shadowed him around the field all afternoon. The pair had 34 head-to-head coverage snaps against one another. Metcalf would only have 3 catches for 11 yards, two of which were screens. The Steelers' deep-threat WR was in shambles on the field, and when the cameras cut to him on the sidelines, too.
But let's get to the key point in all of this. The young guys who are trying to make a name for themselves on this team—and they did in Week 2.
Elijah Ponder Touchdown Turned Heads
Elijah Ponder has fought tooth and nail to be a part of this defense for two seasons now since he came on board as an undrafted free agent in 2025. Ponder played in 15 games and recorded four sacks and two fumble recoveries.
The Patriots' edge-rushing rotational player scooped up another strip sack on Rodgers late in the game with the score 13-3, thanks to Christian Barmore, and ran it 19 yards to the end zone to put the Pats up by 17.
Ponder may still be developing, but he seems to be in the right place at the right time a lot. He was crucial in the postseason for New England, and he was crucial late yesterday.
Is Gabe Jacas the Future?
Rookie edge rusher Gabe Jacas would seal the deal with a Patriots win with an interception late in the game. Jacas looked shaky in the preseason, and despite practice footage blowing up the internet with on-field dominance, it may still be a year of development for the second-round pick.
Jacas had three tackles yesterday, one solo and two assisted to go with the interception. He also got his first career sack last week in the loss to the Seahawks.
There was a lot of talk all preseason that the edge rushing room was thin, and that still may be the case, but if Ponder and Jacas are going to be getting heavy reps now with Dre'Mont Jones having an injury on Sunday and Harold Landry III still on the PUP list as this is being written, there is room for a lot of growth for these two going forward.
Rotational Players Are Going to Be Key
The point is that the Patriots could be making quicker-than-expected moves to build the defense's future. It's always been "next man up" in New England, and Jacas and Ponder responded well these last few weeks.
Opponents can game plan around Drake Maye and Christian Gonzalez, but when a team's depth gets aggressive, no matter the side of the ball, opposing coaches may have to do extra work figuring out how to manage rotational players.
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