Steelers suffer 2nd straight embarrassing home loss, falling to last-place Patriots

Just when it looked like the Pittsburgh Steelers couldn’t set the bar any lower in terms of humiliating home defeats, they found a way to limbo under it Thursday night.

Fresh off an upset loss to two-win Arizona four days earlier, the Steelers also were no match for the two-win New England Patriots, 21-18, at Acrisure Stadium.

The Patriots, who had lost five in a row and had scored 13 points combined in their previous three games, used three first-half touchdown passes by backup quarterback Bailey Zappe to take a 21-3 lead that was too big of a deficit for the Steelers to overcome.

“Obviously, this stings,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “But we’ll be back.”

The loss was the third in the past four games for the Steelers (7-6), who were trying to rebound from a 24-10 defeat Sunday to the Arizona Cardinals. Next up is a game at Indianapolis in nine days.

Given the way the Steelers have fared at home – they are 4-4 at Acrisure this season – it might be better that they have three of their final four games on the road.

“This is not the way we wanted to go,” running back Najee Harris said. “Nobody likes losing, but at this late point in the season and us trying to make the playoffs, we have to worry about the next game.”

The offense that underwent a quarterback change could have used some magic from Ben Roethlisberger, who watched the game from the stands. Instead, it was more of the same despite the switch from an injured Kenny Pickett to Mitch Trubisky.

Making his first start in almost a year, Trubisky tried to rally the Steelers from an 18-point deficit by throwing a touchdown pass to Diontae Johnson and running for a score. But he also threw an interception in the first half that led to a Patriots touchdown and 14-3 deficit.

“I thought he got better as the game went on,” Tomlin said. “Obviously, it wasn’t the start we needed.”

The Patriots had no issues with how Zappe came out throwing. Making his second start of the season and fourth of his career, Zappe threw two touchdown passes to tight end Hunter Henry and one to running back Ezekiel Elliott in the first half.

He had 196 of his 240 yards passing in the half.

Late in the third quarter, Zappe made a mistake, but the Steelers couldn’t take advantage. Linebacker Mykal Walker corralled a tipped pass and returned the interception 30 yards to the New England 16.

The fourth quarter began with the Steelers facing a fourth and 2 from the 8. Facing pressure, Trubisky flipped the ball to Jaylen Warren, who was tackled a yard short of the first down.

“We were down there. We play to win,” Tomlin said. “We wanted to be aggressive. We just didn’t get it done.”

The Patriots weren’t done being charitable.

Miles Killebrew deflected a punt, and after it traveled 11 yards, the Steelers had another short field, taking over at the New England 26. A pass interference flag on a toss to Pat Freiermuth in the back of the end zone put the ball on the 1. Two plays later, after a failed option pass attempt by tight end Connor Heyward, Trubisky bulled in to cut the deficit to 21-16 with 11:44 left. Trubisky connected with Freiermuth on the 2-point conversion.

The Steelers got the ball back after a three-and-out. Facing a fourth-and-inches at the New England 29, Tomlin initially sent the punt team on the field. After burning a timeout, Tomlin decided to go for it, and Trubisky gained a yard to keep the drive going.

All that did was prolong the punt, which featured some controversy. Jahlani Tavai appeared to jump offsides for the Patriots before the snap, but officials instead called a false start on long snapper Christian Kuntz.

When the Steelers got the ball back at their 26, they had one timeout and 2 minutes, 44 seconds left on the clock. Facing a fourth-and-2 near midfield. Trubisky looked for Johnson deep down the left side but the pass fell incomplete. Despite some contact in the secondary, no flag was thrown, and the Patriots took over with 1:55 to go.

“You know how hard you work during the week and to put on a performance like that in front of your fans, it’s not good,” Johnson said. “Back to the drawing board.”

Shut out the previous week, the Patriots took a 7-0 lead on the opening drive when Zappe found Elliott in the flat for an 11-yard touchdown. It came after former Steelers receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster had a 37-yard reception to the 26.

The Steelers countered with Chris Boswell’s 56-yard field goal on their first drive.

Trubisky’s aggressiveness cost him on the first play of the second quarter when he looked deep down the middle for Freiermuth, who was in double coverage. Jabrill Peppers intercepted and returned the ball 32 yards to the Steelers 11. Two plays later, Zappe zipped an 8-yard touchdown pass to Henry.

This sequence led to a brief chant for Mason Rudolph from the fans. Tomlin said he never considered making a quarterback change.

The offense was booed off the field after the next three-and-out, with Trubisky nearly throwing another interception on third down.

“Since I’ve been here, I’ve been hearing boos, to be honest,” Harris said. “It’s not like it’s changed. Fans are eager to see their team win. It’s something we should give them.”

The Patriots hiked their lead to 21-3 with 7:38 left in the half on another touchdown pass to Henry, this one covering 24 yards.

The Steelers offense finally showed some life late in the half. Trubisky led an eight-play, 75-yard drive that ended with his 25-yard touchdown pass to Johnson.

“Players are ticked off, mad about the game,” defensive captain Cameron Heyward said. “But it’s just about being smart with your words and getting back in the lab and absorbing what’s really going on. Can’t put a mask over this. This has been two ugly games that we have to be accountable for.”