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Game Recap: Patriots Commit Five Turnovers in 21-14 Loss to Steelers

The Patriots largely dominated against the Steelers, but five turnovers negated a strong defensive showing and promising offensive flashes.
Taylor KylesBy Updated:7 Mins Read

After preaching the importance of winning at home, the Patriots couldn’t get out of their own way in a 21-14 loss to the Steelers.

New England won the time of possession battle, out-gained Pittsburgh by 166 yards, and nipped its penalty problem in the bud after a sloppy 1st half. Unfortunately, coordinator Josh McDaniels’ offense committed a whopping five turnovers, including two in the red zone.

“We don’t need to lose a football game to know that turnovers are very hard to overcome,” Mike Vrabel said postgame. “They erase all the good things that you do. They take away momentum. They take away points, give them field position. We didn’t need to turn it over as many times as we did to learn a lesson. I think we knew that before. It was very unfortunate.”

Interim coordinator Zak Kuhr’s defense went an unacceptable 0-3 in the red zone, but they largely dominated after giving up back-to-back scores early. Pittsburgh’s offense went three-and-out on four straight possessions (excluding a kneel down) and didn’t return to the end zone until the late 4th quarter. Aaron Rodgers finished the game 16-23 for just 139 yards and an interception, though he did throw a pair of touchdowns. The Steelers’ run game also averaged just 2.5 yards on 26 carries.

New England’s offense held the ball for large stretches at times, stringing together two drives that lasted at least 15 plays. Drake Maye went 15-16 for 138 yards and a touchdown in the 2nd half, and he was dangerous as a scrambler throughout. Vrabel and McDaniels were also (mostly) rewarded for having faith in their 4th down offense, converting on their first four attempts. There were positives to build, but five turnovers is unacceptable and ultimately cost New England a game it should’ve won handily.

Here are three players who are trending up and three who are trending down after today’s defeat.

3 Down

Backfield Ball Security

After two weeks of clean football, including a dynamic performance in Miami, Rhamondre Stevenson coughed the ball up twice against the Steelers. He saw his role reduced after the first fumble, largely sticking to 3rd down and short yardage duties. But after his second turnover, Stevenson played just three snaps the rest of the game.

That clearly isn’t sustainable, but Vrabel made it clear he still has faith in his lead back.

“We need him,” Vrabel said. “We absolutely need him. You see what he was able to do for us last week, his ability to make some plays. Again, we’ll just have to look at the technique and we’ll have to look at the ball security, but we’re going to need him. We need his ability, but we also need to take care of the football. It’s a long answer to tell you that I’m not really sure 20 minutes after the game what we’re going to do, but we need him because he helped us win the game last week, and it was a different story today.”

Vrabel is right, as the Patriots don’t have a suitable replacement for Stevenson. Antonio Gibson lost a fumble of his own after flashing in limited opportunities, and electric rookie TreVeyon Henderson isn’t built to be an every-down back at 5’10”, 203 lb. A free agent signing could be in the cards if these issues persist, but for now, Stevenson will be given the chance to bounce back from today’s woeful outing.

New England also needs better from its quarterback, as Maye also committed two turnovers and multiple turnover-worthy plays. His interception was tipped at the line, but the quarterback admitted he could’ve given Kayshon Boutte “a different ball flight” in the corner of the end zone. Maye also fumbled while trying to hit Henderson from a collapsing pocket, a play that worked for the quarterback two weeks ago.

New England’s turnover problems are fixable, but coaches can only do so much. Stevenson and Gibson must be better with the football, and Maye must continue learning from sophomore mistakes.

Benched Defensive Starters

Christian Elliss and Alex Austin were re-signed by Vrabel’s new regime this offseason, but both have struggled through three weeks. That inconsistency led to both starters being benched against Pittsburgh before halftime.

Elliss whiffed against running back Jaylen Warren twice before being pulled. He was replaced by a combination of Jack Gibbens and Marte Mapu, an adjustment we also saw last week against the Dolphins.

Austin has been put in tough spots while helping fill in for Christian Gonzalez, but he didn’t get the benefit of the doubt this afternoon. Austin gave the Steelers a fresh set of downs after drawing pass interference at the goal line (although one could argue Rodgers’ pass wasn’t catchable). The final straw was a holding call that negated a Milton Williams strip sack and eventually led to a touchdown. Marcus Jones bumped outside in Austin’s absence with waiver claim Charles Woods manning the slot in nickel.

DeMario Douglas

DeMario Douglas has cooled significantly since leading the offense in targets this summer. He has just five catches on 11 targets through three games, and nearly all of today’s targets resulted in negative plays.

Some of that blame goes to Maye, who’s struggled hitting Douglas accurately going back to last season. That said, Douglas’ awareness seemed to be lacking on the offense’s final drive,

After dropping a tough but catchable ball thrown behind him, Douglas went backwards on a 4th & 1 target instead of diving to convert.

“Looked like they pressured us and Drake got the ball out, and again, probably have to just drop step and be able to knife,” Vrabel said of the game-sealing play. “Know those are going to be bang-bang plays and try to split them and get the 1st down. It’s hard to circle around some defenders. I didn’t have the best view of it. I would say that the decision that Pop made wasn’t the right one there just because we didn’t get it. Got to try to either drop step or make them miss.”

Between his diminished role last week and general inconsistency this season, it’s fair to question if Douglas is the fit most thought he could be in this version of the Patriots’ offense.

3 Up

Defensive Line

The Patriots’ defensive line put together its third impressive performance in as many games. Rodgers wasn’t sacked, but he was visibly rattled by New England’s rush.

Williams continues to terrorize the interior as a pass rusher and run defender, and he should’ve had a strip sack.

Harold Landry also showed up in multiple phases, including a forced fumble that wasn’t recovered and a tackle for loss where he peeled off his rush and blew up a screen. He also had right tackle Troy Fautanu in a torture chamber on pass downs.

K’Lavon Chaisson was drew his third offsides penalty in two weeks and was called for defensive holding, but he also had two hits and a tackle for loss.

Christian Barmore was more quiet than last week, but he and Khyiris Tonga flashed against the run.

Robert Spillane

Robert Spillane bounced back in a big way against his former team. He was much more consistent as a tackler, ending the game with 15 combined takedowns. Spillane also capitalized on a bad mistake from Rodgers, intercepting the veteran quarterback and setting the offense up in scoring territory.

Spillane also contributed as a mug linebacker and occasional blitzer on 3rd downs.

Warren made the linebacker miss in space on a short throw that led to a bigger gain, but it was Spillane’s only glaring mistake of the day.

Hunter Henry

Hunter Henry had at least twice as many targets (11), catches (8), and yards (90) as the next closest Patriots receiver in today’s two-score performance.

The big-bodied chain-mover picked up six first downs, including a perfect pass from Maye with Henry running a vertical from the backfield. The performance was even more impressive given Henry appeared to be injured midway through the game before quickly returning.

Henry may not be the explosive pass-catcher he once was, but he’s been one of Maye’s most consistent downfield targets and a reliable security blanket in critical situations.

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Taylor Kyles is the lead NFL Analyst for CLNS Media covering players, schemes, and tendencies through a New England Patriots-centric lens.

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