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The Patriots offense sputtered out of the gate. And that’s being kind.

Between turnovers (3), points scored (7) and communication issues on the offensive line (2 sacks), it was a less-than-inspiring opening week for Mac Jones & Co.

That has to change if the Patriots have any chance of taking down the Pittsburgh Steelers and evening their record after an opening-week loss to Miami.

It won’t help that the Steelers, like the Dolphins, aggressively attack quarterback with no shortage of exotic blitzes.

They constantly bring the heat.

It also doesn’t help that Brian Flores, the former Miami head coach now an assistant with the Steelers, has had success attacking the Patriots front, something he’s very familiar with having been a defensive coach under Bill Belichick for a number of years.

All that being said, it behooves the Patriots to get their collective act together on offense, not to mention stop being so vanilla.

“I think it’s a super talented defense. Play a lot of different coverages, definitely fly to the ball,” Jones said of the Steelers on Wednesday. “They’ve got playmakers all over the field. It’s a really good defense to kind of go against. We don’t get to play against them a lot, but just got to be ready to go and correct the things we want to correct and focus on ourselves.”

Here’s what Jones & Co. need to do to rebound against the Steelers:

The Patriots can no longer have free rushers bearing down on Jones. They can no longer afford to have communication problems with the offensive line.

Last week, the Men of Steel sacked Joe Burrow seven times. If offensive line coach Matt Patricia doesn’t get the line sorted out, it’ll be an even longer day for Jones.

Even with sack master T.J. Watt out, the Steelers still have plenty of people who can get to the quarterback.

As it is, teams are going to go after Jones until the Patriots prove they can protect him.

If the blitz is effective, teams are going to keep coming in waves. So it’s imperative to get the linemen on the same page, and for Jones to be keen on where the blitz is coming from.

It might also help if they can run the football, and establish play action.

“I think every defense has some form of the blitz in their package and whether that’s one, two, three, four guys. It depends on the defense, I guess,” said Jones. “Luckily, we have really good coaches and rules and things that I can stick to that I know based on what I’m supposed to do. It should take care of the things that are coming our way. ”

The Steelers forced the Bengals into five turnovers. Between the interceptions (4) and fumbles (1), that was a game changer.

Specifically, Burrow and the Bengals turned the ball over on four of their first five drives, with the quarterback losing a fumble on a strip sack and tossing three interceptions.

The Patriots are coming off a three-turnover (strip sack, interception, fumble) performance themselves.

“They have a good front. … Their secondary is kind of a ballhawking secondary,” said Belichick. “They go after the ball, read the quarterback well, do a good job of breaking on the throw and closing space quickly.”

Kendrick Bourne is their most explosive player on offense. He’s got speed, and he can make game-changing type plays – if they let him.

For a variety of reasons, be it being late to a meeting before the Panthers pre-season game, or simply falling down the depth chart because he was outperformed by his fellow receivers, Bourne saw just two snaps against the Dolphins.

One of those two snaps was a 41-yard completion from Jones. Clearly, he needs to get on the field more.

“Kendrick’s a real positive guy. I wasn’t surprised he went in there and made the big play, even after not really playing,” said Jakobi Meyers. “That’s just the kind of guy he is. I know whatever the coaches tell him to do, he’ll go in there and do the best he can.”

What does he add to the team?

“A lot,” said Meyers. “Energy and playmaking on the field. Excitement off the field. He’s a great guy to have on the team.”

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