The Pittsburgh Steelers travel to New England to take on the Patriots in this week three matchup. Here’s everything you need to know about the game! The Three-Point Stance is presented by Gryffin the King!!
What: Pittsburgh Steelers 1-1 at New England Patriots 1-1
Where: Gillette Stadium Foxborough, Massachusetts
When: 9/21/2025 1pmET Kickoff
Weather: 67 degrees with partly sunny skies. Winds to 9mph.
Surface: FieldTurf
Wagering Information: Steelers -1.5 O/U 44.5
Last Week: New England went on the road and defeated Miami 33-27 while the Steelers dropped their home opener 31-17 to Seattle.
TV: CBS Ian Eagle (play-by-play), J.J. Watt (analysis), Evan Washburn (field reporter)
TV Coverage in Your Area (courtesy 506sports.com): Blue Area
Radio: Steelers Audio Network Rob King (play-by-play), Max Starks (analysis), Missi Matthews (field reporter)
Sports USA Radio: John Ahlers (play-by-play), Brandon Noble (analysis)
Head Official: Clete Blakeman. In his 18th year as a head official, Blakeman is a graduate of Nebraska and is an attorney. He last officiated a Steelers’ game in week 2 of last year. A 13-6 win in Denver. There were 19 accepted penalties that afternoon. Blakeman’s crew has called 22 total penalties (11 each game) so far in 2025. Keep an eye on the secondary where his crew is notorious for lots of defensive holding and DPI calls.
Key Injuries/Game Status (courtesy steelers.com) PIT: No. 24 CB Joey Porter Jr. (Hamstring) – Out
No. 25 S DeShon Elliott (Knee) – Out, No. 56 LB Alex Highsmith (Ankle) – Out, No. 64 OL Max Scharping (Knee) – Out
No. 99 DT Derrick Harmon (Knee) – Questionable NE: No. 0 CB Christian Gonzalez (Hamstring) – Questionable
No. 37 FB Jack Westover (Hamstring) – Questionable
Injury Notes: The Steelers’ secondary will once again be a bit ‘patchwork.’ I also expect to see Scharping moved to IR having torn his ACL in practice this week. Sounds like Harmon will be a gametime decision. As for the Pats they are pretty healthy. Gonzalez has practiced this week but probably won’t be 100%.
2025 NFL Ranks:
Total Offense: PIT 27th, NE 13th
Passing Offense: PIT 18th, NE 9th
Rushing Offense: PIT 30th, NE 23rd
Total Defense: PIT 29th, NE 25th
Passing Defense: PIT 25th, NE 32nd
Rushing Defense: PIT 28th, NE 3rd
AFC North Standings:
Cincinnati 1-1
Pittsburgh 1-1
Baltimore 1-1
Cleveland 0-2
This Week in the AFC North: Cincinnati at Minnesota 1pmET, Green Bay at Cleveland 1pmET, Detroit at Baltimore (MON) 815pmET
What You Need to Know: T.J. Watt leads all active sack leaders with 108. Myles Garrett is second with 106… Aaron Rodgers is tied with Brett Favre for fourth in all-time TD passes at 508. He needs 31 more to tie Peyton Manning for third… The Steelers have yet to score first in a game this season… Steelers wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni (2013-16) coached at Tennessee during Patriots QB Joshua Dobbs’ college career.
Tomlin Time: Coach Tomlin is 3-9 all-time versus New England… Coach T needs two more wins to tie Chuck Knox for 11th all-time with 186 wins… He is currently nine wins behind Steelers’ legend Chuck Noll… Tomlin is second in total wins for active head coaches with 184. Andy Reid is first with 273.
New England Patriots Names to Know: QB Drake Maye, RB TreVeyon Henderson, WR Stefan Diggs, OT Will Campbell, RB Rhamondre Stevenson, S Kyle Dugger, WR Kayshon Boutte, K Andres Borregales, CB Christian Gonzalez, LB Robert Spillane
What’s at Stake: The Steelers enter a crucial four-game stretch over five weeks against teams that they should beat but we’ve seen this scenario before. New England needs a win to keep pace with Buffalo in the AFC East.
All-Time Series: Patriots lead 19-16 and lead all-time in New England 5-4
Last Meeting: December 2023 in Pittsburgh. Patriots 21 Steelers 18
Postseason History: Patriots lead 4-1
Steelers Game Highs vs NE:
PASSING: 400 yards Ben Roethlisberger 11/03/2013
RUSHING: 142 yards Jaylen Samuels 12/16/2018
RECEIVING: 136 yards Mike Wallace 11/14/2010
SACKS: 3.0 Joey Porter 10/31/2014
INTERCEPTIONS: 2 Gary Jones 12/05/1993
Check out the latest Steel City Blitz Steelers Podcast for more on the Steelers.
Three Things We Need to See for a Steelers’ Victory:
1. Keep It Simple. Through two games, the Patriots have one of the best defenses against the run and the worst defense against the pass. This is not the time to try and “outsmart” the defense. Obviously you still need to run the ball but this game should serve as a perfect opportunity to throw in order to set up the run. This has the feel of one of those games where Arthur Smith and company will try to do too much or ‘overthink’ things. Just let Aaron Rodgers get the ball out quickly and use the run sparingly from there.
2. Now or Never. The Steelers have surrendered almost 400 yards per game through the first two weeks. That’s not bad, that’s brutal. We’ve already had a healthy dose of what offenses are doing to find success. They’re running away from T.J. Watt and using middle to deep crossers to confuse the secondary. Yes, injuries are a part of the problem but that’s no excuse for poor communication and poor effort. It’s time to start playing up to the wroth of this unit.
3. Get Something From the Special Teams. Last week, it was a Special Teams blunder which cost the Steelers dearly in losing to the Seahawks. Danny Smith’s unit needs to turn things around and it needs to start this week. If you look back on the Steelers’ opening months of the season in recent years then you’ll know they typically make splash plays. In week one, it was Kenneth Gainwell’s forced fumble on kickoff. The Steelers need to get something positive again this week in order to improve their chances of winning.
The ‘X’ Factor: Each week I will select a player from each team who I believe will need to play above and beyond in order for his team to win.
X-Factor Steelers: Jack Sawyer/Nick Herbig. I’m not big on choosing rookies for this space but this is where we are right now. With Alex Highsmith out, the job of shutting down the run and getting to the QB falls on these two. The better they play the more impact that T.J. Watt could have and let’s face it; Watt is doing everything he can to make plays but going through three guys every snap isn’t cutting it. Look for Sawyer to largely play on early downs and for Herbig to be in on third down and obvious passing situations. Sawyer got his first NFL sack last week and Herbig picked off a pass. They both need to contribute again this week.
X-Factor Patriots: Hunter Henry. Low-hanging fruit to pick a tight end right? Maybe… Henry had a huge game against the Steelers when QB Bailey Zappe led them to victory in Pittsburgh. Mike Vrabel would love to see the running game get going and in turn, get the play-action passing game going as well. If that happens then I see a big afternoon for Henry once again. But even if it doesn’t, Henry is still threat that the Steelers have to eliminate.
Prediction: Despite the fact that the Patriots no longer have Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, there’s still an aura around this matchup that continues to favor New England. Maybe it’s Tomlin’s 3-9 record against them or maybe it’s the fact that the Steelers have won just once there since 2002. I think some things get cleaned up a bit early on in this game but I see the Patriots’ running game wearing down the Steelers’ defense late to take the W.
Patriots 26 Steelers 17
Season Prediction Record: 1-1
