FOXBORO -- The day after, there was optimism.

Safeties James Ihedigbo and Patrick Chung, part of a Patriots’ secondary that appeared overwhelmed at times against Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh passing game, spoke to the media Monday at Gillette Stadium after getting a chance to watch film. And while both acknowledged the drawbacks to New England’s defensive performance, they both said the problems the Patriots’ pass defense ran into were fixable, suggesting that poor communication was to blame for the breakdowns.

“We played a good game, man. They just played another one,” Chung said. “They had more big plays than we did. We played a good game, they played a better one. They got the W.”

Regardless of the positive vibes, Sunday was an ugly afternoon for the Patriots defense, particularly the defensive backfield. Playing what appeared to be mostly zone, corners were frequently caught out of position while safeties struggled to adjust. It all added up to 365 passing yards from Roethlisberger and a 25-17 loss.

“There are things they did that obviously caused some problems,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said on Monday when asked about the play of his secondary in defending the Pittsburgh passing game. “We either didn’t make adjustments to it quick enough, or, in some cases, we tried to adjust to it but we just couldn’t get it done the way we needed to get it done. Overall, they just did a little better job than we did.”

Ihedigbo and cornerback Antuwan Molden appeared to be at the center of many of the breakdowns on Sunday. The two appeared to get crossed up on Mewelde Moore’s first-quarter touchdown catch, but the lowlight of the afternoon came later in the first half on a first-down pass from Roethlisberger to Antonio Brown on a play where Molden dropped into coverage, back into an area that initially appeared to be defended by Ihedigbo. That allowed Brown to get some separation, and Roethllsberger found him for the 7-yard touchdown pass.

Ihedigbo also appeared to get beaten by Pittsburgh tight end Heath Miller on a couple of early catches, and was at fault when he slipped and fell while trying to defend a 26-yard reception by Emmanuel Sanders. And Molden appeared to be responsible for coverage on Antonio Brown when Brown made a 17-yard catch on a on a third-and-15 to help keep a second-half drive alive for the Steelers. (Molden was eventually yanked for Adams.)

“They’re a team with multiple personnel sets. We expected that,” Ihedigbo said. “They did a lot of things that we practiced (but) like I said, it’s a game of execution, it’s a game of inches. And we didn’t execute when we needed to. I mean, 10-for-16 on third down? You’ve got to correct that in this league to win.”

Ihedigbo said communication was an issue, something that was plainly evident for much of the afternoon. With plenty of new faces in the secondary -- Molden (42 of 81 possible snaps) and Phillip Adams (19 snaps) saw the most action they’ve seen all year -- there were bound to be breakdowns as cornerbacks get used to each other in the post-Leigh Bodden era.

“It was communication and a little bit of a lack of focus on our part,” Ihedigbo said of the struggles. “I’ll put that on myself and the secondary, and Pat, I’m sure will put it on himself as well. Those are things that I’m sure we’ll rectify and we’re going to correct.

“We’ll wear it. We’ll take it. The Steelers, hats off to them. They earned the victory. We’ll definitely be ready to go this week.”

“(There was) some miscommunication,” Chung said. “But it only gets better with guys coming in and starting to play more with the guys that are in there. It’s just going to get better as the weeks go on.”

Chung, one of two players in on every defensive snap for the Patriots on Sunday (cornerback Devin McCourty was the other), believes that it’s not an issue of tackling.

“I don’t think there’s really (tackling) issues,” he said. “Sometimes, the game of football causes you to come out of technique. It’s just mentally trying to be strong and focus on your technique while you’re tackling and just making the play and finishing the play during practice. We don’t get to tackle too much, but if you can go full speed all the way tackling often, have your form and technique down, you’ll be all right.”

One thing the Patriots defense can feel good about is the red-zone defense. New England held Pittsburgh to three field goals (one in the second, one in the third and one in the fourth quarter) when the Steelers got inside the Patriots’ 20, something that allowed New England to have a chance late in the game.

“We just communicated well down in the red zone. That was a positive for us,” Ihedigbo said. “We held them to field goals instead of giving up touchdowns and letting the game get out of hand. And even with everything that happened, we still had an opportunity to make some plays there at the end to kind of get back in it.”

Ihedigbo believes that the Patriots will be able to get things turned around sooner rather than later. They’ll need to tighten things up, as they’ll face the Giants Sunday at Gillette Stadium – a team led by a quarterback (Eli Manning) who actually has better passing numbers than Roethlisberger in several major categories, including passing yards per game.

“You watch that tape, and it’s nothing that we want to represent us as a defense,” Ihedigbo said of the Pittsburgh loss. “We watch that, and everyone had that look on their face as, ‘Hey, this isn’t us. What we put on tape isn’t us.’ And we’re going to correct that and come out next week and show how the New England Patriots play defense.

“We’re definitely going to have a chip on our shoulder over this week. I know this defense will be fired up and ready to go. We’re playing back and home, and we’re going to study the game plan hard and we’ll be ready to go on Sunday.”