You know what happened.

The Patriots lost four fumbles and threw a brutal pick, yet still had a chance to win Sunday. Then they blew that opportunity with another kind of turnover, failing to convert on fourth-and-1 in Pittsburgh territory with barely a minute left.

By now, DeMario Douglas knows he can’t move backward with the ball on fourth-and-short. Rhamondre Stevenson has surely been told he can’t fumble anymore. That goes for Antonio Gibson, too. And Drake Maye continues to wrestle with the risk-reward balance of creating plays outside of structure, while not risking turnovers on extended plays that can often take the Patriots out of games.

That balance may eventually come to define Maye’s season, and perhaps the Patriots’ campaign as a whole. For now, Maye’s fumble helped sink the

See Full Page