Patriots turn the ball over five times in frustrating loss to Steelers in Week 3

The New England Patriots have lost a lot of home games over the last five years, but Sunday's 21-14 defeat at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers may go down as the worst of the worst. 

New England turned the ball over five times on Sunday in front of their home fans, including three times in six offensive snaps to end the first half and open the second half. Drake Maye threw for 268 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Hunter Henry, but he also threw a pick in the end zone and coughed up a fumble midway through the fourth quarter in a tie game.

Running back Rhamondre Stevenson fumbled twice, including one to end New England's first possession and set up Pittsburgh's opening score. He fumbled again at the goal line early in the second half, and Antonio Gibson fumbled later in the third quarter to give momentum back to the Steelers.

After the Patriots finally tied it and had a chance to take a lead in the fourth quarter, Maye tried to do too much in face of the Pittsburgh pass rush and fumbled the ball away with just under eight minutes to play. It set up Aaron Rodgers for a go-ahead touchdown pass to Calvin Austin with 2:16 left to play.

Rogers had just 139 passing yards and a bad interception, but the veteran had two touchdowns passes, including the go-ahead score to Calvin Austin with 2:16 left in the game. 

As head coach Mike Vrabel says, there are good plays, bad plays, and plays that get you beat. On Sunday, the Patriots beat themselves over and over again.

"We don't need to learn a lesson to know that turnovers are very hard to overcome. They erase all the good things you do and take away momentum. They take away points and give them field position. We didn't need to turn it over as much as we did to learn a lesson; we knew that before. It was very unfortunate."

Sunday was the first time the Patriots have turned the ball over five times in a game since 2008, which also came in a loss to the Steelers.

The Patriots are now just 3-15 at Gillette Stadium over the last three seasons. All the good mojo from Week 2's win over the Dolphins in Miami is gone, as New England hasn't won back-to-back games since October of 2022.

Here's how Sunday's frustrating loss to the Steelers played out in Foxboro.

A dreadful first quarter for Patriots

The Patriots won the toss and elected to receive, but their opening drive lasted just four plays. The Patriots dodged a bullet on a third-and-6 when Maye was under pressure and nearly threw an interception, as an illegal contact penalty on TJ Watt gave New England a fresh set of downs. 

But Stevenson fumbled the very next play, which set up an 8-play, 54-yard touchdown drive by the Steelers. It looked liked the New England defense got a stop when Rodgers threw high to Darnell Washington in the end zone, but Alex Austin was flagged for defensive pass interference, which gave the Steelers a fresh set of downs. Kenny Gainwell took it in from a yard out on the next play to make it a 7-0 game.

The Patriots got a first down on their second possession, but Maye was sacked twice and the team had to punt the ball away after six plays. Maye took three QB hits in the opening frame. 

The Steelers had the ball for 10 minutes of the opening quarter, and outgained the Patriots, 102-20 with nine first downs. New England was flagged four times in the first quarter.

Steelers score again early in second quarter

It took Rodgers just over a minute to find the end zone again in the second quarter. He hit DK Metcalf for a 12-yard touchdown drive over Carlton Davis in the end zone, which put Pittsburgh on top, 14-0.

The Patriots' defense was flagged three times on the drive, which included an Austin defensive holding that negated a Rodgers fumble (which the Steelers recovered) on third-and-6 deep in Pittsburgh territory. That stop would have ended the drive after just three plays.

Pats get on the board with Maye-to-Henry touchdown

The Patriots' offense answered Pittsburgh's second score with a nine-play, 77-yard touchdown drive of its own. Maye hit Henry for nine yards to move the chains on a third-and-6, and then got some help from the Steelers when Brandin Echols was flagged for DPI on a deep pass from Maye to Kayshon Boutte on a third-and-4.

One play later, Maye hit Henry for a five-yard touchdown strike to make it a 14-7 game. The quarterback didn't panic with the Steelers blitzing, and easily hit Henry for a touchdown.

Mike Vrabel gets aggressive, Drake Maye gets lucky -- Pats get no points

Vrabel got aggressive, maybe a bit crazy, when he had the Patriots go for it on a fourth-and-inches on their own 15-yard line. But Stevenson got 10 yards off a pitch to the left, and the Patriots' offense lived to see another set of downs.

Maye was nearly picked off on the next play when he overthrew DeMario Douglas, but the ball hit the ground before Chuck Clark brought it in. The Pats were lucky on second-and-10 too when Henry bobbled Maye's pass over the middle, but the tight end didn't have possession before he coughed it up. It was very close to being a fumble, but the Pats got fortunate.

All that luck led to nothing though, as a 17-play, 92-yard drive by the Patriots ended with Maye getting picked off in the end zone. The Patriots converted three third downs on their way to the Pittsburgh 3-yard line -- a 23-yard catch-and-run by Stevenson on a third-and-10; a 20-yard connection between Maye and Boutte on third-and-13; and a 7-yard feed by Maye to Stefon Diggs on third-and-5 -- but then came up empty deep in Pittsburgh territory.

Maye was under heavy pressure on first-and-goal and had to throw the ball away. He hit the turf hard on the play, but stayed in the game.

The Patriots passed again on second-and-goal, which flew incomplete out of the end zone. The Patriots passed yet again on third down, and Maye's pass likely would have found Boutte for a game-tying touchdown, but Cam Heyward tipped it at the line and the ball went to Echols for an interception.

The Patriots were met with boos from the crowd as they went into the locker room down 14-7. Those boos would carry over to the third quarter.

Patriots leave points on field with another Stevenson fumble

The Patriots had another great chance to tie the game early in the third quarter, after Rodgers gift-wrapped an interception to Robert Spillane at the Pittsburgh 11 to start the second half. New England once again got nothing because of a turnover.

With the team set up at the Pittsburgh 2-yard line, Stevenson rushed up the middle with the end zone on his mind. But Heyward punched the ball out before Stevenson got there and Payton Wilson recovered for Pittsburgh.

Stevenson slammed his helmet on the turf when he got back to the New England bench. 

Antonio Gibson fumbles away a Patriots possession too

The New England defense did its part by forcing a three-and-out after Stevenson's second fumble. The New England offense gave it right back to Pittsburgh.

Antonio Gibson was New England's running back in place of Stevenson, but he also fumbled it away on a big hit by former Pats safety Jabrill Peppers. Gibson coughed it up at the Pittsburgh 43, and Peppers recovered to get the ball back to his offense.

The Patriots' offense turned the ball over four times in the first 35 minutes of Sunday's game. Brutal. 

Pats' defense forces another 3-and-out, offense ties it

After a second straight 3-and-out forced by the New England defense, Maye and company went on a 15-play, 88-yard touchdown drive to knot the game at 14-14. Henderson was the running back for the drive and ran for 14 yards. Maye did most of the work, going a perfect 5-for-5 for 62 yards, including a fourth-and-2 connection with Henry for a game-tying, 16-yard touchdown over the middle on the first play of the fourth quarter.

After all those mistakes and turnovers, the Patriots and Steelers were still all square with just under 15 minutes to play on Sunday.

Carlton Davis penalty gives Steelers new life, but Patriots' defense holds

It looked like the Patriots' defense was about to force another 3-and-out, but Carlton Davis was essentially hugging Metcalf on a deep ball by Rodgers and was flagged for an 18-yard DPI on a third-and-8 from the Pittsburgh 37. It gave the Steelers a fresh set of downs at the New England 45.

Rogers and the Steelers faced another third-and-8 two plays later, and this time the Patriots got off the field. Harold Landry push some heavy pressure on Rodgers, and the QB's pass to Pat Freiermuth ended up going off Marte Mapu downfield.

Overall, the New England defense played well. Certainly well enough for the Patriots to win the game, had the offense not made so many mistakes.

Drake Maye fumbles it away for Patriots

The New England offense got to the Pittsburgh 33 after yet another fourth down conversion, which saw Maye roll out to his right and pick up seven yards on a fourth-and-1. 

The joy of that conversion was short lived, however. The pocket collapsed around Maye on the very next play, and the quarterback fumbled the ball away in a sea of Steelers defenders. Watt recovered at the Pittsburgh 38, as the Patriots turned the ball over for a fifth time on the afternoon.

It was a play where Maye tried to do too much when he should have just taken a first-down sack. 

Rodgers leads Steelers to go-ahead touchdown

The turnover led to a scoring drive by Pittsburgh, as Rodgers guided the Steelers on a nine-play, 62-yard touchdown drive. The veteran QB capped it off by hitting Calvin Austin in stride on a go-route for a 17-yard touchdown over Marcus Jones, giving the Steelers a 21-14 lead with 2:16 left to play. 

Patriots' last chance comes up short

The Patriots got to the Pittsburgh 28 after Maye found Henry for a 12-yard pickup on a third-and-13, and faced a fourth-and-1 with 1:07 left in the game. 

Maye went to Douglas on fourth down, but the receiver caught the ball short of the line to gain and was brought down by Echols for a one-yard loss as he tried to dance around and pick up the first down.

That's how it ended for the Patriots, with one final mistake on a mistake-filled Sunday afternoon for the offense. 

• National Football League
• New England Patriots