Tom Brady and the Patriots never look like this in December

Back-to-back losses in December? That’s not The Patriots Way.

Fourteen penalties? Three drops? A few Patriots aren’t doing their jobs.

Tom Brady threw a costly interception in the fourth quarter, but he was the most accurate in assessing what hampered the Patriots in a 17-10 loss at Pittsburgh on Sunday evening.

“We’re not playing well enough to win,” Brady said. “Missed opportunities is what it comes down to.

Coach Bill Belichick expressed pride in his players battling all the way. But they have now lost five games this season, the most since 2009. Though they remain ahead in the AFC East, a division they have dominated for going on two decades, there is plenty to be concerned about with the playoffs approaching in three weeks.

New England knew Pittsburgh posed a threat. The Steelers had lost three straight, but showed again how solid they are when balanced. Fill-in running back Jaylen Samuels rushed for 142 yards and Ben Roethlisberger got them in the end zone, connecting with both Vance McDonald and Antonio Brown for scores.

“Are we going to step up and play? Are we going to divide each other? Who knows?” Roethlisberger said. “This was going to be a great challenge for us against a team that is always one of the best. I thought we answered the bell today.”

The Patriots are flawed, but by no means are they down for the count. They lost in Miami on a 69-yard miracle play last week.

They played to the final fourth-and-15 in Pittsburgh.

The Steelers stopped the Patriots when they needed it. Now the Patriots have to prove capable of bouncing back.

Turnovers cost them. Brady completed 25 of his 36 passing attempts for 279 yards. He threw a touchdown and an interception. The pick came in the red zone during the fourth quarter as Brady faded backward. What he hoped to throw out of bounds ended up being a jump ball that Joe Haden grabbed over the Pats’ Rob Gronkowski. Haden held on to it as he fell out of bounds.

“Didn’t want to take a sack,” Brady said. “Shouldn’t happen.”

An interception in the red zone? Brady had not thrown one of those in two seasons.

For Pittsburgh, it was the end of a three-game slide.

For New England, it was another failed mettle test.

The good news? The Patriots can still clinch the division title with a win over the Bills in Week 16 or the Jets in the season finale.

New England had the ball on fourth-and-15 with a shot at tying or winning in the final seconds.

What it got was a fifth loss. What has typically flowed this time of year has frozen over for now.

Nick of time

Ol’ Saint Nick came through for the Eagles in December once more.

Standing in for the injured Carson Wentz (back), Nick Foles completed 24-of-31 passes for 270 yards, and two Philadelphia tailbacks — Wendell Smallwood and Josh Adams — combined for three touchdowns in building a 17-point lead. The Eagles stumbled down the stretch but held on for a 30-23 win in Los Angeles against the Rams.

Don’t start greasing the lampposts in Philadelphia yet, but the defending Super Bowl champs looked alive against the Rams, who fell to 11-3 after losing back-to-back games.

The Eagles still need help to reach the postseason. Now 7-7, they trail Minnesota, which is 7-6-1, for the final playoff spot in the NFC, and are a game behind the Cowboys in the East.

Now it may be up to Foles to deliver two more wins. Houston is up next, followed by the season finale at the Redskins.

How ’bout dem Colts?

Sunday’s 23-0 shutout of Dallas in Indianapolis wasn’t about Luck. It was all defense and tailback Marlon Mack, who carried 27 times for 139 yards.

“When I saw those holes, I was like ‘Yeah, it might be a good day,’ ” Mack said. “Holes like that don’t come often.”

Mack ran over Dallas’s defense, and Cowboys had to put any celebration of a division title on hold. It was the first time Dallas had been shut out since Bill Parcells’ first season as coach in Dallas 15 years ago.

see also

How Andrew Luck came 'all the way back' and saved his career

They all dream of coaching an Andrew Luck, the face…

“We can’t go out there and do that. We cannot. That is not us, at all,” said Dallas tailback Ezekiel Elliott, who rushed for 87 yards on 18 carries. “It’s embarrassing. We’ve got to be better than that, way better.”

Colts defensive end Denico Autry did his part by getting a hand on Dallas kicker Brett Maher’s field goal attempt on the Cowboys’ opening drive.

Colts QB Andrew Luck was 16-of-27 for 192 yards.

Rush to Judgement

Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer fired John DeFilippo, his offensive coordinator, following last week’s loss, and watched his offense fire on all cylinders to score three touchdowns on its first three possessions against the Dolphins.

The end result was a 41-17 victory. Zimmer commended his men afterward.

“I’m proud of you f—ing guys,” he said in the locker room.

The defense also recorded nine sacks as Miami failed to maintain any momentum from its last-second win over New England last week.

Minnesota remained alive in the muddled NFC playoff race with a 7-6-1 record. Tailback Dalvin Cook was the workhorse as he rushed for a career-high 136 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

“We just wanted to go out there and get back to playing like how we know we can play,” Cook said.

Zimmer’s greatest disagreement with DeFilippo had been the head coach’s demand that the Vikings run the ball more since Week 2.

Zimmer punctuated his postgame speech by calling out his blockers.

“Hey, offensive line!” he said. “How about a f—ing game ball?”

Play of the Day

It was second-and-10 with 19 seconds remaining before halftime when Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan took the snap at Arizona’s 21-yard line. His top wideout, Julio Jones, was lined up all the way out to the left and Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson lined up against him.

Jones jumped out at the snap of the ball, and Ryan looked his way immediately. By the time Jones had sprinted 5 yards and engaged Peterson, Ryan released the ball. Jones timed his reach for the ball perfectly and extended his left arm first and then right. He caught the ball at the 2-yard line and continued into the end zone for the score as Atlanta went up, 27-7, and never looked back.

Post Patterns

Packers RB Aaron Jones went down with a knee injury during the second series, Aaron Rodgers threw a pick for the first time in 402 attempts and Bears linebacker Khalil Mack sacked Rodgers without using his hands in Chicago’s 24-17 win. “I’ve had two interceptions in however many attempts. I feel pretty good about the way I’ve taken care of the football this season. We just haven’t made enough big plays over the year,” said Rodgers, who noted he wants to play the final two weeks of the season even though Green Bay is out of the playoff race. … It is not every week that viewers are given the opportunity to watch a quarterback duel like Josh Johnson versus Cody Kessler, but that’s what those paying customers in Jacksonville bore witness to. Appropriately, it ended with Washington kicking a field goal to win, 16-13. Now 4-10, Jacksonville coach Doug Marrone was asked afterward whether e thought he would be fired a year after reaching the AFC Championship game. “I don’t know,” he said.

Three Stars

1. Kenny Golladay
The wideout had himself a day for Detroit with 146 yards, but that wasn’t enough as the Bills outlasted the Lions at home.

2. Mike Evans
He hauled in one pass for 65 yards and finished with 121 yards on four catches. Even with the swings between FitzMagic and Jameis Winston, Evans continued to prove hes got the team’s most reliable hands.

3. Tevin Coleman
It only took him 11 carries to pick up 143 yards as he scored on a 43-yard run and went for a long of 65 yards on another scamper to blow out the Cardinals, 40-14, for Atlanta’s first win in six games.

Quote of the Day

“Pound beef on three! One, two, three! Pound beef!”

— Minnesota center Pat Elflein in the locker room after the Vikings’ 41-17 win over the Dolphins.

Fantasy Insanity

• It was a brutal week for many studs, ruining a large swath of fantasy seasons. Following Keenan Allen’s doughnut on Thursday and Lamar Miller’s on Saturday, both leaving early with injury, along with disappointing outings by Nick Chubb and Philip Lindsay, then came a horror show Sunday. Andrew Luck, Saquon Barkley, Leonard Fournette, Amari Cooper, Jared Cook, Adam Thielen, Eric Ebron, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Rob Gronkowski, Sony Michel, James White and Greg Kittle all scored fewer than 10 fantasy points.
• Derrick Henry’s season high in carries was 18 heading into Sunday. He got just 17 in destroying Jacksonville for 200-plus yards and four TDs the week before. It appears the Titans learned a lesson. He ran 33 times Sunday, for 170 yards and two TDs. His run through these fantasy playoffs is the stuff of legend.
• At least you can’t blame coaching for the Jamaal Williams sighting Sunday. Top Packers RB Aaron Jones left early with a sprained MCL. If Jones were to miss next week’s game against the Jets, that would make Williams startable.

— Drew Loftis