WHILE A FEW of the Patriots players were teeing off on the replacement referees who’d whistled 24 penalties and might’ve misjudged the legitimacy of the Ravens’ game-winning field goal, Titans defensive back Jason McCourty was waging his own war in another alcove of the Twitterverse during the wee hours of Monday morning.

He shares an account with his twin brother Devin, and a few followers were firing angrily at the New England cornerback. They blasted him for failing to catch a couple of would-be, should-be interceptions, for failures in coverage, for a crucial penalty — so, as family is wont to do, Jason stuck up for his brother and fired back.

The only thing wrong with that was in assigning blame for New England’s 31-30 loss at Baltimore on Sunday night, those anonymous antagonists chose a more culpable target than the Patriots’ players did.

As bad as the officials were Sunday – and they were brutal, in both directions — McCourty was arguably worse. On the national stage at M&T Bank Stadium he was the player who failed in nearly every opportunity he had to make a game-changing play, and also the player the Ravens picked on when they needed one of their own.

Just 22 games ago he was the player around whom the Patriots hoped they could build their secondary, but he has regressed from a ball-hawking rookie to a burnt-regularly veteran who teams no longer need to fear in coverage, and barely even have to respect.

“You have to make plays, plain and simple,” McCourty told reporters after the defeat that dropped the 1-2 Patriots below .500 for the first time since 2003. “There were more plays, not just on the last drive, but all throughout the game that I can make and my team can make. It’s simple: I have to make those plays.”

It was bad throughout the game, when McCourty’s half-hearted try at tackling Dennis Pitta allowed the tight end to go 20 yards to the end zone, and when he twice dropped passes that Joe Flacco generously delivered directly to his hands. But that last drive, and the fourth quarter at large, were even more inexcusable than losing a couple of easy interceptions that might’ve altered the outcome.

Even if McCourty is absolved of blame for a highly questionable holding call that saved the Ravens from facing third-and-14 from their own 16 while trailing by nine points with 6:18 to play, he still bears responsibility for much of what came after. He was the man in coverage on the Torrey Smith touchdown catch that made it 30-28. He was beaten by Jacoby Jones for a 24-yard completion that moved the ball from Baltimore’s 21 to its 45 on the first play of the final drive.

Then he was so badly beaten by Jones again — this time with the Ravens up against third-and-9 from the outer fringes of field goal range — that he had no choice but to haul him down with a plain-as-day pass interference penalty. On that play, an incompletion would’ve meant Baltimore would likely entrust its fate to a rookie kicker from more than 50 yards out, while in a best-case scenario leaving Tom Brady almost a minute and two timeouts to retaliate.

Yet Flacco felt confident enough about his odds of exploiting McCourty that he softly lobbed the ball toward traffic, trusted the cornerback couldn’t stop it without fouling, and the wisdom of that choice gave Baltimore the ball at New England’s 7 yard line with 52 ticks to position themselves for Justin Tucker’s game-winning boot.

“I just have to make plays,” McCourty said. “I had two balls in my hand; I have to make those plays. This is the National Football League and if you go out there with no confidence, you’ll see a worse player than I played. You just have to make plays and it’s simple.”

McCourty’s confidence seemed to take a shot at the start of last year, when he couldn’t handle himself in defensive schemes that often left him singled-up on his receiver, and eventually he was shuffled back to safety in certain situations due in part to his shaky play. Only time can now tell how McCourty’s confidence comes through Sunday — though based on the comments his brother was confronting, it would seem he’s already lost the faith of some fans.

“catch the ball you bum,” was the directive of one — while the others were sharper. “Devin, you are pitiful,” wrote one. “#32 the worse player on the patriots,” posted another.

There’s no truth to the third, of course. As much as he’s struggled, McCourty is still far from the worst player on the Patriots. But the anger isn’t necessarily misdirected entirely.

Because if McCourty doesn’t get better, in this pass-happy NFL it’ll cost the Patriots more than anything the refs could.

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Bill Belichick opened his Monday press conference by explaining why he grabbed one of the officials on the arm as the referees ran off the field Sunday. The Patriots coach said from his sideline he couldn’t see whether the winning kick had sailed over or between the goal posts, and was seeking an explanation about a potential review. Citing a 2000 game against the Dolphins in which a similar request produced a reversal that got the Pats one more play, Belichick said he grabbed the ref simply in an attempt to stop him.

Dave D’Onofrio covers the Patriots for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News. His e-mail address is ddonof13@gmail.com.