FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Since 2002, playing in New England has amounted to mostly misery for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Including the AFC championship game in the 2016 season, the Patriots have won six of the past seven matchups in New England. The lone exception was a 33-10 Steelers win in 2008 when Tom Brady was sidelined for the season with a knee injury in the Patriots' opener.
Aaron Rodgers is in only his first season in Pittsburgh, but has similar sour history when it comes to playing in Massachusetts.
“I don't know that we've won,” Rodgers said this week when asked about his memories playing at New England.
Though he's 3-3 overall against the Patriots between his stints in Green Bay and with the New York Jets, he's 0-2 in Gillette Stadium.
The two losses are still vivid in Rodgers' mind.
“We had a chance. We were up five last year (in Jets' 25-22 loss) with like two minutes left, and they had a big pass,” Rodgers recalled.
And the Packers' 31-17 loss in 2018?
“We were tied with them, going in the fourth ... and then got beat by a couple scores."
Then there was the Packers’ 31-27 loss in 2010 at New England. Matt Flynn started in place of Rodgers, who was out with a concussion. But Rodgers remembers watching from the sideline as the Patriots used a 71-yard kickoff return by 313-pound Dan Connolly to help them prevail.
Now, at age 41, this may be Rodgers' last chance to notch a win at a stadium that has a statue of Brady at its gate.
“Yeah, be nice to get a win there,” Rodgers said.
If he didn't notice it last season, Rodgers may see something familiar when he watches Patriots quarterback Drake Maye on Sunday.
Turns out, the 23-year-old has been a fan of Rodgers for years. At least of the way he holds the ball.
"Shoot, it’s hard to emulate the way he spins it," Maye said. “I remember in eighth grade, I was playing baseball and different sports, and I looked up how to hold a football. So, I looked up Aaron Rodgers’ grip, and I’ve had the grip ever since.”
Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez practiced for the first time since suffering a hamstring injury early in training camp in July. But it’s unclear if he’ll make his season debut.
“Everything in football is tough. It’s going to test you physically. It’s going to test you mentally. It’s just part of it," he said.
If Gonzalez does return this week, he could draw the assignment of defending Pittsburgh receiver DK Metcalf. They matched up last season when Metcalf was with Seattle.
The Seahawks won that game 23-20 in overtime. But on the three instances Gonzalez was the primary defender on Metcalf, Gonzalez broke up one pass and limited Metcalf to two catches for 10 yards on the others.
Through two games New England's pass defense ranks last in the NFL, allowing 315 yards per game.
Pittsburgh's veteran-laden and retooled defense began the season with hopes of being historically great.
The early returns have been alarming. The Steelers have allowed 791 yards through two games to a pair of teams (New York Jets, Seattle Seahawks) not exactly expected to be juggernauts.
While there were signs of improvement against the Seahawks, particularly against the run, Pittsburgh still allowed Seattle's Kenneth Walker III to score on a third-and-goal from the 19-yard line in the fourth quarter, which essentially sealed the game.
“Thankfully, it’s early and we got to learn from our mistakes and continually keep getting better," cornerback Darius Slay said.
While Rodgers has been excellent spreading the ball around, one area of the offense still under development is testing teams downfield.
Pittsburgh's longest pass completion through two games looks good in the box score, a 65-yard catch-and-run by running back Jaylen Warren. In reality, Warren slipped through a handful of would-be tacklers to turn a dump-off into a big play.
The only real shot Rodgers has taken was a heave downfield to tight end Pat Freiermuth on a busted play. The pass fell incomplete, but it offered proof that Rodgers still has the arm strength to test secondaries deep.
The best way for Pittsburgh to open the field up is by running it well enough to make safeties creep toward the line of scrimmage, possibly creating room for Metcalf and Calvin Austin III (among others) to run in a straight line.
“Teams look at us on paper and you know we definitely pose a threat down the field,” Metcalf said. “So of course, teams are going to take that away first. So running the ball is definitely high priority on our list to try to open up a fast game down the field.”
Pittsburgh has just 125 yards on the ground so far, the third-lowest total in the league.
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AP Sports Writer Will Graves in Pittsburgh contributed to this report.
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