New England Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones tackles Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jaylen Warren. Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images

Patriots Have One Glaring Issue to Fix

Originally posted on New England Patriots on SI
By Jeremy Brener | Last updated Sep 24, 2025 2:00 PM ET

The New England Patriots are going back to the drawing board after their 21-14 loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 3.

For a third consecutive week, the Pats found themselves needing to catch up late after going down 14-0 early against the Steelers. Patriots linebacker Robert Spillane spoke about the team needing to constantly dig itself out of holes.

"We need to figure out what's going on with that, how we can emulate that middle part of the game and how we've done so well in the second quarter. We just need to figure out how can we start the game that fast and get off the field early, and get the ball back to our offense," Spillane said.

"That will be what we focus on tomorrow. How can we start these games fast? How can we go three-and-out, get off the field and get the ball right back to our offense? That's our goal, no matter where we're put on the field to play defense, our job is to get the ball back for the offense."

It's not easy overcoming two-touchdown deficits, but that's what the Pats were forced to do against the Steelers. While they had a chance to tie or win the game late, things could have been different if it weren't for the team's poor start.

Veteran cornerback Marcus Jones spoke about the team's poor first half.

"The main thing that [Mike Vrabel] was talking to us about, was to just settle down. We had some unforced errors that we didn't need to have in the first half. He was just like, play our style of football, so we eventually settled in and everything. We can't have slow starts like that in the National Football League because it's hard to come back from situations like that," Jones said.

The Patriots have to play a full 60 minutes of consistent football if it wants a chance to win its next game against the Carolina Panthers, who are coming off a 30-0 shutout win over the Atlanta Falcons.

The Panthers stomped on the Falcons' neck and never let up, so the team needs to find a way of getting ahead of the curve in order to pull out a win.

This article first appeared on New England Patriots on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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