NFL Thursday Night Football highlights

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The New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers meet on “Thursday Night Football” at a point of desperation for both franchises.

At 2-10, the Patriots are off to the worst start of any team in the Bill Belichick era. New England became the first team in 85 years to lose three consecutive games in which it had given up 10 points or fewer.

The Steelers (7-5), meanwhile, have dropped two of their last three games and are coming off a 24-10 loss at home to the struggling Arizona Cardinals. Starting quarterback Kenny Pickett has been ruled out for the game after undergoing ankle surgery on Monday, leaving backup Mitchell Trubisky to take the reins to the offense.

USA TODAY Sports will bring you the latest updates, scores, highlights, wild plays, analysis and more from the Patriots vs. Steelers game.

Steelers LB Alex Highsmith ruled out

The Steelers are down one of their top pass rushers. Alex Highsmith was ruled out of the remainder of “Thursday Night Football” matchup against the Patriots with a neck injury after exiting early in the second quarter. He was evaluated in the medical tent before being ruled out.

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Highsmith’s not the only one shaken up. T.J. Watt temporarily exited the game after taking a knee to the head from the Patriots’ Ezekiel Elliott on the first play of the game. He returned after being evaluated. — Cydney Henderson

Patriots 21, Steelers 10: Mitch Trubisky, Diontae Johnson connect for Pittsburgh’s first TD

Mitch Trubisky quieted the Mason Rudolph chants — for now.

The quarterback found Diontae Johnson, who two weeks ago was criticized for his lack of effort in a viral play against the Bengals, for a 25-yard touchdown. On second-and-5, Trubisky launched the ball over Patriots defender J.C. Jackson to connect with Johnson in the end zone.

Pittsburgh called five run plays on the drive as Trubisky has struggled early in the game. — Victoria Hernandez

Patriots 21, Steelers 3: Bailey Zappe throws his third TD of first half

Hunter Henry had to briefly get checked out in the medical tent. He returned to the game and scored another touchdown.

Patriots quarterback Bailey Zappe threw a nice 24-yard touchdown to Henry to give New England a 21-3 advantage with 7:38 remaining in the second quarter.

Zappe is having his best performance of the season. He’s up to 168 passing yards and three touchdowns. The 24-yard pass from Zappe might’ve been his best throw of the half.

Both of Henry’s receptions resulted in touchdowns. The Patriots tight end has two catches, 32 receiving yards and two touchdowns. — Tyler Dragon

Steelers’ Alex Highsmith questionable to return

It’s been a tough game for the Steelers’ top pass rushers.

Following the injury scare to T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh saw Alex Highsmith exit with what the team called a neck injury. The Steelers said Highsmith, who entered second on the team in sacks behind Watt, was questionable to return. — Jace Evans

Patriots 14, Steelers 3: Turnover turns into touchdown

The Patriots possessed the football on Pittsburgh’s 11-yard line after Jabrill Peppers’ interception. Two plays later, Bailey Zappe lofted an 8-yard touchdown pass over the middle to tight end Hunter Henry to give New England a 14-3 lead with 14:14 remaining in the second quarter.

Zappe now has 105 passing yards and two touchdowns in the first half.

The Patriots scored 13 combined points in their last three games. New England already has 14 points in the first half on Thursday night. — Tyler Dragon

Struggling Mitch Trubisky throws costly interception

Steelers backup QB Mitch Trubisky has not gotten off to a good start. Facing a third-and-10 at the Steelers’ own 27-yard line, Trubisky dropped back and attempted a pass across the middle to tight end Pat Freiermuth, but the pass was intercepted by the Patriots’ Jabrill Peppers. Peppers returned the ball 32 yards to the Steelers’ 8-yard line.

New England capitalized on Pittsburgh’s turnover. Bailey Zappe connected with tight end Hunter Henry for a touchdown to extend their lead to 14-3.

Trubisky has completed 3-of-7 passes for 19 yards and one interception so far, while Zappe completed 7-of-12 passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns. The Steelers only have 38 total yards of offense, compared to 126-yard for the Patriots.

Things look so bleak for the Steelers offense that the crowd at Acrisure Stadium started chanting for third-string QB Mason Rudolph. — Cydney Henderson

Patriots have lead after first quarter

The Patriots shocked the world by marching down the field and scoring a touchdown on their first drive of the game.

The Steelers answered with a 56-yard field goal, but that is the only scoring of the game through one quarter with the score 7-3.

Bailey Zappe is 6-of-11 with 97 yards and the score to Ezekiel Elliott, who has three catches for 32 yards and four carries for seven rushing yards.

Mitch Trubisky is 2-of-4 for 12 yards and has 16 rushing yards. Najee Harris has 5 catches for 11 yards as he’s playing through a knee injury.

Former Steelers receiver JuJu Smith-SchusterJuJu has two catches for 54 yards.

Pittsburgh’s star defender T.J. Watt was banged up when he was kicked during the first play of the game. He was evaluated on the sideline, but has continued to play. — Victoria Hernandez

T.J. Watt goes into blue medical tent, but returns to game

T.J. Watt’s health will be something to watch throughout this game.

The 2021 Defensive Player of the Year was banged up on the very first play against the Patriots when he took the brunt of Ezekiel Elliott’s leg to his head and chest. He returned during the Pats’ opening drive, which ended in a touchdown. But Watt was seen by Amazon’s cameras getting looked at on the sideline and he eventually found his way to the blue medical tent … before he returned to the field again. — Jace Evans

If the season ended today, the Patriots would hold the second overall pick, their highest pick since they took Drew Bledsoe first overall in 1993. They are basement-dwellers of the NFL, and definitely not a playoff team … right?

Well … the Patriots still have a path to the playoffs. — Jon Hoefling

Patriots 7, Steelers 3: Pittsburgh gets on board with field goal

The Steelers answered the Patriots’ surprising game-opening touchdown with a score of their own: a 56-yard field goal.

J.C. Jackson nearly snagged an interception on the drive, but the play was called back when he was flagged for pass interference.

Mitch Trubisky started the drive off with a 15-yard run, but nearly threw the pick and was then sacked on third-and-8, which forced Chris Boswell to boot the kick. — Victoria Hernandez

Patriots 7, Steelers 0: In a shocker: Patriots get into end zone on first possession; T.J. Watt injured on first play

After being held scoreless in Week 13, the Patriots scored a touchdown on their opening drive against the Steelers.

Bailey Zappe led the Patriots on an eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that was capped off by an 11-yard touchdown pass to running back Ezekiel Elliott. Elliott had two catches in the series. The Patriots got into scoring range after an impressive 37-yard catch by wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster that put the ball on Pittsburgh’s 26-yard line.

The Patriots haven’t scored more than seven points the past three games. They already have seven on Thursday night.

Steelers star pass rusher T.J. Watt was injured on the first play of the game, but checked back in a few plays later. — Tyler Dragon

This week’s “Thursday Night Football” contest won’t be your dad’s Patriots vs. Steelers matchup.

What was once one of the premier matchups in the NFL with Tom Brady vs. Ben Roethlisberger will certainly be a not ideal quarterback game for either side, as both teams are struggling at the signal-caller position for their own reasons.

In a perfect world, the game would feature two former first round NFL draft picks in Mac Jones vs. Kenny Pickett. But injuries and poor play have left the quarterback situations on each team with a lot to be desired, as there are questions at the position heading into Thursday’s game. — Jordan Mendoza

What time does Patriots vs. Steelers begin?

Patriots vs. Steelers is set to kick off at 8:15 p.m. ET on Dec. 7.

How to watch Patriots vs. Steelers

Patriots at Steelers will be streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime Video and will be broadcast in local markets only.

Steelers LB Alex Highsmith ruled out

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