New England Patriots

Steelers vs. Patriots: what went right/wrong?

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Steelers moved the ball well on Sunday, but injuries and a lack of execution when it mattered led to a tough loss against the Patriots.

There isn’t much to inspire as far as “what went right,” so we’ll start there.

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Moving the Football

Landry Jones continued to be pretty much..well, Landry Jones. He made some good plays and he made some bad ones.

For the most part, Jones played well. He showed command of the offense, spread the ball around, and kept the offense productive.

He showed great accuracy and touch on a touchdown to Darrius Heyward-Bey and a long pass to Antonio Brown. Jones also under threw Brown on a throw that Malcolm Butler intercepted in the end zone, and appeared to have trouble communicating with receivers on several occasions.

At the end of the day, Jones kept the Steelers competitive against one of the best teams in the NFL. He is no Ben Roethlisberger and most don’t think he is the post-Roethlisberger answer, but the Steelers could do worse.

The Steelers will need to have Landry Jones keep them in games for as long as Roethlisberger remains on the sideline.

Le’Veon Bell

Le’Veon Bell didn’t find the end zone and didn’t top 100 yards rushing. However, he had a good game. The Steelers were smart enough to give him 31 touches (they could have given him more). Bell ended the day with 149 yards from scrimmage and made even short gains a chore for the Patriots’ defense.

Even when Bell wasn’t getting the best blocking, he showed patience and quickness to move forward. Against a team that did nothing but prepare for a heavy dose of Bell all week, Bell still made an impact.

We’re still waiting for Bell to take over a game in 2016, but I think we’ll see that sooner or later. The offense will be leaning on Bell until Roethlisberger’s return–and likely after his return as well.

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Brown’s Involvement

One of the biggest fears with a back up quarterback is how he’ll keep your playmakers happy. We saw last year that Antonio Brown was frustrated with his role in the first game or two without Roethlisberger. Jones made sure to get Brown involved.

Like Bell, Brown didn’t find the end zone. However, Brown managed seven receptions for 106 yards and one carry for 13. The Steelers showed that they want to keep Brown involved in the game plan with or without Ben.

Brown did sustain a leg injury late in the game, but he returned to play and the injury has been categorized as minor.

So… onto what went wrong.

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Penalties

The Steelers were highly penalized against the Patriots. Most of the penalties came on offense. False starts, holding calls, and offensive pass interference all derailed an offense that was otherwise successfully moving the ball.

Pre snap penalties are particularly troubling in front of a home crowd. If the Steelers want to win games with Landry Jones, the offense is going to need to help him out by executing within the rules.

One holding call in particular took away a touchdown. Later on that drive the Steelers missed a field goal. A penalty like that is detrimental to winning against playoff caliber teams.

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Red Zone Woes

As alluded to above, the Steelers did not help themselves when they got into scoring range. While the Patriots scored touchdowns on all three of their trips to the red zone, the Steelers were one out of four.

Landry Jones tossed an interception and a touchdown and Chris Boswell was one for two on field goals in the red zone.

This is another area that needs to be cleaned up as the team approaches the midway portion of the season. Teams that can’t score touchdowns in the red zone will have trouble making the playoffs and winning once they get there.

You can’t score a touchdown every time you get into the red zone, but leaving the field twice with no points hurts. A lot.

Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Steelers Run Defense

For the second week in a row, the Steelers were dominated on the ground. LeGarrette Blount was steamrolling the Steelers defenders in the second half of the game.

Blount burst into the end zone twice on Sunday, and he made it look easy.

If the Steelers aren’t able to put up 30 points a game as they expected to, then they need some help on defense. When a visiting runner can come in and average 5.3 yards a carry, you’re in for a long day.

No one claims that the Steelers should be shutting down opponents’ rush attacks, but they should at least slow them down. Is there any better evidence for the quality of Cameron Heyward‘s play than the last two performances offered by the Steelers without him?

Come back Cam.

Much of the Steelers’ hope lies in the health of its stars. Roethlisberger and Heyward need to come back soon. The Steelers don’t appear to be built to win without them.