Patriots' ground game seals win with soul-sucking drive in Pittsburgh

BOSTON -- With 6:41 remaining in a three-point game, the Steelers punted the ball to the Patriots. Though nothing is ever a given in sports, the home team had to have a comfortable level of confidence that they'd be getting the ball back with a chance to either win or tie the game. Considering the Patriots had gained just 40 net yards combined over their previous two drives, with the latter being a three-and-out, there was reason for that belief in Pittsburgh.

But what the Patriots did from that point forward was right out of the old school. At the risk of sounding like a barrel-chested high school coach ... the Patriots simply buckled up their chin straps and went to work. What resulted was a hard-earned, smash-mouth, grind-it-out drive that ensured that the Steelers never would be getting that football back.

Of the first nine plays on the drive, eight were running plays. (That's not counting a 4-yard rush that was wiped away due to penalty.) It featured runs from sources both likely (Damien Harris, Rhamondre Stevenson) and unlikely (Mac Jones). The result for the Steelers was an agonizing, soul-sucking experience lasting 393 seconds.

For the Patriots, the result was a win.

The drive began simply enough, with a Stevenson run up the middle for three yards. A holding penalty on Jakobi Meyers on second down set up a second-and-13, and Jones hit Lil'Jordan Humphrey over the middle -- a soft spot in Pittsburgh's defense all day -- for a gain of 11. Facing a third-and-2 at the New England 38-yard line, Jones made sure that a quick three-and-out was not in the cards by scrambling up the middle and sliding into the natural turf after a gain of five yards.

With a fresh set of downs secured, the running game really got to work. Stevenson ran for six yards to the left side, before finding a whole lot of room through the right side for a gain of eight on the next snap. The offensive coaching staff swapped in Harris for Stevenson on the resulting first down, and he immediately imperiled the game for Pittsburgh by bursting for a gain of 16 yards behind the lead block of a pulling Mike Onwenu before the two-minute warning.

With the Patriots now in field goal range, the Steelers' defense had to hold the line, force that kick, and get the ball back to the offense. New England might have been happy with that arrangement, too, as they would not be taking any unnecessary risks with their play-calling.

The Steelers knew what was coming ... and they could do nothing to stop it.

Pittsburgh's D did come up with a stop for a two-yard loss on the first-down run up the middle, but Harris then broke free for nine yards on second-and-12. Harris could have possibly picked up the first down but instead opted to slide while in bounds, forcing the Steelers to use their final timeout with 1:51 left in the game.

That set up a third-and-3. There'd be no games played, no tricks pulled. Just a good old-fashioned run up the gut. Strength vs. strength. Mano a mano. Any other cliché you can think of.

Clichéd or not, though, these are the moments where games are won or lost. And the Patriots' offensive line made sure this one wouldn't slip away.

Harris took a handoff and ran behind David Andrews. With Cole Strange walling off the defense on one side and Trent Brown pushing the edge out of the picture on the other, Harris barged forward for a gain of five yards.

The drive featured more than just running backs, of course, as the offensive line -- including rookie Cole Strange playing in just his second NFL game -- won their battles across the board to spring the backs.

"Those guys, they work their butt off every single day up front. That's the anchor of our offense," Harris said. "Whatever we're gonna be on offense, it starts with those guys, whether it's run, pass, trick play, triple-reverse pass, it doesn't matter. It starts with those guys up front. And they show up to work every single day and they just continue to improve. As they go, the rest of our offense goes. So huge shoutout to those guys today, they blocked their tails off in the run game, in the pass game, and they made our jobs as skill players a lot easier."

Though Harris was a bit banged-up after the play, the job was done. A trio of kneeldowns from Jones drained the clock to zeroes, and the Patriots had themselves their first victory of 2022. 

Nelson Agholor -- who caught the lone touchdown pass of the day from Mac Jones, just before halftime -- said a drive like that one marks a stark difference to last season.

"I think that's a part of the winning formula," Agholor said. "You want to finish with the ball. I think if you look at us last year -- we don't want to talk about that, but if you talk about that, last year, four-minute drives weren't in our favor. We won the four-minute drive, end of the game, milking the clock, finishing with the ball and being in victory formation. That's important. I think most championship teams see a lot of those, because they win the right way, they get the last shot, they have possession, they kneel it and run the clock out."

Harris, who finished the game with 71 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, described that final drive rather simply.

"It was just good that offensively, we could end the game with the ball in our hands -- not giving it back to 'em, running out the clock, whether it was mixing in some runs or passes. Whatever the plays were, it was just about execution, and in these tough games, in these critical situations, hostile environments, that's what it comes down to -- good fundamentals and good execution," Harris said. "So we put that on display, and we were able to close out the game."

The way the Patriots sealed their win that was not overly complex, and it was not at all deceptive. Yet it was all that was necessary, and it was enough to give the Patriots some overdue reason to feel some added confidence and self-assurance in the locker room as they head into Week 3 of the season.

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