FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS – SEPTEMBER 21: Drake Maye #10 of the New England Patriots reacts as he looks on after turning the ball over during an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Gillette Stadium on September 21, 2025 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)

FOXBOROUGH- The Patriots proved one thing on Sunday. They are not good enough to overcome bad football.

After turning the ball over five times, giving up five sacks and committing seven penalties for 54 yards, the Patriots ended up losing 21-14 to the Steelers.

Good teams can overcome a performance like that. The Patriots are better than they were last year and they are better coached, but they are not quite at a place where they can overcome giving the other team the ball back five times.

Patriots coach Mike Vrabel was asked if there is a lesson to be learned in turning the ball over so many times. Vrabel said the lesson is simple. Don’t turn the ball over.

“We’ve known — we don’t need to learn a lesson. We don’t need to lose a football game to know that turnovers are very hard to overcome. 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 only did the Patriots turn the ball over, but they turned it over in inopportune times. Running back Rhamondre Stevenson turned it over twice. Once was inside the five and it killed a drive that could have tied the game.

Quarterback Drake Maye threw an interception that killed a scoring drive right before the end of the first half and he fumbled in the second half. Maye continues a trend of making mistakes at the wrong time.

Maye expressed his frustration with turning the ball over after the game.

“I think it’s one of those things that, yeah, just kept piling on. I think Morgan Moses brought the team together, brought the offense together, and we went back and we scored, hit Hunt, and yeah, we got the ball back tied. Yeah, it cost us. 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.”

The inability to protect Maye was also an issue but it flew under the radar because of the turnovers. The offensive line struggled once again, surrendering 5 sacks on the day. It did not seem like Maye had much time at all throughout the game.

Rookie Jared Wilson told me that the Steelers front moved around a lot and made it hard on the offensive line.

“A lot of pressure. They were shooting those backers all night. on the edge, it looks like what I was hearing from our tackles, they were just running up the field and trying to collapse the pocket in the middle. With Cam and Black and Harmon. It’s just some really big guys, really physical guys.”

The penalties did not help either. Cornerback Alex Austin had two costly penalties, one of which led to a score. Vrabel was asked about the penalties and he did not hold, especially regarding a pass interference call on Carlton Davis that was clearly a bad call by the back judge.

“We cleaned that up, but the penalties — called a couple defensive holds they called on them. You’d have to tell me that that penalty on Carlton Davis is actually defensive pass interference. That’s new for me.”

For his part, Davis didn’t see where he committed pass interference and he couldn’t get an explanation from the official.

“You know, in her response, she really didn’t give me a real response. She just threw it. Before the game, (Mike) Vrabel told us what they would be like, they’re a sensitive group when it comes to that call.”

Regardless of the officiating, this game was lost with turnovers. In the end, that is what did the Patriots. Cleaning that up is a priority according to Vrabel.

“I think that the turnovers are much more critical than the penalties, much more critical. You know, ball security comes down to technique. It comes down to other people protecting the guy with the ball, second guy in. Those are all things that we continue to talk about, have talked about, and will talk about. And decision making. Decision making when you have the football in your hand, whether that’s a quarterback, whether that’s a player that’s reaching it, and it gets knocked out. We’ll watch the tape and we’ll clearly address the ball security. We’ve got to move on. Fix it and move on.”

The Patriots will learn from today but times have changed. Winning again is the goal. If the Patriots are going to win again, they need to play much cleaner than this. They are not good enough to overcome turnovers and undisciplined play.