Patriots suffer second home loss in defeat to Rodgers, Steelers

The Patriots couldn't overcome a litany of turnovers and miscues against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at Gillette Stadium, dropping their second home game in as many tries by a 21-14 final.

Patriots quarterback Drake Maye finished 28-for-37 for 268 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception, but committed a costly fumble in the fourth quarter. The Steelers' Aaron Rodgers, meanwhile, completed 16 of 23 passes for 139 yards, two TDs and a pick of his own, but saved his best work for a fourth-quarter drive that put the Steelers ahead for good.

New England got off to a bad start on both sides of the ball. Running back Rhamondre Stevenson, coming off one of the best games of his career, fumbled on a first-down run to give the ball to Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers offense at the Pittsburgh 46-yard line.

Rodgers promptly drove the Steelers down the field in eight plays, finishing with a 1-yard touchdown run by Kenneth Gainwell. A defensive pass interference penalty on cornerback Alex Austin in the end zone on third-and-goal gifted the Steelers a fresh set of downs.

After Maye took a sack on third down, the Steelers got the ball back and once again took advantage of Patriots miscues on their way to the end zone. A holding penalty on Austin negated a would-be strip-sack on Rodgers on third down to keep the drive alive. Rodgers later completed a 21-yard pass to former Pats tight end Jonnu Smith on another third down. He capped the drive with a touchdown pass to D.K. Metcalf, who made a borderline indefensible catch with cornerback Carlton Davis tight in coverage.

The Patriots offense started to show signs of life after going down two touchdowns. They netted 77 yards in nine plays, with help from the officials on a defensive pass interference call drawn by Kayshon Boutte, which looked like it could've gone either way. But they took advantage, culminating with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Maye to tight end Hunter Henry that made it 14-7.

Defensively, the Patriots also settled in, getting off the field quickly thanks to pressure by Christian Barmore, which rushed Rodgers into an incomplete third-down attempt. The ensuing punt pinned the Patriots at their own 6-yard line.

In his boldest decision to date as Patriots head coach, Mike Vrabel decided to go for it on fourth-and-1 from his own 15-yard line. Stevenson picked up the first down with a 10-yard run.

The Patriots nearly cashed in on the late-second-quarter drive, powered by chunk plays down the field, including a 20-yard hookup between Maye and Boutte on third-and-13. But once they had first-and-goal from the Steelers' 2-yard line, Pats offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels called three straight pass plays. Maye's third-down pass attempt was tipped at the line by Pittsburgh's Cameron Heyward and intercepted by Brandin Echols in the end zone, leaving New England empty-handed with just 12 seconds left in the first half. The Steelers kneeled it out to take a 14-7 lead to halftime.

Unfortunately, similar problems continued to plague the offense into the third quarter. This time, the defense gave the other unit a real spark when linebacker Robert Spillane intercepted Rodgers on third down and ran it all the way down to the 11-yard line. A 9-yard catch by Henry set up the Pats at the 2.

But that's when Stevenson's ball security issues cropped up yet again. Stevenson lost control of the ball before crossing the plane of the goal line, resulting in a lost fumble and a touchback for the Steelers. That marked two straight drives within the 5-yard line, with zero points to show for it.

The defense continued its own positive momentum by forcing the Steelers to punt from deep in their own territory. But yet again, the offense not only couldn't take advantage, but shot themselves in the foot. This time it was Antonio Gibson that coughed up the football, a fumble forced by ex-Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers in his first game against his former team.

But after yet another punt forced by the Pats defense, Maye and the offense finally got it together on their last drive of the third quarter, which spilled into the fourth. The Patriots drove 88 yards in 15 plays, ending with Henry's second touchdown catch of the game, which came on fourth-and-2 call from the 16-yard line.

The defense managed to follow up the tying touchdown with another punt forced, finally giving Maye and the offense a chance to take their first lead in the fourth quarter. Maye couldn't get out of his own way here, failing to gain a yard on a third-and-1 dive, then losing a fumble on a scramble during the next first-down play. Maye had previously moved the chains on fourth down with a designed run to the sideline, but then committed his first turnover since a Week 1 interception to get the ball back to Rodgers with a tie game and 7:41 left in regulation.

Rodgers responded in kind, completing 4 of 4 passes for 50 yards and finishing with a touchdown pass to receiver Calvin Austin, giving the Steelers a 21-14 lead with 2:16 remaining.

Given one last chance to keep the Patriots alive, Maye started the final Pats drive well enough, completing 3 of 3 passes for 22 yards and adding a 15-yard scramble. But a sack for a 3-yard loss and an off-the-mark attempt for DeMario Douglas set up a 12-yard completion and a fourth-and-1 situation. Douglas caught the ball on fourth down, but jumped backward to try and break a tackle, and instead got brought down by his shoestrings behind the line for a turnover on downs and essentially the end of the game.

Up Next: The Patriots (1-2) will look to clean up the bad football and get back in the win column in Week 4, when they host the Carolina Panthers at Gillette Stadium.