Patriots wide receiver DeMario Douglas will receive the lion’s share of criticism, and perhaps rightly so, but there is blame to go around after New England’s fourth-and-1 failure against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The game-sealing stop ultimately helped Pittsburgh hold on for a 21-14 victory at Gillette Stadium on Sunday.

“The Patriots do not execute this play either in their protection or in their route-running,” Ted Johnson said while alongside Patriots insider Phil Perry during The Breakdown on Monday night.

With 1:07 left in the fourth quarter and the Patriots trailing by seven points, Drake Maye and the offense lined up in hopes of converting its fifth fourth-down attempt of the game. New England was 4-for-4 to that point after a few gutsy calls by head coach Mike Vrabel and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

Pittsburgh blitzed the second-year quarterback as it brought four down linemen and a pair of rushers off the edge with safety Juan Thornhill and cornerback Jalen Ramsey. New England had six in protection with its five offensive linemen and running back Rhamondre Stevenson standing to Maye’s right. However, a miscalculation allowed Ramsey to sprint around left tackle Will Campbell and ultimately forced Maye to get rid of it.

“Here’s the problem: (Ramsey), he’s not touched,” Johnson said. “Someone didn’t do their job.”

Maye was able to get to throw off. But Douglas, who set up a bit further off the line of scrimmage and was sandwiched between Kayshon Boutte and Stefon Diggs, failed to identify where the first-down marker was. The third-year receiver said he knew he was “somewhere by it” given New England only needed two yards.

“First thing you have to know when you’re on offense and it’s fourth down: Where the heck is the first-down marker?” Johnson said. “You cannot cut it short. You have to get at least to the first down yard marker right there.”

Vrabel said Douglas needed to get “one revolution further” — or take one more step — before he broke to the outside. Instead, Douglas caught the ball behind the line to gain and tried to juke out Steelers cornerback Brandin Echols and Pittsburgh linebacker Patrick Queen. It resulted in a loss of one yard. Vrabel wished the 5-foot-8, 192-pound Douglas knifed through Queen (6-0, 232 pounds) and Echols (5-10, 179).

Maye also had a better option at his disposal, Johnson said. Diggs, who lined up just inside Douglas, didn’t break to the outside until he was two yards past the line to gain.

“That would have been, to me, probably the better option,” Johnson said. “The linebacker (Queen) is right there, but if (Maye) throws it out in time before he (Diggs) breaks out, that’s a first down right there. He didn’t do that.”

New England might’ve been able to overcome those questionable decisions if not for Echols, who prevented the Patriots from resetting the chains with his heat-seeking tackle.

“Here’s the key: Brandin Echols makes a phenomenal play,” Johnson said. “He comes off of his coverage (of Boutte), comes down and actually jumps to make the tackle on DeMario Douglas so he can’t get a first down. It was really a special play by that cornerback right there.

“But DeMario Douglas should have run one more revolution so he’s past the first-down marker so when he catches the ball he doesn’t have to worry about juking or knifing or any of that stuff.”

The failed fourth-down attempt did not lose the Patriots the game. A conversion on fourth-and-1 from the Pittsburgh 28 yard line would have meant the offense then needed to cover 25-plus yards with 63 seconds left, score a touchdown, kick a game-tying extra point and hope for some luck at the end of regulation and overtime.

Nevertheless, it was the fatal mistake in a game which featured plenty of them.

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