Having more losses than wins is never a good thing, but its currently what the New England Patriots (now 1-2) are experiencing.
The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated new head coach Mike Vrabel and his Patriots, 21-14 in Week 3. Pittsburgh did not claim the win by dominating the Pats, in fact the Steelers logged 166 less total yards than New England. Instead, Pittsburgh claimed the win by capitalizing on the Patriots’ mistakes. Overall, the Patriots made several critical mistakes in the loss toss to the Steelers — most notably five turnovers (three in six snaps by the end of the first half), a fumble in the endzone and a late game-deciding fumble by quarterback Drake Maye. Additionally, the Patriots have also been getting penalized at a very high rate.
But, it’s important this loss not just be blamed on Maye or the turnovers as a whole.
Running back Rhamondre Stevenson fumbled twice, including one to end New England’s first possession and set up the Steelers’ opening score. He fumbled again at the goal line early in the second half, and Antonio Gibson fumbled later in the third quarter to give momentum back to the Steelers.
“We absolutely need him… We need his ability, but we also need to take care of the football … I’m not really sure what we’re gonna do,” Vrabel said of Stevenson postgame. “He helped us win a game last week and it was different story today.”
Mike Vrabel keeping Henderson on the bench because surely Mondre and Gibson won’t combine for 3 fumbles in one game pic.twitter.com/kQ6HYVcALJ
— Adam☘️ (@CelticsAdam34) September 21, 2025
All this leads to a belief that a change in rotation is needed and Vrabel should look no further than utilizing TreVeyon Henderson more.
Against the Steelers, Henderson only rushed for 28 yards. He did have the most carries for the Patriots with 11, but the Steelers’ top running back of Jaylen Warren was given 18 carries.
Henderson may be in his rookie year and was a No. 38 overall pick, but I’d love to see him get in the range of 15 carries a game.
The argument could also be made that Henderson already proved himself prior to entering the league. The former Buckeyes team captain is currently ranked third at Ohio State in all-time career all-purpose yards with 4,614. Ahead of being drafted by New England, Henderson gained national exposure when he scored a five-yard touchdown reception off a screen pass with 13 seconds left in the first half to give Ohio State a 14-7 lead over Texas in the College Football Playoff semifinals at the Cotton Bowl en route to the Buckeyes’ eventually hoisting the trophy.
Bottom line — a starting running back reverting to rookie form and losing multiple fumbles in the red zone is just completely unacceptable. Perhaps giving Henderson more carries really is the answer, no matter how simple it seems.
