Patriots won, but their offense sputtered again as Drake Maye continues to look for answers

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — The Patriots hoped the scoring issues in their season-opening loss to Seattle were just a Week 1 blip, mixed with some injury bad luck.

After Sunday’s defense-dominant 20-3 win over Pittsburgh, now it’s clear New England has some serious problems on offense that could snowball if not dealt with soon.

The Patriots scored only one offensive touchdown against the Steelers and have just two through 20 drives over two games.

Most concerning, quarterback Drake Maye has made egregious decisions passing in both outings, tossing four interceptions. It took him nine games to reach that number last season and he had only eight the regular season.

“I have got to have answers,” Maye said. “I have got to get the ball out and realize that extending drives and doing things the right way, and taking what they give me, but at the same time being aggressive.”

That will be harder going forward.

A game after losing wide receiver A.J. Brown for at least four weeks with a high-ankle sprain, the Patriots will be without right guard Mike Onwenu for the foreseeable future. He left late in the first quarter after having his right ankle rolled up on by T.J. Watt as he dived in to assist a sack of Maye.

The television replay showed a gruesome twisting of the ankle. Onwenu got up on his own power, but had to hop to a waiting cart.