The Patriots fairly actually fumbled away Sunday’s loss to the Steelers.
Turnovers plagued the Patriots within the 21-14 Week 3 loss, with 4 misplaced fumbles and one interception for 5 whole giveaways. The Patriots’ protection bought out to a horrific begin however then went on to power 4 straight three-and-outs, 4 punts and picked off quarterback Aaron Rodgers after permitting touchdowns on the Steelers’ first two drives.
It wasn’t sufficient, nevertheless. After forcing six straight scoreless drives, the Patriots’ protection lastly allowed a landing following the offense’s fifth turnover, a fumble from quarterback Drake Maye. It was the Patriots’ first five-turnover sport since 2008.
Broad receiver Calvin Austin discovered the top zone on a 17-yard landing move from Rodgers with Marcus Jones in protection to place the Steelers forward 21-14 with simply over two minutes left within the sport.
The Patriots bought to the Steelers’ 28-yard line on their ensuing drive, however Maye threw simply wanting the sticks to DeMario Douglas, who then went backwards making an attempt to achieve room to choose up the primary down to show the ball over on downs.
“We simply need to not give them so many probabilities with the turnovers, deal with these issues,” head coach Mike Vrabel mentioned after the sport. “There’s quite a bit to scrub up. Quite a lot of good in there, however sadly simply not sufficient to get us to win, to get us to essentially have any type of benefit in a soccer sport.
“Each time I felt like we had been going to take the momentum and be capable to rating and transfer ahead within the sport, and the protection did a terrific job there. Sadly it bought to be one too many alternatives on their half.”
The Patriots bought off to an inauspicious begin within the first quarter. An unsightly, sloppy first drive ended with working again Rhamondre Stevenson’s first fumble of the season, which was recovered by Steelers cornerback Darius Slay.
The Steelers’ offense moved via the Patriots’ protection with ease and benefited from two expensive penalties on their approach to a 1-yard dashing landing from working again Kenneth Gainwell to provide Pittsburgh a 7-0 lead.
The Patriots stalled once more on their second drive with Maye taking his second sack of the sport and punted to the Steelers.
With the assistance of extra expensive penalties, the Steelers went 90 yards on 12 performs earlier than Rodgers delivered a 12-yard landing move to huge receiver DK Metcalf. Rodgers handed Brett Favre on the all-time passing landing checklist with the completion.
The Patriots bought on the board of their third drive, benefiting from some penalty luck. A move interference penalty, drawn by huge receiver Kayshon Boutte, put the ball on the 5-yard line, the place Maye discovered a wide-open Hunter Henry on a play-action move, chopping the Steelers’ result in 14-7. Maye made performs together with his legs on the drive, as properly, scrambling for 16 yards.
The Patriots pressured a punt then went on a 17-play, 94-yard drive that ended with an interception from Maye. The Patriots QB hit his head exhausting on the turf on a QB hit on second down then was intercepted by Brandin Echols on a goal into the top zone to Boutte that was tipped by defensive sort out Cameron Heyward. The Steelers kneeled on the ball, taking a 14-7 lead into the half.
Linebacker Robert Spillane gave the Patriots nice area place on an interception and 37-yard return to the Steelers’ 11-yard line popping out of the half. After a 9-yard catch from Henry, Stevenson fumbled, once more, into the top zone for a Steelers touchback.
After forcing a punt, the Patriots turned the ball over for the fourth time. It was Antonio Gibson’s flip to fumble this time, coughing up the ball on a 1-yard carry. The fumble was pressured and recovered by previous buddy Jabrill Peppers, who signed with the Steelers after getting minimize by the Patriots earlier than Week 1.
The Patriots’ protection pressured yet one more punt, and Maye led the offense on a 15-play, 88-yard scoring drive that culminated with a 16-yard landing move to Henry.
The protection, lights out after the primary two drives, pressured one other punt even after getting referred to as for a expensive and largely unwarranted defensive move interference penalty.
Then the offense continued their development of tripping over their very own ft. They bought into Steelers territory earlier than Maye fumbled the ball away when he tried to make one thing out of nothing with stress bearing down. Maye tried to get the ball to rookie working again TreVeyon Henderson however fumbled as a substitute.
BEST
LB Robert Spillane: Very nice bounce-back sport from Spillane, who struggled tackling and in protection final week in opposition to the Dolphins. Spillane’s greatest play was his interception, however he was additionally continuously across the ball and didn’t have any noticeable missed tackles, although he was caught flat-footed by working again Jaylen Warren within the fourth quarter. Spillane completed the sport with a team-leading 15 tackles.
TE Hunter Henry: Henry was trying and taking part in like Marv Cook dinner circa 1991 carrying No. 85 within the throwback Pat Patriot uniforms. Henry led the groups with seven catches for 78 yards and scored his first two touchdowns of the season.
WORST
RB Rhamondre Stevenson: You’ll your self on the down checklist after shedding two fumbles. Stevenson went from hero to zero rapidly. He was the most effective gamers on the sphere within the Patriots’ Week 2 win over the Dolphins then couldn’t cling onto the ball this week.
CB Alex Austin: Thrust into motion with Christian Gonzalez (hamstring), Austin was referred to as for 2 expensive penalties within the first quarter. He was penalized for defensive move interference on the Steelers’ first drive, placing the ball on the 1-yard line for a straightforward scoring landing. He was additionally flagged for holding, negating a key third-down sack, on the Steelers’ second drive.
CB Carlton Davis III: The veteran cornerback allowed a landing to Metcalf on the Steelers’ second drive. He was additionally flagged for defensive move interference early within the fourth quarter, but it surely was a ticky-tack name on a ball that was thrown 10 yards out of bounds.
RB Antonio Gibson: Gibson misplaced a fumble, as properly. Maye additionally turned over the ball twice.
WHAT WE LEARNED AND ASSORTED THOUGHTS
- The Patriots didn’t make any preliminary lineup modifications, whatever the unit’s struggles within the first two weeks, however linebacker Christian Elliss and cornerback Alex Austin had been benched for Jack Gibbens and Charles Woods, respectively, earlier than the half.
- Outdoors linebacker Ok’Lavon Chaisson was flagged for being offside for the third time in two weeks.
- Stevenson’s fumbling points are actual and date again to final 12 months, when he coughed up a league-leading seven of them. He’s nonetheless an excellent participant, so it appears harsh to chop him, however they could want to chop down his workload till he can show he can maintain onto the ball.
- Maye had two interceptions dropped earlier than the Steelers caught one. His one precise interception was tipped on the line, nevertheless.
- Not an ideal day in move safety however nonetheless much better than anybody in all probability would have anticipated heading into the season in a matchup in opposition to Heyward and T.J. Watt.
- Is there a extra reliable backup tight finish than Austin Hooper? He earned a “Hooop” chant from the Gillette Stadium crowd after back-to-back catches within the fourth quarter.
Initially Printed:
