FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike McCarthy shouldered the blame Sunday in the wake of his offense's clunky, uninspired performance in a 20-3 loss to the New England Patriots.
"The reality of it is the detail's not there, and that's on coaching," McCarthy said. "Starts with me. I'm calling the offense. I have to get the detail better. So if you need someone, fire away because I felt it on Wednesday and Thursday. I'm a veteran coach. I know better, and I didn't do a good job.
"Offense needs to be better. Mike McCarthy needs to be better."
Not only did the Steelers' offense put up just three points, but it has managed just one touchdown in 25 offensive possessions over the first two weeks of the season.
"It's frustrating, for sure," quarterback Aaron Rodgers said of not getting into the end zone. "The defense has been playing great. They've been holding [opponents to] 13 points a game in two games, and offensively I think we're averaging like eight points a game. That's not winning football."
Against the Patriots, the Steelers gained just 235 yards and averaged 3.5 yards per play. They went three-and-out on their first two drives and four more times in the second half. Their longest sustained drive (12 plays) ended in a disastrous third down on the doorstep of the red zone. Rodgers was drilled by linebacker Christian Elliss, fumbling as he was sacked. The ball bounced backward and was finally recovered by left tackle Troy Fautanu for a loss of 36 yards to bring up fourth-and-43.
"We just didn't get into a rhythm," Rodgers said of the offense. "We had too many three-and-outs again. I didn't feel like there was anybody that had an exceptional game out there. We all played below our standard."
Rodgers, who was replaced by backup quarterback Mason Rudolph with the game well out of reach in the final three minutes, completed 23 of 39 attempts for 187 yards.
Playing without receiver Michael Pittman Jr., the Steelers' pass game struggled to get going. Not only did Rodgers have an off-target percentage of 26%, his worst as a Steeler, but top receiver DK Metcalf was also held to two catches for 2 yards with two drops through the first three quarters.
"He's had a couple rough games, but he is one of the top receivers in the league for a reason," tight end Pat Freiermuth said of Metcalf. "And we back him every single day, and he's going to get out of it, man. He's a true pro's pro, and whatever he needs from us, everyone's already told him he's got it. So he'll be fine. He'll be bounced back next week, and can't wait. I mean, he's going to go out there the rest of the season and attack it, and he knows what went wrong, and he's going to catch the ball."
Rodgers was intercepted on a pass that bounced off rookie wide receiver Germie Bernard's hands and was sacked four times, including a strip sack in the fourth quarter by Christian Barmore that turned into a scoop-and-score for the Patriots defense. All four of those sacks came under pressure, according to ESPN Research, and he completed 5 of 12 attempts for 34 yards on such plays.
The Steelers' offensive line, which was overhauled in the offseason as the coaching staff switched the left and right sides, struggled throughout the game, particularly on the right side as guard Spencer Anderson gave up the pressure that turned into one of Rodgers' fumbles. And in the run game, the Steelers averaged just 4 yards per carry.
"Our protections weren't clean," McCarthy said. "We had opportunities, whether it was communication and breakdowns, clearly in the first half that took away some opportunities for big plays. The run game was a little bit herky-jerky.
"The consistency of winning in the trenches, we need to be better there."
McCarthy said he should have recognized warning signs in practice early in the week and reduced the volume of plays in the game plan during Wednesday's and Thursday's practice.
"You want to push your players, but at the end of the day, you've got to do it to win a game," McCarthy said. "We came here to win a football game, fully expected to win a game. Was in the game even for as many things as we didn't do right on offense. Just the basics weren't there too, with the ball on the ground a number of times. When the detail is not right, that starts with the coaching, and we have to get that cleaned up."
Although McCarthy took ownership of his offense's issues, Rodgers said some of the onus to improve was on the guys in the locker room.
"We got to take ownership as players," Rodgers said. "We got to be accountable to each other about our performance. Mine wasn't good enough, and a lot of guys' on offense wasn't good enough.
"Definitely on us to play better, but you're not going to see me panic. I don't think Mike's going to panic. Urgency's going to go up a little bit for sure, but no panic."
