Patriots in Trouble Vs. Steelers With Defensive Star Missing (Another) Game?

The New England Patriots didn’t get the news they wanted on cornerback Christian Gonzalez, despite some evidence that the highly touted defensive back could finally be nearing a return.

New England didn’t even wait for the gameday inactives list to rule out Gonzalez for a third straight week with a hamstring injury. The Patriots made the call on Sept. 19 when they issued their final injury report of the week, ruling out Gonzalez for the Week 3 clash with the Pittsburgh Steelers at Gillette Stadium.

Here is the full list of inactives for the Patriots:

Assuming there was no sort of setback during the week, Gonzalez finally made some progress. He’s been out since suffering the hamstring injury during training camp in July, but he did practice for the first time since this week. Gonzalez also spoke with reporters on Sept. 17, a sign that he might have been trending toward playing.

That momentum came to a halt with the Friday afternoon announcement, and having Gonzalez in the mix would have been real helpful against Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf and the rest of the Pittsburgh offense. Not counting Miami and Buffalo, who have already played in Week 3, only three teams in the conference have scored more points that Pittsburgh.

The Patriots, meanwhile, haven’t been very good on the defensive side of the ball through two weeks. Mike Vrabel’s defense, despite some impressive return on pass-rush investments, ranked 30th in defensive DVOA entering the week. The Dolphins are in a world of hurt through three weeks, but their Week 2 performance against New England was the best they’ve looked so far this season.

Metcalf might be the biggest beneficiary of Gonzalez’s absence after two quiet weeks to start his Steelers career.

The New England Patriots have been extremely susceptible to the big play this season. Both the Las Vegas Raiders and Miami Dolphins were able to pick up huge chunk plays, throwing the ball with regularity against them. This week, the Pittsburgh Steelers will do the same thing, and it’s Metcalf who will be making the big plays,” Mark Morales-Smith predicted this week for SI.com.

Aaron Rodgers Returns to New England
It’s a rare trip to New England for Rodgers, who is in his first season with the Steelers after two miserable years with the New York Jets. Rodgers made just one start at Gillette with the Jets, a rare Patriots win last season where New England rallied late to win 25-22. Rodgers had one of his best games as a Jet, completing 17 of 28 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns.

The four-time MVP is 3-3 for his career against the Patriots with a 99.5 passer rating, the majority of those games coming with the Green Bay Packers opposite Bill Belichick. Rodgers could also make history in Week 3. He’s tied with fellow Packers legend Brett Favre for fourth on the all-time passing touchdowns list with 508.

Patriots-Steelers Weather Report: ‘Perfection’
Weather has been a factor in both of New England’s first two games, with rain and fog soaking Foxboro, Mass., in Week 1 and the Patriots dealing with a typically hot and humid afternoon in Miami last week.

This week, it’s a different story. Forecasts call for a picture-perfect New England day on the eve of the autumnal equinox.

Patriots-Steelers View From the Sportsbook
The Steelers are slight 1.5-point road favorites at New England with the total currently set at 44.5 at FanDuel Sportsbook. The Patriots were favored in their season opener against Las Vegas, a game they lost by a touchdown, and that spread is the outlier in recent history.

In fact, the Patriots were home underdogs in each of their eight games at Gillette Stadium last season. New England has been getting points at home in now 17 of their last 22 home games. They’re just 4-14-2 against the spread in their last 20 home games with four outright wins.