Delicious in a Bakery, Horrible on the Football Field: Patriots Turnovers
Patriots turnover trouble: Stevenson’s fumbles, Maye’s strip-sack, and Vrabel’s spin.
The Patriots have a problem. Their two best offensive players are turnover prone. Both Drake Maye and Rhamondre Stevenson had costly turnovers, including two in the end zpne which were costly. Between the two of them, they had four of the five turnovers in their 21-14 loss to Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
If you're a glass half-full kind of person, the bright side is the Patriots still had a legitimate chance to win the game despite the five turnovers. That's how well they played.
But a potential game-tying or even game-winning drive (if they would have opted to go for two after scoring a touchdown on the last drive – which I wonder if they would have done) ended when DeMario Douglas decided to spin backwards on a 4th-and-2 catch instead of driving forward for a first down. I'd consider that their sixth turnover of the game.
Here are my takeaways from the game:
Rhamondre Stevenson
Head coach Mike Vrabel said after the game when asked what he plans to do with his star running back going forward:
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.
There has been some whispers from fans and media to go so far as cut Stevenson after he lost two fumbles against the Steelers – one on the first drive of the game and another as he was inches away from scoring a touchdown – and fumbling seven times last year.
It's a ridiculous, knee-jerk take. Why not cut Drake Maye then?
Like Vrabel said, the Patriots would be 0-3 right now if Stevenson didn't contribute 122 total yards against the Dolphins. On the flip side – New England could also be 2-1 if Stevenson didn't fumble at the goal line against the Steelers.
In the Miami game, Stevenson had a long run of 21 yards and an important catch of 55 yards. For a team starving for big play makers, Stevenson has three of the Patriots' 20-plus yard plays this year.
To complicate things further, veteran backup running back Antonio Gibson also lost a fumble against the Steelers and he had a reputation for being fumble-prone in his time with Washington (12 fumbles in four seasons - led all NFL running backs in fumbles in 2021).
Rookie TreVeyon Henderson has yet to show the explosiveness he showed in the preseason. He has also shown in college that he is more prone to injury the heavier his workload.
So what do you do with Stevenson?
Like Vrabel said, the Patriots need him. If Stevenson has to walk around 24/7 with a football in his hand like they did in the old days with fumble-prone players, then do it. Have people – secretaries, chefs, janitors, mail couriers, delivery people – swat at the ball in the cafeteria, the classrooms, the hallways.
Review the five points of pressure between the ball and the body (one point of the ball in the armpit, palm/fingers firm around the other point of the ball). Demand he put two hands on the ball when running through traffic, especially near the goal line.
The Patriots don't want to curtail Stevenson's aggressiveness, but they can't tolerate all these turnovers. Running backs are expected to fumble once about every 100-120 carries. For a running back who carries the ball 15-20 times per game, that would mean a fumble every 5-6 games. That would be tolerable – not two in one game.
I always hated when Belichick would bench players like DeMario Douglas or Kayshon Boutte for games at a time for mistakes – if not an entire season. Stevenson needs to play, but, for now, I would start Henderson with Gibson as his primary backup. Cut Stevenson's playing time down to 6-10 plays per game until he gets the message and proves he can protect the ball.
Drake Maye
Statistically, Drake Maye is a top-ten quarterback in the NFL right now.
Through three weeks, Drake Maye ranks: -- 10th in adjusted yards/attempt -- 8th in EPA/play -- 5th in CPOE -- 7th in success rate -- 10th in PFF's passing grade -- 2nd in completion percentage
— Chad Graff (@chadgraff.bsky.social) 2025-09-22T13:59:46.197Z
However, Vrabel pointed out about the turnovers Maye has committed:
“They erase all the good things that you do and take away momentum. They take away points and give them field position … Turnovers are very hard to overcome.”
Drake Maye threw an interception and lost a fumble on a strip sack. Both turnovers were killers. Maye had 28 completions for 268 yards and 2 TDs. He ran for another 45 yards. At one point, Maye completed 13 consecutive passes.
Those are great stats, but nobody is talking about them because of the "magic eraser" – the two turnovers.
Both turnovers were infuriating, but the interception in the endzone at the end of the first half may have been the worst. It came two plays after Maye hit his head hard on the turf after getting hit. Maye put both hands up to his head.
I thought at the time it would have been a good idea to run the ball on the next play to give him time to try and clear his head. Instead, they passed on the next two plays.
There has been criticism levied that the Patriots should have ran the ball, anyway, a couple of times in that situation with all three timeouts still in their pocket. I had no issues with throwing the ball, but not after that hit on Maye.
The interception, itself, was frustrating because all Maye had to do was lob the ball to the back pylon in the corner of the endzone to a wide open Boutte. I saw the play develop in real time and I rose to my feet with arms outstretched. It should have been an easy touchdown. But then Maye tried to fire it in, flat, to Boutte. The pass was slightly deflected at the line of scrimmage, but either way it would have been an easy interception. Instead of going into halftime tied, the Patriots stayed trailing, 14-7.
DeMario Douglas
It can be argued that Patriots have serious issues with their top three offensive weapons, if you want to include Douglas. I've been vocal that Douglas has always been extremely overrated in his time with the Patriots. I've even predicted that Efton Chism III– who hasn't even played yet – will end the season with more receptions than Douglas. I stand by that prediction and feel better about now than I did before the regular season started.
Douglas only has five receptions (and 13 yards receiving) through three games. I knew he would have a head start on Chism, but I wasn't worried.
It is obvious he has no chemistry with Maye. Maye has targeted Douglas 13 times, completing only those five. Those are Shaq-type free throw percentages.
I've always said that Douglas' diminutive stature makes him a difficult target for any quarterback, but now I am also questioning "his feel" for the game. The 4th-and-2 play at the end of the game is a glaring example. There have been other examples of Douglas running routes shallower or deeper than what Maye expected.
I think it is time to see what Chism can do.
Vrabel and Accountability
I mentioned it last week and I continue to see it from Vrabel in his postgame press conferences and interviews. He doesn't take the blame for anything. It reminds me of when Jerod Mayo said last year:
“Look, once those guys cross the white lines, there’s nothing I can do for them. There’s nothing any coach can do for them once they cross the white line. It’s my job to continue to prepare not only them but our coaches to go out here and play better football.”
Vrabel criticized his punter for making a bad punt for the reason his strategy – punting while down two scores with less than five minutes to go in their opening week loss to the Raiders – didn't have any chance of working.
NBC Boston's Phil Perry and Tom E Curran speculated Vrabel may have been taking a dig at offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels when he said on WEEI
"We have to pick something each play and decide how we want to run it, but not be tentative and making sure that – we're never going to be perfect, right? You just want to be precise. I think that's going to be the message to us going forward.
"We can't think that every play is going to be perfect. It's never going to be that way."
Vrabel has also been dismissive of the importance of penalties when questioned if the amount of penalties the team has is a reflection of the lack of discipline under Vrabel. He had this to say on his weekly interview on WEEI on the Greg Hill Show:
Penalties are probably a bad predictor for win rate. I’d focus on quarterback rating, turnovers and rushing margin.
Really? Quarterback rating is more important than penalties? Who am I to question Vrabel, but that doesn't sound right.
After the loss to the Steelers, Vrabel put the blame on Douglas for not getting the first down at the end of the game. I would argue the Patriots should have tried, maybe, getting the ball into a bigger, stronger receiver's hands in a situation where inches matter – maybe Mack Hollins. Kayshon Boutte, or a running back/tight end.
Vrabel's decision to go for it on 4th-and-1 at his own 15-yard line, down 14-0 in the first half, was a dubious one. It worked, but still, it was a very high-risk, low-reward decision. If the Patriots didn't convert, they were handing the Steelers, at the very least, a 17-0 lead, if not 21-0. If the Patriots converted, they still had a lot of work to do to get into scoring position.
On the very next play after the successful fourth down conversion, Maye threw an interception that was overturned on replay. Ultimately, the drive ended with Maye's interception in the endzone at the end of the half.
Something else I am going to keep an eye on is the fourth down play the Patriots ran on that play. It is at least the second time this season the offense bunched up on 4th-and-1 to make it look like they might do a "tush push," or a quarterback sneak, and then flipped it to the outside. It might be time to take that play off the play sheet.
Final Thoughts
There was a lot to like about the Patriots' execution against the Steelers:
- Robert Spillane had a huge bounce back game by leading the team with 15 tackles. He didn't have any missed tackles, according to PFF. That is a huge improvement over the first two weeks when he had more missed tackles (8) than tackles (6).
- The Patriots had 369 total yards on offense, compared to Pittsburgh's 203.
- The Patriots were 6-13 on third down conversions and 4-5 on fourth down.
- Hunter Henry had 8 receptions for 90 yards and 2 TDs, including a huge one on 4th down in the third quarter to tie the game.
- The Patriots' rush defense is ranked 2nd in the NFL – allowing 60.3 yards per carry – after three weeks.
- Kicker Andy Borregales didn't miss a field goal kick (OK, he didn't have any attempts).
If you liked this article, share it please: