Pats Pulpit
The New England Patriots dropped a winnable game on Sunday, losing 21-14 to the Pittsburgh Steelers at Gillette Stadium. The story of the game for the team of head coach Mike Vrabel was self-inflicted wounds — including five turnovers.
Here is a Patriots-centric view at some of the key moments of the game.
As noted above, the Patriots turned the football over five times on the day and they started giving the football away on their very first possession. Taking the handoff on a 1st-and-10 on their opening possession, running back Rhamondre Stevenson got the ball punched out from behind for a fumble. The Steelers recovered, and eight plays later wee up 7-0.
The fact that the Patriots turned the ball over five times was only one part of the story. The timing of the turnovers themselves also hurt the team in its quest for victory: two of the giveaways happened in goal-to-go situations.
Down 14-7, the Patriots engineered a massive 17-play drive before the end of the first half that saw them advance all the way to the Pittsburgh 2-yard line. At that point — facing a 3rd-and-goal with only around 10 seconds on the clock — New England ran out of luck: a Drake Maye pass attempt intended for Kayshon Boutte was tipped at the line, and eventually ended up in the hands of Steelers cornerback Brandin Echols.
Still down 14-7 the next time they got the ball, the Patriots needed just two plays after a Robert Spillane interception to march deep into Steelers territory again. However, just like on their previous possession they were unable to come away with points: on 2nd-and-1 at the Pittsburgh 2-yard line, Rhamondre Stevenson lost his second fumble of the day.
On the third offensive play after that Rhamondre Stevenson goal line fumble, the Patriots again turned the ball over; this time it was Antonio Gibson losing a fumble. Obviously, that turnover robbed New England of another scoring opportunity, but it was not that impactful a play in the grand scheme of things.
The same cannot be said about the fifth and final of New England’s giveaways. After tying the game at 14 in the early fourth quarter, the team forced a punt and subsequently proceeded to march into Steelers territory and Andy Borregales’ field goal range. However, the rookie never got a change because Drake Maye was strip-sacked on a 1st-and-10 at the 33-yard line — a play that killed all the momentum the Patriots had built earlier in the quarter.
Despite all their issues, the Patriots were in a position to potentially tie the game inside the two-minute warning. Unfortunately, after converting their first four fourth downs of the game, they failed to do the same on the fifth: with the game on the line, Drake Maye did connect with DeMario Douglas,...
