Patriots-Steelers What To Watch For: Will Mac's back hold up against Steelers' defense?

BOSTON -- The best remedy for a disappointing Week 1 loss is going out and winning in Week 2. The Patriots will look to notch their first win of the 2022 season this Sunday in Pittsburgh.

An 0-2 start in New England is something that we haven't seen in a long, long time. It last happened in 2001, when Drew Bledsoe and the Patriots lost their first two games (and Bledsoe almost lost his life) before Tom Brady took over and the rest is history. At no point in the Brady/Belichick era did the Patriots start a season 0-2. That didn't even happen when Jimmy Garoppolo was taking snaps in place of a suspended Brady. Heck, even Matt Cassel helped the Patriots to 2-0 start when he was thrust into action in 2008.

Yet here we are, with the Patriots in real jeopardy of falling to 0-2. The Steelers have to feel pretty good about themselves after a 23-20 win over the Bengals in Week 1, despite nearly letting a 17-3 lead slip away. This Sunday is their home opener, so there will be a little extra ketchup -- and a lot of those yellow towels being waved around -- inside Heinz.... we mean Acrisure Stadium. (That just sounds wrong.)

Here's what we'll be watching for -- and hoping to see -- from the Patriots in Week 2. 

Mac's back and the Patriots' O-line

It's obvious that we'll be watching the quarterback every single weekend this season. It's kind of hard not to when you're trying to see if the guy is the future or not.

But there will be extra focus on everything Mac does this weekend after he was pummeled throughout Week 1, leading to a postgame trip to the X-ray room. Jones was reportedly suffering from back spasms after being battered by the Miami pass rush, which kept him from taking the podium after Sunday's loss.

The best news of the week so far is that Mac's back is OK and not shattered into pieces. Jones was confident on Monday that he'd be ready to go this Sunday in Pittsburgh, which he repeated Wednesday after practicing for the first time this week.

But how will he feel -- and look -- against a pretty talented Pittsburgh defense that was an absolute wagon in Week 1? The Steelers will be without TJ Watt for a while, and that will change the dynamic of the Pittsburgh defense. But they're still pretty good at getting to a quarterback. Linebacker Alex Highsmith was all over Joe Burrow last weekend, sacking the quarterback three times. Cam Heyward had a sack and three QB hits, one of the six different players to record a QB hit for Pittsburgh.

The Steelers also have a man on the inside, with Brian Flores serving as the team's senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach. Hopefully Bill Belichick doesn't accidently text him some of New England's game plan this week, thinking he's Brian Belichick by mistake.

More Kendrick Bourne?

Kendrick Bourne needed just two snaps to give the Patriots their biggest play of the day in Week 1. Everyone in New England -- and most assuredly Mac Jones -- would like to see a lot more of the receiver going forward.

He's in Matt Patricia's doghouse for reportedly being late to a meeting. Before a preseason game. We're now into September, and the Patriots need to be playing their best players as much as possible. 

So Matty P., we're asking you, pretty please, with a cherry on top, to play Kendrick Bourne this weekend.

It's not rocket science. Mac and Bourne had a solid thing going last season. Add him to Jakobi Meyers and the deep(ish) threats of DeVante Parker and Nelson Agholor and maybe the Patriots offense will get cooking through the air in Week 2.

Robert Kraft reportedly wants to see more Bourne in Week 2 as well, so he should see an increase in action. If Bourne plays a handful of snaps or fewer this weekend, and the offense does little for the second straight game, things could get really bad in the locker room really quick.

The turnover battle

The Steelers forced five turnovers against the reigning AFC Champs in Week 1, including four on Cincinnati's first five possessions. Pittsburgh picked off Joe Burrow four times and picked up one of the quarterback's two fumbles in their overtime win. Those free possessions led to 17 Steelers points in the 23-20 victory, including a 31-yard pick-sick by Minkah Fitzpatrick.

Bill Belichick called them a bunch of ball hawks this week, so you better believe ball security was numero uno on the team's to-do list this week.

As you may remember, turnovers crushed the Patriots in their opener. The team's promising opening drive ended with disappointment when Jones underthrew a deep pass to DeVante Parker in the end zone and it was picked off by Jevon Holland after being deflected by Xavien Howard. Miami got free points when the Patriots' offensive line rolled out a red carpet for Brandon Jones instead of blocking the safety, giving him a free blindside hit on Jones that resulted in a fumble and scoop and score recovery by Melvin Ingram. Nelson Agholor also fumbled away New England's last shot at making the game interesting in the fourth quarter. 

This Patriots team can't afford to give their opposition free possessions and easy points off turnovers, especially against a defense like the Steelers', which also does a good job at disguising their blitzes.

It's stating the obvious that the Patriots can't turn the ball over if they want to win, but it seems like this team needs those kids of reminders at this early junction in the season.

Can Patriots make Mitchapalooza make mistakes?

The Steelers were offensively unspectacular in Week 1, because they really didn't need to be spectacular on that side of the ball. The defense did more than their share to notch the win.

But it's fair to wonder how well the Pittsburgh offense will operate under Mitch Trubisky, who led the team on one touchdown drive in Week 1. He quarterbacked five three-and-outs in the contest, and had another drive of just four plays before the Steelers punted the ball away.

In his first real week with a new team, Trubisky was 21-for-38 for 194 yards and a touchdown. He's the kind of quarterback that the Patriots defense should be able to force into a mistake or two that could potentially swing the game.

Then again, we thought the same about Tua last week, and he beat the defense with paper-cut plays and a long touchdown when the Patriots were tackling each other on defense. So you never know.

Tune in to Patriots-Steelers Sunday afternoon on WBZ-TV -- your television home of the New England Patriots! Coverage continues Friday with Patriots All Access at 7 p.m. on WBZ-TV. Sunday's coverage kicks off at 11:30 a.m. with Patriots GameDay, the Pats and the Steelers get underway at 1 p.m., and after the game tune in to Patriots 5th Quarter over on TV38!