The Patriots were their own worst enemy in brutal Week 3 loss to Steelers
The New England Patriots have no one to blame but themselves for an embarrassing Week 3 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Patriots could have won the game by double digits to improve to 2-1 on the season and give New England fans their first two-game win streak to enjoy since 2022.
Instead, the Patriots got themselves beat over and over and over and over and over again on Sunday. A pretty solid day by the New England defense went to waste as the offense turned the ball over five times against Pittsburgh. It was New England's first five-turnover day since 2008, which also came in a home loss to the Steelers.
Drake Maye threw a pick in the red zone and fumbled the ball away late. Rhamondre Stevenson followed up his big Week 2 in Miami by fumbling twice and getting benched. Antonio Gibson took over in the backfield, and then promptly fumbled himself.
Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel called all those turnovers "unfortunate" after the team's 21-14 loss, which had New England fans booing the team ahead of halftime and at the end of the game. With just three home wins from the Patriots over the last three seasons, can anyone blame them? The Patriots haven't won back-to-back games in their last 45 contests.
Making the loss all the more frustrating is the Patriots did some things well on Sunday. But New England's "Ups" in Week 3 couldn't outweigh the many "Downs" during an inexcusable afternoon at Gillette Stadium.
DOWN: Patriots 1st Quarter
The Patriots were looking to get off to a fast start on Sunday and elected to receive after they won the opening toss. That was a big waste of time.
Maye was sacked on second down, and the Pats would have went three-and-out had they not been bailed out by an illegal contact penalty on the Steelers on third down. New England would have been better off punting.
Stevenson fumbled the very next play, and the Steelers made it count with an eight-play, 54-yard touchdown drive. The Patriots helped them out, with the defense getting flagged for a pair of costly penalties; an offsides on K'Lavon Chaisson and a backbreaking DPI on Alex Austin on third-and-goal.
The Patriots got the ball back one more time in the quarter and got a first down, but Maye was sacked on third down on pressure from both sides. The Patriots had just 20 yards of offense in the opening frame.
DOWN: Rhamondre Stevenson
Stevenson was one of the heroes in Week 2, but he's a big goat after fumbling twice in Week 3. His fumble on the opening drive set up Pittsburgh's first touchdown. His second was even more costly as he coughed it up at the Pittsburgh 2-yard line early in the third quarter after the defense picked off Aaron Rodgers at the Pittsburgh 11.
Stevenson played only two snap the rest of the way after his second fumble. The Patriots absolutely need Stevenson to be a play-maker on offense, but they need him to hold onto the football even more.
Down: DeMario Douglas goes backwards
The Patriots had gone 4-for-4 on fourth down when they lined up for a fourth-and-1 at the Pittsburgh 28 with just over a minute left in the game. Maye went to DeMario Douglas with a short pass, which he caught just before the line to gain, but then the receiver curiously went backwards instead of lunging forward for the first down.
The dancing Douglas was popped for a one-yard loss, and the Patriots turned the ball over on downs instead of getting a chance to tie the game in the final minute. Douglas expressed some regret for his costly step backwards after the loss.
"Probably knife, go straight up," Douglas said of what he should have done on the play. "I thought I had a guy right behind me. That's what made me move."
"I wish I would've told those guys, fourth-and-1, just try to catch it and get up field. I wish I would've told them that in the huddle," Maye said of the play. "Those little things go a long way. Nothing Pop did wrong."
But any NFL receiver shouldn't need such a reminder on a fourth-and-1 play with the game on the line.
UP: Hunter Henry
We need a little bit of positivity in here. Hunter Henry provided that throughout Sunday's loss.
The tight end was New England's biggest weapon against the Steelers with a game-high six catches for 72 yards and two touchdowns. He's now up to 21 touchdowns in a Patriots uniform, which is good for fourth place on New England's all-time list.
DOWN: Alex Austin
Austin's DPI in the end zone on Pittsburgh's first drive negated a wild overthrow by Rodgers to Darnell Washington on a third-and-goal. The Steelers got a fresh set of downs at the one-yard line and scored a touchdown on the next play.
On Pittsburgh's next drive, Austin was called for a hold on a third-and-5, which negated a Rodgers sack/fumble caused by Milton Williams at the Pittsburgh 3-yard line.
The Patriots' defense was flagged for five penalties on its first 18 plays of the game. Austin was replaced by Charles Woods when the Steelers faced a third down on their third possession, which Rodgers threw incomplete after he felt heavy pressure from Christian Barmore.
Austin was filling in for Christian Gonzalez, whom the Patriots might get back next week against Carolina.
DOWN: No points for Patriots before halftime
Trailing 14-7, the Patriots needed to score a touchdown before halftime. At the very least, they needed to put three points on the board. They put themselves in a great position with a 17-play drive that started at the New England 6-yard line and covered 92 yards.
The Patriots converted three third downs and a fourth-and-1 on the drive, which got them down to the Pittsburgh 3. But it was all for naught.
Three plays from the three and zero points for New England followed. All three plays were passes, and the scoring chance ended when Maye's third-and-goal pass intended for Kayshon Boutte in the end zone was tipped by Cam Heyward and got picked off by Brandin Echols.
It was New England's longest drive of the season, and it ended with a goose egg on the scoreboard.
UP: Robert Spillane
We heard a lot about Spillane's missed tackles heading into Week 3, but he had his best game in a Patriots uniform on Sunday. The linebacker was all over the place and had a game-high 15 tackles. He was also on the receiving end of Rodgers' gift interception to start the second half, which he returned 37 yards to give the Patriots a great scoring opportunity at the Pittsburgh 11. Unfortunately, Stevenson fumbled it away two plays later.
DOWN: Drake Maye's turnovers
The QB was pretty good for the most part, as he completed 28 of his 37 attempts for 268 yards and two touchdowns. But his two turnovers were killer.
On his end zone interception, Maye could have thrown the ball a bit higher so it wasn't tipped at the line. On his fourth-quarter fumble, Maye should have just taken the sack on first down and lived to see another play. Instead, he tried to do too much and coughed up the ball, which turned into Pittsburgh's game-winning score.