FOXBOROUGH - If the Patriots want to be a serious football team, hell, a competent one, what happened today in a 21-14 loss to the Steelers won't fly.
Pockets of efficiency were doomed by careless ball security and a lack of football smarts. The Pats turned the ball over five times, had two more would-be interceptions dropped, and couldn't find the down marker on consecutive plays on their final drive that ended in Steelers territory.
"We don't need to lose a football game to know that turnovers are very hard to overcome," a frustrated 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."
Not unfortunate, but incredibly frustrating. After a sluggish first quarter, the Patriots nearly doubled the Steelers' time of possession for the remainder of the game. And yet, three of those six drives ended with turnovers, and the last died on downs. That's nearly impossible for a good team to overcome, never mind one that is still trying to figure out who they are and what they can be.
"It cost us," Drake Maye said. "It hurts. It's something to learn from. It's a long season. The defense played their butts off, and the guys in the locker room are playing hard and they're fighting hard. It's tough, and it stings just knowing we hurt ourselves, and that's what cost us."
"Super frustrating, especially knowing that we played a part in it," said a contrite Antonio Gibson (fumble). "But you know, it's life. It happens. We made mistakes, and you can't make those mistakes and expect to win, even though we were still right there. So that just goes to show, man, we take care of the football, we win the game, and that's a win in our column."
The two veteran running backs - Gibson and Rhamondre Stevenson - were responsible for three of the turnovers. Stevenson's miscues were especially damning. His first came on the opening drive and led to the Steelers' first score. His second fumble came after the Pats had picked off Aaron Rodgers, and sat pretty with second-and-two from the Pittsburgh 3-yard line. The veteran seemingly looked like he was about to score, but Cam Heyward knocked the ball free and the Steelers recovered for a harmless (harmful?) touchback. That, for all intents and purposes, ended Stevenson day, although he did get a couple of snaps as a pass protector late in the contest. Considering he had ball security issues last year (7 fumbles), it's natural to wonder what to do with Stevenson going forward.
"We need him. We absolutely need him," emphasized Vrabel. "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."
Maye, who played nearly flawless football a week ago against Miami, certainly had large swaths of today's game that make you think the second-year leap is coming sooner rather than later. But for much as he giveth, so too did the 23-year-old takeaway. His interception to end the first half was a devastating end to an incredible drive that covered 17 plays and 94 yards and included two fourth-down conversions, including one from the Pats' own 15-yard line.
"I had (Kayshon) Boutte," he told me in the postgame. "I fired in there, and I think 97 (Heyward) got a hand on it, and just kind of took it a different route. It was a good play by him, but yeah, I think I could have gave him a different ball flight, I think in the back corner of the end zone for a touchdown. Like I said, just one of those things that stings. I was thinking about it all halftime. Just got to move on."
Maye would eventually. Just not right away. His second turnover came in the third quarter with the Pats in Pittsburgh territory. There was pressure from the interior (off Jared Wilson), and as he attempted to navigate it, Maye got loose with the football. Nate Herbig came off rookie left tackle Will Campbell late in the sequence, chopping the ball free. It turns out there was more going through Maye's head than just scrambling to run.
"Yeah, just saw TreVeyon (Henderson) late and tried to do something stupid," he said. "Really, I think it's just continue playing. Really, my capability, feet outside the pocket, makes it tough on them. They're a good front. I thought those guys up front blocked their butts off, but just be decisive, and if I have to take a sack, just take care of the football. That's the number one thing."
It's something that Maye keeps having to remind himself of, after the coaching staff has tried to drill it into his head for the duration of the spring and summer. He has the talent. That's visible to anyone with a clue. But there is more to being successful in this league than that, and it prompted a conflicted answer from Vrabel when asked about his play.
"A lot of good. And unfortunately, some decisions that have to be better," he said. "I'm sure we'll have to protect him better. And just understanding that you don't have to win it all on one play. There are opportunities to move on and save the day in the next play. You can't put the ball in harm's way at that position. But certainly Drake wasn't alone. '
"But there's a lot of really good things in there, his ability to extend plays, scramble, pick up 1st downs for us, run multiple plays inside the pocket, outside the pocket. There are a lot of good things in there, just some decision-making that we need to have be better for him and for himself."
Long after Maye had showered and collected his things, he got up to leave a relatively sparse locker room. But before he exited, the second-year pro put his hand on Pop Douglas' shoulder. No words were spoken, but just like his quarterback, the speedy slot receiver seemed dejected, head down in his locker while he numbingly got dressed. Douglas had the ball in his hands on the last play, a 4th-and-1 from the Pittsburgh 28. But he, too, seemed to lose his senses in the big moment and became another player who contributed to a frustrating defeat.
"Oh, yeah, probably knife," said Douglas when asked if he would have done anything different on the play. "Go straight up. Thought (defender) was right behind me, and that's what made me move."
Douglas owned it in that moment, but Maye put the burden on himself, telling us, "I wish I would have told those guys, 4th and 1, just try to catch it and get up field. I wish I would have told them that in the huddle. Those little things go a long way..."
The Patriots are learning that the hard way over the past three weeks, and until those lessons are reflected in their play, there will be more days like this one for all parties involved. They still aren't good enough to overcome bad football.