PITTSBURGH — There was no miracle, and this most certainly wasn’t Miami. But the New England Patriots still could not get things back to their customary state of excellence.

Their path to reaching yet another Super Bowl continued to get more difficult as they lost at Pittsburgh 17-10 Sunday. There are, at least for now, cracks in the Patriots’ dynasty.

They squandered their chance to clinch a 10th straight AFC East title. Their record dropped to 9-5 with a second straight loss, both on the road, and they fell behind the Houston Texans for the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs.

Unless that changes, the Patriots are staring at the possibility of having to play an opening-round postseason game at home and then, if they win, having to go on the road for a conference semifinal. They have a very un-Patriot-like 3-5 record on the road.

“When you’re on the road, you’ve got to play well,” quarterback Tom Brady said. “Some things are a little more challenging on the road. You’ve got to embrace those things. We just haven’t done a great job of that.”

Just a week earlier, the Patriots seemed positioned to move past the Chiefs for the AFC’s No. 1 playoff seed. They led late in the game at Miami. The Chiefs trailed late in the game at home against the Baltimore Ravens. Had those results held, it could have meant a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs for New England.

That changed quickly when the Chiefs came back to beat the Ravens and the Patriots lost in stunning fashion. Miami’s walk-off, double-lateral moment of desperation turned the AFC playoff picture on its head. Tight end Rob Gronkowski’s failure to make a game-saving tackle as a makeshift defender on the play led to rare criticism of Bill Belichick’s coaching.

But surely the Patriots would come to Pittsburgh and get back on course against a reeling Steelers team that was on a three-game losing streak and coming off an unspeakably bad defeat at Oakland.

Or not.

The New England offense stalled except for one long touchdown pass on a blown coverage. The Patriots dropped passes. They committed 14 penalties. They failed to convert third downs, going 3 for 10. Their defense allowed 142 rushing yards by Steelers rookie tailback Jaylen Samuels, filling in for the injured James Conner, and two TD passes by Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger.

“We lost to a good team today,” Belichick said. “They played a little better than we did.”

The Patriots drew to within 14-10 late in the third quarter on a field goal by Stephen Gostkowski as Belichick opted against a fourth-and-1 gamble from the Pittsburgh 10-yard line. The Patriots threatened to move in front in the fourth quarter, but Steelers cornerback Joe Haden made a leaping interception on a pass by Brady lobbed up for grabs in the vicinity of Gronkowski and wide receiver Julian Edelman.

Boswell connected from 48 yards to make it 17-10, and the Patriots’ last-gasp effort ended on a fourth-and-15 incompletion by Brady from the Pittsburgh 21-yard line with 14 seconds left.

“We’re still in a decent position,” Brady said. “We’re ahead in our division. We’ve got a lot of football ahead. You always have to look at it as an opportunity to learn from what’s happened this week and what happened last week, and go out there and have a great week.”

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