Patriots-Steelers Week 2 news, notes, and fun facts

BOSTON — The Patriots will face a familiar foe as they seek their first win of the season on Sunday, with a visit to the Pittsburgh Steelers on tap for Week 2.

Once a yearly staple on the schedule, this will be the first time that the Patriots and the Steelers will play since 2019. It’s New England’s first visit to Pittsburgh since 2018.

“I can’t remember the last time we’ve gone three years without playing the Steelers,” Bill Belichick said Wednesday. “Usually a team we play every year.”

This time around, Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger will not be quarterbacking their respective teams. Instead, we’ll see Mac Jones (hopefully) and Mitch Trubisky under center. Quite the difference.

Here’s all you need to know to get ready for the Week 2 tilt.

Week 2 Notes

• Sunday is the 34th meeting between the Patriots and the Steelers. Pittsburgh leads the regular season series 15-13, though the Patriots are 5-1 in their last six regular season matchups.
• New England has the edge when it really counts, sporting a 4-1 postseason record against Pittsburgh.
• The Patriots are 8-11 in road games in Pittsburgh in the regular season, including 4-3 at the newly named Acrisure Stadium — formerly known as Heinz Field. (Again, the Pats win when it matters, going 2-0 in Pittsburgh in AFC title games.)
• Sunday is the first time the Patriots will play the Steelers since the 2019 opener, when New England won 33-3 at Gillette Stadium.
• The last time the Patriots played in Pittsburgh was Dec. 16, 2018, when they lost 17-10. That was the team’s final loss that season, as New England went on to win Super Bowl LIII a few months later.
• Bill Belichick is 15-12 against Pittsburgh throughout his career, but touts a 12-4 record against the Steelers with New England. Mike Tomlin is just 3-8 against the Patriots.
• Sunday will be the 500th game of the Robert Kraft era in New England. The Patriots have 341 wins and a .683 winning percentage since Kraft bought the team.

Player Notes

• Matthew Judon racked up a career-best four QB hits against the Dolphins in Week 1. If he does that again at any point this season, he’ll join Roosevelt Colvin (3 times in 2006), Andre Carter (twice in 2011), Chandler Jones (twice in 2015) and Trey Flowers (twice in 2018) as the only Patriots players with at least four quarterback hits in two games in the same season.
• Devin McCourty has played 189 games with the Patriots and is currently tied with Tedy Bruschi for the ninth-most in team history. The veteran safety will bump Bruschi down the list when Sunday’s game kicks off.
• Mac Jones moved into eighth place on the Patriots all-time passing list last weekend with 4,014 career passing yards. He needs 263 passing yards to move past Hugh Millen (4,276) into seventh place.

Connections

• The Steelers have a pair of players who once called New England home. Defensive tackle Montravius Adams, who signed with the Pats in 2021 but was released before season, singed with the Steelers last season after being waived by the New Orleans Saints. Return man Gunner Olszewski, who had a 20-yard punt return in his Pittsburgh debut last weekend, spent three years with the Patriots after signing as an undrafted free agent in 2019.
• Longtime New England assistant and defensive coach Brian Flores, who spent 15 years with the Patriots, is now a senior defensive assistant and the linebackers coach in Pittsburgh.
• Patriots backup QB Brian Hoyer signed with the Steelers on Nov. 20, 2012 after being cut by the Patriots in August. He backed up Charlie Batch (an injury replacement after Roethlisberger and Byron Leftwich both went down) for two weeks but was released on Dec. 8, 2012.

Tune in to Patriots-Steelers Sunday afternoon on WBZ-TV — your television home of the New England Patriots! Coverage begins Wednesday night with Patriots 1st Down at 9:30 p.m. on TV38, and 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!