Have you ever seen a team determined to lose a game they should win?
If not, there is no way you were watching the Week 3 clash between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots.
Here are my key takeaways from an agonising Patriots home defeat.
Improved coaching?
The Patriots offense hit rock bottom last year, firing Jerod Mayo after a single season. This is the hallmark of a bad franchise. Mayo was one and done because he coached a sloppy, mistake-prone, penalty- and turnover-ridden team.
Resetting the team with an experienced coaching staff and an infusion of talent was supposed to rid the team of those elements of a poorly coached team. However, I am not sure I see the improvement.
Through three weeks (admittedly a small sample size), the Patriots average more turnovers per game (2 vs 1.35) and more penalties per game (10.3 vs 7.6) than the shambolic 2024 season.
Mike Vrabel has preached avoiding “the sh*t that gets you beat”. However, the on-field product is not representative of that philosophy.
The numbers tell the story
The season has a long way to go, and there were clear signs of improvement last week. However, this team has shown signs of a lack of discipline, poor fundamentals and poor situational awareness all season. Week 3 was just a hyperbolic continuation of that trend.
The penalties are indicative of a team with poor discipline, as they are tied for third-highest in the league.
The turnovers (second highest in the NFL), missed tackles (32nd in PFF tackling grade) and poor coverage (29th in passing yards allowed per game) highlight the poor fundamentals.
Finally, the lack of situational awareness was evident last week. Drake Maye threw an incompletion and stopped the clock in the waning moments of the Dolphins game, and refused to take a sack when the Pats had a lead.
It was never more evident though than Pop Douglas stopping his route short and then running backwards after the catch on 4th and 1 with the game on the line this week. A perfectly fitting way for that game to end.
This is not how well-coached teams play. Vrabel was touted as a coaching improvement, and I did not anticipate immediate improvement.
However, compared to 2024, this is arguably a worse-coached team with a more talented roster.
