The Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots both came limping into Week 14. The Patriots entered the game with a 2-10 record, coming off a shut-out loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. While the Steelers 7-5 record was vastly better, they too were coming off a bad loss, a 24-10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals at home last Sunday.

Both teams were hoping to get a win on a short week, and head into the min-bye week in hopes of figuring things out down the stretch. For New England the question was more about if they can figure out what they will be doing this offseason, while the Steelers were hoping for a playoff berth in the AFC Playoffs.

The Steelers won the opening coin toss and elected to defer their possession to the second half. With Bailey Zappe and the Patriots offense taking the field, the Steelers had hopes of forcing a quick possession and getting the ball back to the offense. Instead, the New England offense moved quickly down the field and scored a touchdown on a Zappe to Ezekiel Elliott swing pass. The extra point made the score 7-0 with 11:12 remaining in the first quarter.

Looking to answer the score, Mitch Trubisky and company took the field for the first time. The drive featured Trubisky’s making plays with his legs, an interception get negated by a defensive holding call, and ended with a 56-yard field goal by Chris Boswell to make the score 7-3.

Following a 3-and-out by both teams, the Patriots were able to muster a field-flipping drive before punting the ball back to the Steelers, but just like the Patriots have done all season they leaned on their defense to set up the offense. Mitch Trubisky’s pass intended for Pat Freiermuth was intercepted by Jabrill Peppers and returned to the Pittsburgh 11-yard line. One play later, Zappe hit Hunter Henry for the Patriots’ second touchdown of the game. The extra point made the score 14-3 with 14:14 left in the first half.

It was more of the same for the Patriots’ offense on their next drive. JuJu Smith-Schuster continued to carve up his former team, and when the former Pittsburgh wide receiver got the ball in field goal range it was Zappe hitting Henry for his second touchdown of the game. The score read 21-3 after the extra point sailed through the uprights.

In desperate need for points, the Steelers put up their best drive of the game. Hard runs by Jaylen Warren and some trick plays got the Steelers into striking distance. Once there, it was Trubisky who hit Diontae Johnson for the Steelers’ first touchdown of the game.

.@Mtrubisky10 hits @Juiceup__3 for the TD 🎯

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— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 8, 2023

Chris Boswell’s extra point was good, making the score 21-10 with 2:30 left in the second half. That score would hold as both teams headed into halftime with the Steelers getting the football to start the 3rd quarter.

The Steelers’ opening drive took over 7 minutes off the clock and looked to be nearing field goal range, until the Steelers started to go the wrong way and the drive ended in a Pressley Harvin III punt. While the Patriots next two drives didn’t equate in points, neither did Pittsburgh’s as the two teams struggled to move the football.

However, it was Zappe who made the next mistake. A pass intended for JuJu Smith-Schuster was tipped by Elandon Roberts and intercepted by Mykal Walker.

INT 💪

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— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 8, 2023

The ball was returned into the red-zone, but ended in three plays and then to start the 4th quarter Tomlin elected to go for it on 4th and 2, and the Steelers failed to turn the takeaway into points.

Following a 3-and-out by New England, Miles Killebrew got a piece of the punt, setting up the offense again near the red-zone.

Blocked punt alert 🚨

📲: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/T87FSnfvVk pic.twitter.com/iHiJQ1VVLN

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 8, 2023

This time, the Steelers turned the great field position into a touchdown. Following a defensive pass interference call on Pat Freiermuth, it was a Mitch Trubisky quarterback sneak to cut into the Patriots’ lead.

.@Mtrubisky10 pushes it in for 6️⃣

📲: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/T87FSnfvVk pic.twitter.com/W2lqxOdpMo

— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) December 8, 2023

The Steelers went for the two-point conversion, to make it a 3-point lead, and Trubisky’s pass to Freiermuth was good, making the score 21-18 with 11:44 left in the 4th quarter.

After just one first down, the Patriots sent the ball back to the Steelers. Trailing by a field goal with 8:24 left, the Steelers were unable to make the plays necessary to get them into Boswell’s field goal range. There was some controversy when the Steelers were punting the ball back to the Patriots. It looked as if the Steelers drew New England offsides, but the penalty was called on Christian Kuntz and it resulted not in a first down, but the ball going back to the Patriots with 4:45 left in regulation.

A three-and-out got the ball right back to the Steelers, but when the ensuing drive reached midfield the offense faced a critical 4th and 2 before the two-minute warning. Trubisky threw it deep to Johnson, but the ball was incomplete, turning it over on downs. With only one timeout left, the Patriots were able to ice out the clock for the win.

The back-to-back wins for the Steelers, both to two win teams, is certainly one of the lowest points of the organization in recent memory. Now, the Steelers have to sit on the loss for nine days before playing the Indianapolis Colts in Week 15. With the record reading 7-6, be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they press on throughout the regular season.