The New England Patriots let multiple opportunities to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers slip out of their hands, losing 21-14. Turnovers were the story of the game, as the Patriots had five of them, four of which were fumbles.
Of those four fumbles, Rhamondre Stevenson had two of them. Stevenson’s fumbling woes of last year have seemingly returned, despite having arguably the best game of his career last week. Per Mike Reiss of ESPN, Head coach Mike Vrabel stressed the importance of fixing Stevenson’s ball security postgame, saying, “We have to get him back. We need him”.
Although Stevenson was great in their win last week, Vrabel made a mistake saying they need him, as the fifth year running back continues to cost the Patriots games.
Stevenson’s Ball Security Issues Continue
Stevenson’s two fumbles came at a huge cost, ultimately losing the Patriots the game. His first fumble happened on the team’s first drive, after the Steelers’ defense got an illegal contact penalty. The fumble put the Steelers in the Patriots’ territory and led to an easy score.
His other fumble couldn’t have come at a worse time. Robert Spillane was able to make a huge interception at the start of the third quarter and put the Patriots at the 11-yard line. Following a nine-yard pass to Hunter Henry to bring them to the two-yard line, they relied on Stevenson to make up for his error and to punch it in for a touchdown.
Yet again, he fumbled, costing the Patriots a score. After another blunder, we didn’t see much of Stevenson for the rest of the game, as he ended the game recording 18 rushing yards on four carries, and three receptions for 38 yards.
Last year, Stevenson got away with his poor ball security, as former head coach Jerod Mayo would continue to play him, despite him leading all running backs in fumbles (7). However, with Vrabel as coach and TreVeyon Henderson slowly earning an increased workload, Stevenson cannot afford to make mistakes.
All offseason, Vrabel has preached that the offense must cut the turnovers. Now, with Stevenson failing to display any improvement in his ball security and continuing to regress, it’s time for him to stand on his word and bench Stevenson.
Stevenson has had countless opportunities to prove he’s worth the money they signed him for last year, and he’s been nowhere near the player he was in 2022. If Stevenson wants a chance to earn snaps, he’ll have to slowly gain it, as the team should opt to give Henderson the majority of the touches in next week's game versus the Carolina Panthers.