What’s most frustrating about the 2018 Patriots is the lack of a logical explanation for their wildly inconsistent offense.

Really, what can we point to?

The Pats are remarkably healthy. The Josh Gordon acquisition has gone as well as anyone could have hoped. He’s among the NFL leaders in yards per reception. Coming off an ACL tear, a 32-year-old Julian Edelman has exceeded expectations. He’s racking up 71.1 yards per game, even better than his average from a career-best 2016 season. At times, the offensive line has bulldozed defenses and looked like one of the top run-blocking units in the league.

Rob Gronkowski isn’t the same player he once was, but that’s about it.

And yet the Patriots just turned in a 10-point clunker for the third time this season. Related Articles Keegan: Patriots die of own mistakes in loss to Steelers

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For context, that’s only happened in eight games over the past decade. Prior to this year, here were the other times the Pats scored 10 points or fewer: A Jacoby Brissett start against the Bills in 2016, a bizarre 20-10 loss at Miami in 2015 (the infamous Steven Jackson/Brandon Bolden game), a meaningless Week 17 loss to the Bills in 2014 that featured rookie Jimmy Garoppolo and offensive backups, a 13-6 defeat at the Bengals in a monsoon in 2013, and a 16-9 loss to the Jets in 2009.

There are asterisks associated with those games. It’s much harder to discern exactly why the offense keeps flopping this season.

Here’s our latest attempt, as we hand out the grades from a 17-10 defeat at the Steelers…

QUARTERBACK: D

Tom Brady’s worst play of the season was his Patrick Mahomes impersonation against the Chiefs, when he scurried behind the line for 10 seconds and eventually fumbled.

His interception on Sunday against the Steelers is right up there with the Chiefs fumble.

Facing a second-and-goal from the Pittsburgh 16-yard line (yes, penalties were a major factor in this game), Brady panicked under pressure, retreated, and heaved the ball toward the sideline off his back foot. Joe Haden came down with the interception, preserving the Steelers’ 14-10 lead. Brady wasn’t under immediate pressure on the play. He had time to make a better decision.

This was a theme on Sunday. The offensive line had its issues, but too often Brady bailed under the assumption that he’d be hit. Too often he tucked the ball and became unsettled by the pressure that was kinda, sorta there.

His final three throws to the end zone were about as low-percentage as it gets. On the last one, Brady faded away and hit the turf despite not being touched by any defenders.

RUNNING BACK: B-minus

The running game was a bright spot.

New England’s best drive came midway through the third quarter when Sony Michel and Rex Burkhead churned out carries of 5, 5, 2, 9, 10, and 4 yards on consecutive plays.

James Develin threw great blocks on Burkhead’s carries of nine and 10 yards. On the second run, Burkhead kept his legs driving and gained an extra three yards.

Michel ran through Joe Haden to gain seven yards after contact on a 13-yard carry to open the second half.

Burkhead picked up a rusher on Tom Brady’s 63-yard touchdown connection to Chris Hogan.

James White wasn’t heavily involved. The Pats are now 0-4 when White receives seven touches or fewer.

WIDE RECEIVER: D

Julian Edelman dropped two passes and committed penalties on back-to-back snaps.

Josh Gordon let a pass go through his hands on a third-down slant route at the beginning of the third quarter. Gordon caught a single pass for 19 yards. Tom Brady didn’t look at him on the final drive.

Given that Pittsburgh devoted so much attention over the middle to Rob Gronkowski, Gordon’s lack of usage on the perimeter was puzzling.

Cordarrelle Patterson gave the Patriots solid production, including a third-and-5 conversion on a comeback route along the sideline. It’s still hard to justify Patterson over Gordon for the final play, though.

Edelman’s 34-yard reception on the final drive was a big-time play.

TIGHT END: C-minus

The Steelers made sure Rob Gronkowski wouldn’t single-handedly beat them yet again. There would be no repeat of 2017, when Gronk toyed with safety Sean Davis in one-on-one coverage for 69 yards on the game-winning drive.

Pittsburgh doubled Gronkowski in key situations. Tom Brady forced the ball to Gronk late, but there was nothing there.

Gronk caught two passes on five targets for 21 yards. He converted a third down in the red zone, but overall made little impact.

OFFENSIVE LINE: D-minus

Marcus Cannon struggled with the speed of T.J. Watt.

Watt hit Brady on an early third-and-5 throw that fell incomplete. He sacked Brady with 6:06 remaining in the third quarter, putting the Patriots in a third-and-long. Brady seemed concerned with the matchup all afternoon. He looked like he was always anticipating pressure from Watt.

The run blocking was a plus, and with the exception of a few plays the protection was fine. Trent Brown did a nice job with Bud Dupree.

But the penalties committed by the offensive line absolutely killed the Pats.

Four of the five linemen were flagged. Cannon tackled Stephon Tuitt on a first-and-goal running play from the 5-yard line, bumping the Patriots back to the 15-yard line. The drive ended with Brady’s interception.

With 37 seconds remaining and the Patriots on the 11-yard line, Shaq Mason was flagged for a hold against Tuitt. It was an obvious call.

DEFENSIVE LINE: D

The Patriots were a disaster against the run for the second straight week.

This time, it may have been partially by design. They played dime defense — six defensive backs — for virtually the entire game.

Think the Knowshon Moreno game against the 2013 Broncos. The Pats were begging the Steelers to run. They’d take Jaylen Samuels beating them over Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster.

That’s precisely what happened.

Though the gameplan made things easier for Samuels, the Patriots defensive front still bombed. Samuels ripped off runs of 25, 17, 15, 14, and 10 yards against the dime look. Adrian Clayborn allowed Samuels to bounce outside on the 14-yard run. The Pats couldn’t get off blocks.

The pass rush was ineffective, as well.

A four-man rush of Clayborn, Trey Flowers, Kyle Van Noy, and blitzing cornerback Jonathan Jones couldn’t get anywhere near Ben Roethlisberger on a third-and-9 conversion late in the game.

Lawrence Guy provided the best play, beating Steelers tackle Matt Feiler to force a Roethlisberger intentional grounding.

LINEBACKERS: D

Kyle Van Noy sacked Ben Roethlisberger on a perfectly timed blitz in the first quarter.

Other than that? Not much to say.

Van Noy and Dont’a Hightower couldn’t stop the run. Elandon Roberts hardly played, as the Pats opted to use an extra defensive back.

A four-man rush of Hightower, Van Noy, John Simon, and Trey Flowers provided zero pressure on Roethlisberger’s opening-drive touchdown to Vance McDonald.

Van Noy missed a tackle in the first quarter, allowing seven yards after contact to Jaylen Samuels.

On Samuels’ 17-yard run around the left end, Hightower got pinned inside by tight end Jesse James.

DEFENSIVE BACK: A-minus

Hey, a good grade.

This was the first time all season that Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster failed to combine for 100 receiving yards.

Undrafted rookie J.C. Jackson locked down Smith-Schuster. His pass breakup on the third-down deep ball to the end zone was one of the best individual plays of the game.

When covering Antonio Brown, Stephon Gilmore allowed two receptions for eight yards on four targets.

Jason McCourty was the weak link. McCourty was in coverage for Brown’s 17-yard touchdown and a 24-yard reception. He also got beat twice by rookie James Washington, the first on a jumpball along the sideline, and then on a short hitch route that turned into a 24-yard gain because McCourty missed a tackle.

Duron Harmon picked off Roethlisberger twice. Credit Gilmore with knocking the ball free on the second.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A-minus

The acrobatics from Jonathan Jones and Rex Burkhead will surely make the cut for Bill Belichick’s favorite plays of all-time.

That was as impressive a downed punt as you’ll see.

Stephen Gostkowski nailed both of his kicks. Ryan Allen twice pinned Pittsburgh inside its own 10-yard line.

Overall, this was a strong outing for the special teams.

COACHING: C-minus

Defensively, the gameplan was clear: Take away big plays in the passing game (check), force the Steelers to convert third downs with inexperienced running back Jaylen Samuels, and capitalize when Ben Roethlisberger inevitably got antsy and made a risky throw (check).

This wasn’t a bad plan. But the Pats probably underestimated Samuels’ ability to read blocks and run with patience and vision (after all, he had never been a full-time running back in his life). They couldn’t have imagined Samuels would average 7.5 yards per carry. The Pats simply got overpowered at the point of attack. They stuck with the plan, though, and the defense ultimately gave the offense a chance to tie the game.

Offensively, this was a mess. A third-and-4 screen pass to Julian Edelman had little chance. The decision to sub out Josh Gordon for the final play was inexplicable. The last three plays couldn’t have been worse.

The Pats found a rhythm running the ball in the third quarter, but their offense was so often torpedoed by penalties that it’s difficult to decipher what the initial game-plan looked like.

HEAD OF THE CLASS

J.C. Jackson: He’ll be a factor in the playoffs. He’s also a lock to be the team’s No. 2 cornerback in 2019.

Stephon Gilmore: Doesn’t often cover small, shifty receivers, but Gilmore did a great job versus Antonio Brown.

Sony Michel: Ran much better this week.

BACK OF THE PACK

Tom Brady: Lacked his typical composure at times, especially down the stretch.

Marcus Cannon: T.J. Watt decisively won the matchup.

Run defense: Overwhelmed by the Pittsburgh offensive line from the beginning.