What to Watch For: New England Patriots Defense vs. Pittsburgh Steelers Offense | Week 2 2026

Home sweet home.

After falling to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL’s 2026 regular season kickoff game, the New England Patriots return to the comfort of Foxboro and Gillette Stadium for their home opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Last season, a slew of turnovers helped propel Pittsburgh to a 21-14 victory over New England, but the complexion of this game is set to be much different when the two teams face-off on Sunday. For the Patriots’ defense, they’ll work to solve a new Steelers’ offensive scheme that features some familiar faces and a few new key additions.

Here’s what we’ll be watching for when the New England defense lines up against the Pittsburgh offense:

After mulling his options this offseason, future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers (42) decided to lace up the cleats for one last ride with the Steelers in 2026. 

This season, he’s joined in Pittsburgh by new Steelers’ head coach Mike McCarthy, who coached Rodgers with the Green Bay Packers from 2006-2018 and stepped in for the long-tenured Mike Tomlin when the two sides broke off their marriage. McCarthy’s offense-forward approach to leading the team promises a heavy dose of Rodgers, especially as he tours around the league to say his goodbyes this fall.

Once a prolific downfield passer, Rodgers has shifted to a quicker, underneath style as he’s advanced in age and experience. Last season, that helped him avoid sacks at a near career-best rate with just a 5.50% sack-percentage (second highest of career, 2014, 5.11%), but also led to — by far — his lowest career average depth of target (ADOT) at 6.6 yards. In 2025, he completed 327-of-498 attempts (65.7% completion percentage) with 3,322 passing yards, 24 touchdowns, seven interceptions, and held a passer rating of 94.8.

Rodgers bucked his 2025 trends last week in Pittsburgh’s 20-13 win over Cooper Rush and the Atlanta Falcons with an ADOT of 10.1 yards, but found no success when trying to push the ball past 20-yards downfield. Even with an 0-6 showing on those throws, he finished the game 24-of-40 passing with 221 yards and one touchdown.

Stopping Rodgers starts with eliminating quick throws, but with new boundary options that will threaten the deep third of the field, the Patriots’ secondary will need to respect the Steelers’ downfield passing offense all the same. 

When pushing the ball past the sticks, Rodgers will lean heavily on star wide receiver D.K. Metcalf, who registered 59 receptions on 99 targets, 850 receiving yards, and six touchdowns in 15 games last season after being acquired by Pittsburgh in a trade with Seattle. In conjunction with Rodgers’ quick-game approach, Metcalf recorded his lowest-career ADoT at 10.5 yards one year ago.

In their 2025 matchup, New England was able to contain Metcalf for the majority of the contest — even without the services of cornerback Christian Gonzalez, who missed the first three games of the 2025 regular season with a hamstring injury. Metcalf finished the outing with three catches, 32 yards, and one receiving touchdown in the second quarter.

Unlike the Steelers’ offense of old, there is a counter-punch when looking to target receivers deep. This offseason, Pittsburgh traded for former Indianapolis Colts’ top wideout Michael Pittman Jr. to expand their offensive arsenal. Coming off of a 2025 season in which he registered 80 catches on 111 targets, 784 receiving yards, and seven touchdowns, Pittman was the Steelers’ leading receiver in Week 1 with three receptions and 58 yards, but is questionable for Sunday with a foot injury.

With Metcalf and Pittman flanking either boundary, Gonzalez and Carlton Davis III — if active — will have their hands full defending the perimeter. For Pittsburgh, that personnel grouping is used to open the middle of the field for a pair of tight ends to do the dirty work on shorter passes, and have done so effectively. Last week, both Massachusetts-native Pat Freiermuth (five receptions, 46 yards, one touchdown) and Darnell Washington (two receptions, 18 yards, and an other-wordly stiff arm en route to a 15-yard gain) made a notable impact on the game. 

The Patriots have previously struggled to contain opposing tight ends and running backs as pass-catchers out of the backfield, and if their corners live up to the billing on the outside, that’s likely where Rodgers will turn for production through the air. One of New England’s few weaknesses as in pass defense will be tested yet again.

The Steelers’ new pieces on offense extend into the backfield, as well, but how frequently they’ll use those players — and in what capacity — is still somewhat a mystery under McCarthy.

Long-tenured Pittsburgh third-down and spell-back Jaylen Warren returned this year and is set to be involved in the offensive gameplan in a more expanded role. For the first time in his career in 2025, Warren served as the primary back for the Steelers and led the team with 211 attempts, 958 rushing yards, and six touchdowns, and also added 40 catches, 333 receiving yards, and two receiving touchdowns on 45 targets.

In Week 1, Warren led Pittsburgh running backs with 10 carries and 46 rushing yards, while tying Freiermuth for the team-lead in receptions with five catches and 27 yards receiving.

Joining Warren in the Steelers’ backfield is free agent addition Rico Dowdle, who is coming off of consecutive 1,000-yard campaigns with the Dallas Cowboys in 2024 and the Carolina Panthers in 2025. He was used sparingly, and with little success, in Pittsburgh’s season opener, registering eight carries for 15 rushing yards, with two catches on five targets and six receiving yards.

It’s clear that the Steelers have talent in the backfield, but that hasn’t translated to a commitment to running the football through one week. Of Pittsburgh’s 63 offensive snaps in Week 1, Rodgers dropped back to pass 42 times, while only running the ball on 21 plays (including three kneel downs). Their 66.7% pass rate ranked 10th in the NFL and didn’t translate favorably to their success rate — at 31.3%, the Steelers’ offense ranked last in the league. Overall, they ranked 30th in the NFL with an EPA/play of -0.36, per SūmerSports.

After blitzing on just 27.3% (20th in the NFL) of dropbacks during the 2025 regular season, the Patriots registered a nearly 50% blitz rate during their playoff run. With Zak Kuhr taking over full-time as New England’s defensive coordinator, that was rumored to continue through 2026, and through one week, that’s been the result.

Against the Seahawks, the Patriots blitzed on 44.4% of defensive snaps — fifth-most across the league to start the year. That’ll likely continue against Rodgers and a pass-happy Steelers’ offense, but the results could be two-fold.

When Rodgers drops back to pass, he does so with much less mobility than was on display in his earlier-career scramble-drill highlight reels. That’s led to a much more expedited time to throw in recent seasons, culminating in a career-low 2.60 seconds in 2025 to go along with his shallower depth-of-targets. Last week, New England’s pass-rush got home, on average, in just 2.4 seconds, while Rodgers took 2.84 seconds to release the ball. The Patriots will have opportunities to rattle Rodgers in the pocket with quick pressures from additional rushers, and his limited escapability could lead to negative plays.

Blitzing against Pittsburgh on early downs will also deter the Steelers from running the ball. With just 58 yards gained on 21 attempts last week (2.8 yards per attempt), their 23.8% rushing success rate ranked 32nd in the NFL — likely leading to their affinity for putting the ball in Rodgers’ hands so frequently. Shutting down the run early may force Pittsburgh to abandon it almost entirely, and will create more chances for New England to send exotic pressure packages against the pass.

Bringing the heat will be a part of the Patriots’ gameplan one again this Sunday. That’ll leave their cornerbacks on islands with talented receivers, but also plays into the hands of this unit’s greatest strength. They’ll feel comfortable with that matchup, and force Rodgers to prove them wrong before deviating from that approach.

Several notable players have been listed on the injury report heading into Sunday afternoon’s contest for both sides.

For the Steelers, wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. (foot) was listed as a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice session, but logged did not participates (DNPs) on Thursday and Friday. Tight end Darnell Washington did not participate on Wednesday or Thursday, but was for non-injury-related/personal reasons and returned on Friday. Offensive tackle Troy Fautanu was a “DNP” on Wednesday, but returned as a limited participant on Thursday and was a full participant on Friday.

On New England’s side, cornerback Carlton Davis III missed each practice session with a neck injury suffered in Week 1 and carries a “questionable” tag entering Sunday’s contest. Edge rusher Dre’Mont Jones (foot) and linebacker Robert Spillane (knee) were listed as limited participants early in the week. Jones’ status held firm, while Spillane resumed a full workload on Thursday.

While ripe with talent and fresh with a new scheme that fits their quarterback’s skillset, Pittsburgh’s inefficiencies in Week 1 would have spelled trouble against more competent competition on the opposing sideline. That’s what they’ll be facing on the road in Foxboro this week, as the Patriots’ defense will look to take advantage of an offense still trying to find their footing early in the year. New England will bring the heat — and we’ll see if that leads to a more favorable result on the scoreboard this go-around.

What will you be watching for when the Patriots’ defense takes the field against Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers’ offense? Drop your thoughts in the comments below and join the conversation on Patriots Roundtable.

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