Paul Zeise: After bottoming out post-Tom Brady, the Patriots are better positioned to contend soon than the Steelers

Paul Zeise, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Sep 19, 2025

Published in Football

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

PITTSBURGH — The Steelers will play the Patriots on Sunday, and it is a game that lacks the juice of many of the contests between these two teams of the last 25 years or so.

It used to be when these two teams met, it was the biggest game of the NFL weekend because both were almost always contenders in the AFC. Both had star power and both also had power coaches that made these games must-see TV.

But both teams have taken a step back, mostly because they moved on from all-time, elite quarterbacks who powered their success. Tom Brady led the Patriots to six Super Bowl titles and a total of nine AFC championships from 2000-19 before he left to finish his career in Tampa Bay. And Ben Roethlisberger led the Steelers to two Super Bowl titles and a total of three AFC championships from 2004-21 before he retired.

The Steelers have clearly handled the era after their Hall of Fame quarterbacks better than the Patriots have, as they have finished with a winning record in each of the three seasons since Roethlisberger retired and have made the playoffs twice. The Patriots on the other hand have had four losings seasons of the five since Brady left and made the playoffs just once.

Over the last two seasons, the Patriots are a combined 8-26 and have been one of the worst teams in the NFL. They have also — unlike the Steelers, who have kept Mike Tomlin in place — had three coaches in the last three years.

So, on the surface, it appears as if the Steelers have done a much better job in replacing their legendary quarterback than the Patriots, but I don’t know if that is necessarily the case.

It is true they have won more games than the Patriots and they have remained far more competitive, but the goal for both of these franchises is to contend for Super Bowls. And I can’t help but wonder out loud if the Patriots are set up to get back to contending better than the Steelers are.

And that brings up an age-old debate — would you rather have a losing season or two as opposed to stringing together winning seasons that lead to the middle of the pack if it means you draft your franchise quarterback?

I don’t know if Drake Maye is that guy, but the people in New England seem to think so. And if he is, then the Patriots are set up for another run of success as they continue to improve the overall roster around him.

The Patriots were able to draft Maye because they earned the third pick of the 2024 draft courtesy of one of those 4-13 seasons. They got a top-five pick and they used it to try to make themselves better at the most important position on the field. They had Brady for all those years and they saw what an advantage it is to have a top quarterback in place for 15 years.

The Steelers have been picking too late in every draft to be in position to draft one of those top quarterbacks. They used a first-round pick on a quarterback recently, Kenny Pickett, but he has not exactly turned into much more than a guy who gets traded a lot.

I would argue the Steelers’ emphasis on finding a way season by season to piece together a winning record probably hurts them in the long term. They are consistently drafting somewhere around No. 20, and that is in general not going to put you in position to draft one of those elite quarterbacks.

Yeah, I know there are exceptions — Brady being the poster child for that — but when you look around the league, most of the top quarterbacks were drafted high. It is true there are busts and there are some players, like Jalen Hurts, who fall in the draft because they have a specific skill set, but I don’t think you can rebuild properly without having a quarterback in place.

Maye may or may not be the next great one in New England, but even if he is just very good, it will be give the Patriots a chance to contend year in and year out because the best teams are the ones that have their quarterback position settled long term.

The Steelers don’t have that and have been forced to piece together their quarterback room year after year. And that is one big reason they are not really contenders, even though they have made the playoffs a few times. I suppose Will Howard might be the next Brady — a late-rounder who blossoms into a star — but I am betting against that.

It is great the Steelers have been able to make the playoffs and fight to try to scratch together winning seasons even when they are nowhere close to an actual contender. It should be pointed out the last time the Steelers had a losing season was 2003, and it led to them drafting Roethlisberger.

The Steelers may have stayed closer to contention post-Roethlisberger than the Patriots have post-Brady, but if you ask me which team is set up better to get back to contending, I would say the Patriots — mostly because they have Maye and the Steelers have a 40-something starting at quarterback.