5 Steelers surprises in Thursday’s loss against the Patriots
Each week our SCU staff and contributors picks the “surprises” from the Pittsburgh Steelers latest matchup. Check out more below to see which plays and situations surprised us the most!
On Thursday the Pittsburgh Steelers hosted the New England Patriots for their Week 14 matchup at Acrisure Stadium.
The Steelers dropped to a 7-6 record with a 21-18 loss. Here are some of the surprises from that game.
Another loss to a two-win team
The Steelers fell to another two-win team within back-to-back games, making them the only team in NFL history to have lost to two-win teams in such a manner this late in the season.
Lack of run game
The Steelers offense had successfully rushed the football, running for an average of 165.5 yards per game over their previous five games.
Against the Patriots, Bill Belichick took away this strength as Pittsburgh was held to 82 yards total on the ground.
30 of those yards came from QB Mitchell Trubisky scrambles, leaving RB Najee Harris with 29 yards (2.4 YPC) and RB Jaylen Warren with 11 (1.6 YPC).
Zappe’s three TDs
The Patriots scored 13 points combined in their previous three games.
Imagine everyone’s surprise when QB Bailey Zappe, who hadn’t thrown a touchdown pass all season (five prior games), lit up the Steelers defense for three passing touchdowns in the first half.
Zappe finished the game 19-of-28 for 240 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception: a 115.2 QB rating, which was nearly 50 points more than his season-best.
Injuries
It may seem as though the Steelers can’t catch a break no how, but the injury department is one where they seem to continue being unlucky.
LB Alex Highsmith only played 17 snaps following a neck injury. Rookie LB Nick Herbig would take his spot and play a career-high 45 snaps.
LB Blake Martinez, a veteran but recent addition to the team, logged 21 snaps for the first time wearing a Steelers uniform. Other recent/new additions logged significant time, including S Trenton Thompson (30 snaps) and Mycal Walker (25 snaps).
To make matters worse, the Steelers identified concussion-like symptoms in star LB T.J. Watt the following morning, placing him into concussion protocol. As it stands, the Steelers defense, especially it’s linebackers group, has been reduced to a hodgepodge of mix-and-match parts best resembling a MASH unit.
.@steelers final 2 plays. If you wanna throw it on 3-2/4-2. OK. Let the defense dictate where to throw it. They got exactly what they wanted. Good plays v Man 2Man defense. Gotta execute to sustain the drive. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/rIRF4Q9ZhF
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) December 8, 2023
Final play calls
Two bad passes sealed the Steelers fate on Thursday, as they faced 3rd-and-2 and 4th-and-2 situations before the two minute warning. Snapping the ball from midfield, the offense only needed to move the chains – and collect a few more yards after – to get K Chris Boswell into a game-tying field goal situation.
Instead, Trubisky missed his intended targets on both attempts and the Steelers turned the ball over on downs.
They would get the ball back with 15 seconds remaining, but at this point, the damage was already done.
