New England Patriots
“You’re not going to ruin my Sunday.”
FOXBOROUGH — A win’s a win in Mike Vrabel’s book.
At least, that was the sentiment that the Patriots’ head coach shared after New England secured its first win of the 2026 season with a 20-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“Just trying to win the game. … You’re not going to ruin my Sunday,” Vrabel said on Sunday after New England’s win when posed a question about the state of his offense. “I’ll come back to you [Monday].”
A return to the win column was a welcome sight for Vrabel and his team — especially after New England imploded in crunch time in Week 1 against the Seahawks.
But even with Sunday’s bounce-back showing against Pittsburgh, many of the concerns over New England’s offense — and especially the decision-making of Drake Maye — aren’t exactly alleviated.
While New England’s defense forced two turnovers (one being a scoop-and-score touchdown from Elijah Ponder) and made life miserable for Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers, Maye and New England’s offense didn’t exactly dominate on their drives.
Maye finished 14-of-22 on Sunday against the Steelers with 208 yards — with New England doling out a majority of its damage on the ground with 4.9 yards per carry.
Fans shouldn’t necessarily expect a sustained aerial attack from Maye over the next few weeks, especially with A.J. Brown on the mend for over a month with a high ankle sprain.
But the third-year QB’s decision-making so far this year has raised a few eyebrows.
After throwing three interceptions in the fourth quarter against Seattle, Maye was once again knocked for a brutal turnover on Sunday — underthrowing a ball to Hunter Henry that Patrick Queen easily picked off in the third quarter.
After throwing just eight interceptions all of last season, Maye has already been knocked for four picks — and just one touchdown — in the first two games of the 2026 campaign.
While Vrabel might take a more critical look at his QB on Monday after watching the film, he stressed postgame that New England wants to empower Maye — even with the growing pains that come with that trust.
“He’s going to be the one that’s going to orchestrate and conduct everything we do, and make sure that everyone believes that the play that we’re running is going to be successful,” Vrabel said of Maye. “And not every time it is. But he has to be able to take that demeanor and spread it to the football team, throw to the guy that’s open, and make great decisions.
“I’m going to trust his decision; I’m going to trust every player’s decision that has the football, and we’ll continue to keep working. I thought there were some really great throws down the field and some opportunities, and then, I mean, if he doesn’t feel it, he doesn’t feel it.”
A spirited effort from a banged-up New England defense ensured that the Patriots didn’t pay for both Maye’s interception and Rhamondre Stevenson’s fumble on the club’s first drive of the afternoon.
But unlike his head coach, Maye was far more critical of his own play while fielding questions from the media on Sunday.
“Definitely not where we want to be,” Maye noted. “Just a point of making some plays, picking up some first downs, and end up just stalling out. It starts with me making good decisions and being in good plays and just finishing the drives.
“I think we need to finish the drives, got down there past the 50 multiple times and penalties, a delay of game on my end, just little things that are hurting ourselves, and it’s going to end up coming back to bite us. It already bit us once last week. Our defense is playing great, shout out to them. It’s fun watching them play. We’ve got to match it and have some more urgency and it starts in practice.”
Even if New England’s current offensive personnel won’t mimic the ‘07 Patriots, this current club is playing a dangerous game if it plans to rely on a shorthanded defensive unit to bail them out over the next few weeks.
A road matchup against a dangerous Jaguars defense next Sunday presents another challenge for Maye and Co. It’s not realistic to expect New England’s defense to completely stymie Josh Allen and the Bills in Buffalo in Week 4.
If New England wants to get past this daunting start to the season, it’s going to need to rely on a familiar strength from last year — putting the ball in Maye’s hands to conduct an explosive, efficient offense.
The waiting game continues two weeks into this current campaign.
“We’ve got to hit some plays, and you’ve got to go out and play. Compete. Have fun. But make great decisions.” Vrabel said.
Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.