The New England Patriots fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 3, losing the game 21-14. It appeared to be a winnable game at home; however, the Patriots' offense was unable to keep the ball in their possession, turning the ball over five times
New England's ball security issues started on their first drive of the game with a fumble by running back Rhamondre Stevenson, and it was all downhill from there. Fellow RB Antonio Gibson and quarterback Drake Maye had their issues, too, highlighting how the aforementioned trio must be better by avoiding another giveaway party if the Patriots are going to start winning again.
Patriots Must Solve Giveaway Issues After Week 3
After he was the best player on the field in Week 2 in Miami, Stevenson fumbled twice in critical moments in Week 3.
On the first fumble, Stevenson was unable to see the linebacker on his left, who was able to rotate himself and knock the ball free. On the second fumble, Pittsburgh blitzed untouched right through the A Gap and clipped Stevenson in the backfield, which forced him to stumble and lose his balance while falling into the endzone (h/t NESportsFellow).
Much to his dismay, Gibson didn't fare much better. Gibson fumbled a costly carry in the third quarter after New England's defense forced a punt.
As for Maye, the second-year QB has a track record of making poor decisions in critical moments that end up becoming turnovers and putting the Patriots in precarious situations. This dates to last year as a rookie, but it's happening again three weeks into his sophomore season.
Maye orchestrated a beautiful 19-play, 94-yard drive that took over seven minutes to get to Pittsburgh's two-yard line in the second quarter. Unfortunately, the Patriots' signal-caller eventually threw a red-zone interception with 12 seconds remaining, killing his team's momentum.
While Maye played a role in that blunder, Patriots fans should have two issues with this entire sequence. The first is that head coach Mike Vrabel should have used a timeout to help settle the offense before halftime. The second was the play calling in the red zone, issuing three straight passes from the two-yard line rather than running the ball.
At this point in the game, Stevenson had only fumbled once, and Maye hadn't thrown an interception yet. It's fair to say that a run play of some kind would have been a better option to score before halftime.
The Patriots aren’t going to win many games by being error-repeaters and turning the ball over five times. If they want to even think about challenging for a playoff spot, improving ball security should be atop Vrabel & Co.'s to-do list.