FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — TreVeyon Henderson ran for a 39-yard touchdown in his season debut, Eli Ponder added a 19-yard fumble recovery for a score and the New England Patriots’ defense smothered Aaron Rodgers on the way to a 20-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
With the victory, Patriots coach Mike Vrabel avoided just the second 0-2 start of his eight-year coaching career.
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New England Patriots' Drake Maye (10) looks to pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, in Foxboro, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Pittsburgh Steelers' Aaron Rodgers (8) looks to pass as New England Patriots' Christian Elliss (53) pressures him during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, in Foxboro, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Pittsburgh Steelers' Troy Fautanu (76) and DK Metcalf (4) recover the ball after quarterback Aaron Rodgers was sacked during the first half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, in Foxboro, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
New England Patriots' Treveyon Henderson (32) leaps over Pittsburgh Steelers' Asante Samuel Jr. (22) on his way to a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, in Foxboro, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, right, is sacked by New England Patriots' Christian Elliss during the first half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, in Foxboro, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Drake Maye finished 14 of 22 for 208 yards and an interception. Romeo Doubs, who had no catches in his Patriots debut last week, had a 63-yard catch in the third quarter to set up Andy Borregales’ second field goal of the game.
But it was the New England defense that set the tone. A year after leading the Steelers to a win in New England, Rodgers struggled to deal with the Patriots’ pressure. The 42-year-old quarterback fumbled twice, including the one that led to Ponder's score.
Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez also shadowed Steelers receiver DK Metcalf at times, forcing Rodgers to look for other options in the passing game.
Rodgers finished 23 of 39 for 187 passing yards, an interception and was sacked four times. Metcalf had only four catches for 27 yards.
The Patriots moved to the Pittsburgh 34 on their opening drive before Rhamondre Stevenson was stripped on a run near the sideline by linebacker Nick Herbig, giving the ball back to the Steelers. Stevenson also lost two fumbles in last season’s loss to Pittsburgh.
But a 15-yard taunting penalty on Jalen Ramsey on the play pushed the start of the ensuing drive back to the Steelers 16, and Pittsburgh quickly went three-and-out.
Following a 19-yard punt return by Marcus Jones, the Patriots took over with Henderson replacing Stevenson. Three plays later, Henderson found a crease and sprinted free for a 39-yard TD run.
Leading 13-3 in the fourth quarter, New England’s defense dialed up more pressure on Rodgers, first with Christian Barmore’s strip-sack that led to Ponders’ TD. On the Steelers’ next series, Rodgers was sacked for the third time on the day, forcing a quick three-and-out.
The Steelers were threatening on the Patriots 17 with less than five minutes to play before a short pass by Rodgers intended for Germie Bernard was bobbled and intercepted by rookie linebacker Gabe Jacas.
Steelers: S Jaquan Brisker was shaken up in the first quarter but walked off on his own power. RB Rico Dowdle left in the second quarter with a toe issue.
Patriots: RG Mike Onwenu left late in the first quarter after having his right ankle rolled up on by T.J. Watt as he dove in to assist a sack of Drake Maye. Onwenu got up on his own power but had to hop to a waiting cart. ... LB Dre’Mont Jones (shoulder), TE Eli Raridon (thigh), S Dell Pettus (ankle) and CB Marcus Jones all exited in the second quarter. ... S Craig Woodson (shoulder) exited in the third quarter.
Steelers: Host the Bengals next Sunday.
Patriots: Visit Jaguars next Sunday.
See AP’s full NFL coverage here
New England Patriots' Drake Maye (10) looks to pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, in Foxboro, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Pittsburgh Steelers' Aaron Rodgers (8) looks to pass as New England Patriots' Christian Elliss (53) pressures him during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, in Foxboro, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Pittsburgh Steelers' Troy Fautanu (76) and DK Metcalf (4) recover the ball after quarterback Aaron Rodgers was sacked during the first half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, in Foxboro, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
New England Patriots' Treveyon Henderson (32) leaps over Pittsburgh Steelers' Asante Samuel Jr. (22) on his way to a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, in Foxboro, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, right, is sacked by New England Patriots' Christian Elliss during the first half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, in Foxboro, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz suffered a bruising electoral setback in two state elections on Sunday, including a historic defeat for his party, but vowed to press ahead with potentially painful reforms to Europe’s biggest economy.
Projections by public broadcaster ARD on Sunday night indicated that Merz's center-right Christian Democratic Union, or CDU, came in with just 4.9% in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania — the lowest result since World War II for the party in any state. The anti-migration, Russia-friendly Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party made significant gains Sunday. The projections were based on exit polls and partial counting for ARD television.
Should the CDU stay below 5% in the final vote count, it would mean that the party would fail for the first time to win seats in a state legislature anywhere in Germany.
Merz acknowledged his party's result as a “disaster,” but struck a defiant note, rejecting any retreat from his government’s reform agenda. He argued that Germany’s economic and political problems made difficult and potentially unpopular reforms more urgent, not less so, and pledged to press ahead.
“What needs to be done now requires backbone, steadfastness, and patience,” Merz said in a statement shortly after the exit polls were announced on public television. “I will demonstrate these qualities as chairman of the CDU and, above all, as chancellor of our country.”
In Berlin, projections showed the CDU was to come in second with 19.1%, behind the Left party at 25.3%, according to ARD.
Merz’s authority was already damaged by CDU's stinging defeat to AfD in the Sept. 6 election in the small eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. That result shocked many Germans who had believed their country had developed an immunity to nationalism and assertions of racial superiority after confronting the horrors of its Nazi past through education and laws to outlaw persecution.
On Sunday, AfD also made big gains in both states. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, it garnered 37.9% of the vote, and in Berlin it achieved 16.2%, according to ARD. But it was nowhere close to being able to form a regional government.
AfD's national co-leader, Alice Weidel, said on ZDF television that "we have displaced the CDU as the people’s party.”
She added that “we have a great deal to offer our voters, namely political change in this country."
However, in an apparent reference to the far-right party, Merz said that his government’s reforms would be “the antidote to the poison of authoritarianism, which is penetrating ever deeper into our society as the fascination with authoritarianism grows.”
The government’s reforms include cuts to income tax for low- and middle-income families, an overhaul of the creaking pension system and a reduction of Germany's stifling bureaucracy.
Merz, 70, became Germany’s leader 16 months ago with promises to turn around an economy that has barely grown in years. But he has failed to lift a sullen national mood and become deeply unpopular.
The strong showing of AfD in the Saxony-Anhalt election, where it has the best chance yet of forming the country’s first far-right regional government since World War II, had further weakened the chancellor's standing on the national level as well.
In the past two weeks, there had been calls, even from within his own party, for him to be replaced as chancellor, although no top-level allies have called publicly for his departure, and many warned against “personnel debates.”
Philipp Amthor, a prominent CDU figure from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania who now manages relations between the federal and state governments at the chancellery, said Sunday night that one problem in the campaign had been “the difficult personnel discussions” of recent weeks — an apparent reference to the speculation about Merz.
“It is good and right for these personnel discussions not to be continued now,” he said.
From right, Franziska Brantner, Federal Chair of Alliance 90/The Greens; Claudia Müller (Alliance 90/The Greens), the Greens' lead candidate in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and a member of the Bundestag; and Ole Krueger (Alliance 90/The Greens), state chair of Alliance 90/The Greens in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, react to the projections for the state election at their party's election party at the tisch coworking space, in Schwerin, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (Ulrich Perrey/dpa via AP)
Amira Mohamed Ali, right, reactss to the first projections at the BSW election party in Schwerin, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (Philip Dulian/dpa via AP)
Supporters and members of the Left Party react to the projected results of the House of Representatives election at an election party in Berlin, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (Sebastian Gollnow/dpa via AP)
Alice Weidel (AfD), the party's federal chairwoman, reacts to the projections for the State Parliament election at the AfD election party in Berlin, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (Fabian Sommer/dpa via AP)
Russian citizen line up to cast their vote for Russian parliament elections at the Russian embassy in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Voters sit at a voting booth in Schwerin, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026, as the vote for the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state election, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (Philip Dulian/dpa via AP)
A man casts his vote at a polling station during the Berlin state election in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Social Democratic Party Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and the party's top candidate for the upcoming state election Manuela Schwesig poses in front of an election campaign poster reading "The Woman Against Blue", in Schwerin, Germany, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. ( Jens Buettner/dpa via AP)
Leif-Erik Holm, the AfD's candidate for state premier in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, speaks at the campaign's closing rally in Neubrandenburg, Germany, on Friday, Sept. 18, 2026. (Philip Dulian/dpa via AP)
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrives for the Cabinet meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
