Game recap

Steelers @ Patriots

2026 Wk 2 · NE 20, PIT 3

A Rodgers strip sack became the clinching touchdown and Pittsburgh never scored after halftime.

FanIQ Research · September 21, 2026 · 7 facts, every one from the play-by-play

Pittsburgh has scored 3 points or fewer in 12 games since 1999. Two of the last three were at Gillette Stadium.

Rare

Every Steelers game of 3 points or fewer, 1999 to 2026 (all regular season)

Season	Week	Opponent	Site	PIT pts	Opp pts
1999	4	JAX	Home	3	17
2000	1	BAL	Home	0	16
2001	1	JAX	Away	3	21
2003	15	NYJ	Away	0	6
2006	2	JAX	Away	0	9
2006	12	BAL	Away	0	27
2007	12	MIA	Home	3	0
2011	15	SF	Away	3	20
2016	3	PHI	Away	3	34
2019	1	NE	Away	3	33
2022	5	BUF	Away	3	38
2026	2	NE	Away	3	20

That is the complete list across 28 seasons, and Pittsburgh won exactly one of them, a 3 to 0 game against Miami in 2007. Nine of the 12 came on the road. The only points here were a Chris Boswell 56 yard field goal with 5 seconds left in the first half, so New England has now held the Steelers to a single field goal at Gillette Stadium in 2019 and again in 2026.

Why it matters. Twelve games in 28 seasons is a rate of well under one per year, so a Steelers offense finishing at 3 points is a real event rather than an ordinary bad day. The road skew matters too: 9 of the 12 came away from Pittsburgh, and Gillette Stadium is the only venue on the list to appear twice in the last three entries. That points at a matchup problem against New England as much as a general slump.

Aaron Rodgers' offense finished with 7 points or fewer for the ninth time in his career. Five of the nine have come since November 2024.

Trend

Every game in which Rodgers threw 15 or more passes and his team scored 7 or fewer (regular season and postseason, labeled)

Season	Week	Type	Team	Opp	Att	Yds	Team pts	Opp pts
2005	15	REG	GB	BAL	15	65	3	48
2014	3	REG	GB	DET	27	162	7	19
2021	1	REG	GB	NO	28	133	3	38
2022	1	REG	GB	MIN	34	195	7	23
2024	10	REG	NYJ	ARI	35	151	6	31
2025	13	REG	PIT	BUF	21	117	7	26
2025	17	REG	PIT	CLE	39	168	6	13
2025	Wild Card	POST	PIT	HOU	33	146	6	30
2026	2	REG	PIT	NE	39	187	3	20

The 2005 entry was a relief appearance behind Brett Favre, who threw 29 passes that day. From 2006 through 2023, a span of 18 seasons, it happened three times. Since November 2024 it has happened five times in a stretch of 27 games, including three of Pittsburgh's last six with Rodgers under center. In this one he went 23 of 39 for 187 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, and took four sacks.

Why it matters. A quarterback's floor games tell you more about decline than his averages do, because averages get propped up by a few good weeks. Rodgers went nearly two decades producing a 7 point game roughly once every six seasons; now the same outcome is arriving several times a season. The offense has scored 6, 6, and 3 in three of its last six games with him, and the trend line runs the wrong way.

Rodgers' fourth quarter: 14 dropbacks, three sacks, a strip sack returned for a touchdown, an interception, and minus 0.86 EPA per dropback.

Split

Score at the end of each quarter

Quarter	NE	PIT	Plays
1	7	0	37
2	10	3	42
3	13	3	37
4	20	3	40

Aaron Rodgers by quarter

Quarter	Dropbacks	Cmp/Att	Pass yds	Sacks	INT	EPA/dropback
1	7	3/7	25	0	0	-0.500
2	16	9/15	59	1	0	-0.170
3	6	3/6	20	0	0	-0.521
4	14	8/11	83	3	1	-0.862

Pittsburgh's only points came with 5 seconds left in the first half. After that the Steelers ran 30 more offensive plays at minus 0.563 EPA per play and never scored again. The fourth quarter was the worst of it: Christian Barmore's strip sack at 13:46 was scooped by Elijah Ponder for a 19 yard touchdown that made it 20 to 3, Joshua Farmer and Elijah Ponder added sacks, and Gabe Jacas intercepted Rodgers at the New England 21 with 5:16 left.

Why it matters. The final margin was built in the fourth quarter, and it was built by the New England pass rush rather than the New England offense, which managed 19 yards on 11 plays in that same period. Three of Pittsburgh's four sacks allowed came in the last 15 minutes, one of them was the touchdown that put the game away, and the second half sample of 30 plays is large enough that this is not one bad drive. The Steelers had no answer for pressure once they were forced to throw.

Pittsburgh converted 2 of 12 third downs. Through two games it is 5 of 24, after converting 41 percent all last season.

Comparison

Third down conversion, this game versus 2025 regular season

Team	This game	Rate	2025 season	2025 rate	2025 rank
PIT	2 of 12	16.7%	86 of 208	41.3%	14th
NE	5 of 12	41.7%	85 of 195	43.6%	6th

Pittsburgh third downs, 2026 by game

Week	Opponent	Third downs	Converted	Rate
1	ATL	12	3	25.0%
2	NE	12	2	16.7%
Total		24	5	20.8%

Both conversions came in the second quarter, a 19 yard completion on third and 8 and a 9 yard completion on third and 1. The other ten third downs produced 0, 0, 0, 3, minus 8, 0, 0, 0, minus 11 and 3 yards. New England was only slightly below its own 2025 baseline; Pittsburgh was 25 points below its.

Why it matters. Third down is where the drive either continues or the punt team comes on, so a 16.7 percent day explains the 3 points more directly than any yardage total does. Twelve attempts is a small sample, but the two game figure of 5 of 24 is starting to look like a pattern rather than variance, and it comes against a 2025 baseline of 41.3 percent with much of the same personnel. The Steelers faced ten third downs of 4 yards or more and converted one.

Seven plays gained 20 or more yards. Six were New England's, and Pittsburgh's only one came with the score already 20 to 3.

Anomaly

Every play of 20 or more yards in this game

Qtr	Team	Play	Yards	Score at snap
1	NE	Maye pass to Hunter Henry	29	0-0
1	NE	TreVeyon Henderson run, TD	39	0-0
1	NE	Maye pass to Eli Raridon	30	NE 7-0
3	NE	Maye pass to Romeo Doubs	29	NE 10-3
3	NE	Rhamondre Stevenson run	24	NE 10-3
3	NE	Maye pass to Romeo Doubs	63	NE 10-3
4	PIT	Rodgers pass to Jaylen Warren	26	NE 20-3

Offense in this game

Team	Plays	20+ yd plays	EPA/play	Success%
NE	51	6	-0.070	41.2%
PIT	67	1	-0.356	37.3%

Romeo Doubs caught 3 passes for 96 yards; every other New England receiver combined for 11 catches and 112 yards. Even with six explosive plays, New England's offense finished at minus 0.070 EPA per play, because it went 12 yards on 8 plays in the second quarter and 19 yards on 11 plays in the fourth. Pittsburgh's lone chunk play, a 26 yard catch and run by Jaylen Warren to the New England 4, was followed by a 13 yard sack and an interception.

Why it matters. Explosive plays are how an offense scores without sustaining drives, and the 6 to 1 count is the cleanest explanation for how New England won by 17 while its own per play efficiency was negative. It also shows how little the Steelers threatened: their only 20 yard gain arrived after the game was decided and turned into a turnover two snaps later. The Patriots' offense still has questions of its own, since it produced 7 points from six explosive plays and needed a defensive score.

TreVeyon Henderson's 39 yard touchdown was his fifth scoring run of 39 or more yards in 18 games. No Patriot has more since 1999.

Milestone

Patriots with the most touchdown runs of 39 or more yards, regular season, 1999 to 2026

Rank	Player	TD runs 39+	Seasons
1	TreVeyon Henderson	5	2025-2026
2	LeGarrette Blount	3	2013-2016
3	Laurence Maroney	2	2007-2009
3	Antowain Smith	2	2001-2002
5	Rhamondre Stevenson	1	2023

League leaders in touchdown runs of 39 or more yards since the start of 2025, regular season

Rank	Player	TD runs 39+
1	TreVeyon Henderson	5
2	Jahmyr Gibbs	4
2	James Cook	4
4	De'Von Achane	3
4	Jonathan Taylor	3

Henderson has 196 regular season carries for 987 yards and 10 touchdowns in 18 games with a carry. His five long touchdown runs went 55, 69, 52, 65 and now 39 yards, the first four all coming in two games last season. He finished this one with 16 carries for 76 yards and the only offensive touchdown of the game.

Why it matters. Long touchdown runs are the rarest kind of rushing play, and Henderson has produced five before his 200th carry, passing every Patriots back of the last 28 seasons in under a season and a half. Leading the whole league since 2025 over Gibbs and Cook, both of whom have far more carries in that window, says this is a trait rather than a hot week. On a day when New England's passing game produced no touchdowns, that trait supplied the only offensive score.

Chris Boswell's 56 yarder at the half was his 17th regular season make from 55 or more yards, tied for fifth most since 1999.

Milestone

Most regular season field goals made from 55 or more yards, 1999 to 2026

Rank	Kicker	Made	Attempts
1	Matt Prater	26	41
2	Jason Myers	22	30
2	Greg Zuerlein	22	40
4	Justin Tucker	19	37
5	Brandon Aubrey	17	23
5	Chris Boswell	17	25

Boswell had missed from 57 yards earlier in the first quarter, wide left, before connecting from 56 with 5 seconds left in the half for Pittsburgh's only points. He is 1 of 3 from 55 or more this season after a miss from 56 in Week 1, following a 2025 in which he went 7 of 7 from that range. Andy Borregales was 2 of 3 for New England, making from 30 and 45 and missing from 47.

Why it matters. Kicks from 55 or more yards used to be a rarity and are now a weekly tool, and Boswell sits among the six kickers who have made the most of them over 28 seasons. His 17 of 25 is a 68 percent conversion rate, better than Prater, Zuerlein and Tucker in the same table. The context of this game cuts both ways: the make was the offense's only score, and the miss from 57 came on a drive that had reached New England territory.

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