Patriots 20, Steelers 3

 

There are two kinds of people: those who dislike Aaron Rodgers and those who hate Aaron Rodgers. Today's 20-3 win by the New England Patriots over Rodgers' Pittsburgh Steelers satisfied both groups.

Two plays stand out in particular. Third and 7 on the New England 22. The Patriots' Christian Ellis sacks Rodgers and he fumbles the ball. Player after player, Patriot and Steeler alike, tries to grab the loose ball, but it just keeps on bounding back further and further from the goal line (cue the Benny Hill music) until Pittsburgh finally recovers it all the way back on their own 42, forcing a fourth and 47. Good times. 

But wait, there's more! Rodgers fumbled again in the fourth quarter on his own 30, and the ball was recovered by New England's Elijah Ponder for a scoop 'n' score. 

TreVeyon Henderson made his season debut in the game after a Week 1 ankle injury and immediately made his presence felt with a  39-yard TD run in the first quarter. He finished the day with 76 yards on 16 carries. Injured receiver AJ Brown is still out and will miss next week as well.  

Drake Maye finished the game with 208 passing yards and 17 rushing yards. He threw another INT after last week's three and was sacked three times, all things the Pats need to work on. Also of concern is that the team scored only one offensive TD all game, all the other points coming on field goals and Aaron's fumble.

The Pats are now 1-1, so let's not look at the half-empty part of the beer bottle. Buffalo beat Detroit on Thursday night and are 2-0, leading the division, and the Jets lost to the Packers and are 1-1, tied with New England.  The Dolphins are 0-1 and are playing the Niners in San Francisco. 

Next up for New England are Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars (1-0) in Jacksonville. The Jags are playing the Broncos (0-1) in Denver this afternoon. This could be a tough test for New England, as Jacksonville is tied with three other teams (Kansas City, Seattle and the Jets) for the second-lowest points given up per game (10). The Niners lead the league with seven. Meanwhile, Lawrence leads the NFL in QB rating at 150.6, is second in yards per attempt (9.7), and third in total TDs (four). The only stat that Drake leads the league in is interceptions (four). 

The early line favors the Jags by 2½. Kickoff is at 1:00 pm.