Win vs. Steelers masked problems that need to be fixed

more successful. Because 10-for-16 isn’t going to do it for us playing this late in the season against a lot of good football teams.”

The Pats are ranked 23rd as a defense making stops on third down. The last few games, however, the defense has slipped in those key areas, be it third down, run defense, even the red area, where they had previously been so good. They made that final crucial stop on Sunday, but both the Steelers and Dolphins went 2-for-3 in the red zone.

“It’s that time of the year. We’re playing good teams, but it’s not an excuse,” said Harmon. “We know what we’re capable of. We know we have talent. We just have to get back to what we were doing several weeks ago.”

Now for the offense.

Let’s start with Tom Brady. Even though Mr. MVP was brilliant in the two-minute drill to provide the winning points in Pittsburgh, he has tossed picks in four straight games. That’s so un-Brady like, especially this time of year.

Interceptions in four straight games has happened just seven times in his career, and hadn’t occurred since Oct. 2013. That’s right. It’s been four years since he’s pulled that stunt. In all, it’s five interceptions in the past four games, as he tossed two in the Miami game. His previous five interceptions came over a span of 24 games. So that’s not trending in the right direction.

But before anyone starts talking about Father Time finally grabbing hold of the 40-year-old Brady — that should really be put aside given the absolute lasers he was throwing to Rob Gronkowski at the end in Pittsburgh — what we’ll point out is that he’s been under more pressure this season.

Of late, left guard Joe Thuney has struggled, surrendering four sacks the last three games. He hadn’t allowed one before that. Thuney appears to be in a lateseason slump, something that occurred last year, too. For Brady’s part, he’s made some bad decisions with throws, but he’s also been under duress.

Now, for third down. Like the defense, the Patriots offense also has struggled in this money spot.

The unit had an embarrassing 0-for-11 performance against the Dolphins on third down, and that didn’t improve much against the Steelers when it went 3-for-9. Why?

Brady can’t pass to Gronk every down. Plus, the all-world tight end was suspended for the Miami game.

Cooks summed up the third down problem this way: “It’s a matter of execution and doing our job just a little better, each and every player.”

Here’s another way to look at it. Receivers aren’t getting open consistently against man coverage, particularly over the last three games. They’ve had trouble gaining separation.

The Bills and Dolphins both mixed in man coverage, while the Steelers played primarily man coverage and shut down the outside passing game. Cooks was the only

receiver with a second-half catch, but he only gained 17 yards on three grabs after the break.

The absence of Chris Hogan has had an effect for sure, as Brady has had to look more toward Gronk and his running backs. The last three games, wideouts have caught 20 balls, while non-receivers have caught 47.

So as the playoffs inch closer, yes, there are a few flaws both on offense and defense that need to be fixed.

“We have a lot of work to do here to get back on track against these guys,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said.

“The last time we had a quick turnaround we didn’t do very well with it. Hopefully, we can do a better job of coaching and be more competitive this week.”