State your case

Joe Baraiolo — No

Following one of the worst losses in Bob Kraft’s tenure as owner of the Patriots, many people are starting to doubt New England. To find a Patriots team with this many problems early on, you would have to go all the way back to, well, last year.

The 2013 Patriots had small, inexperienced wide receivers with no presence of a deep threat. They had also lost Aaron Hernandez, who was facing murder charges, and Rob Gronkowski, who was out with a torn ACL.

Despite having a 26th-ranked defense, they still reached the AFC Championship for the third year in a row. This has shown that despite a lack of talent, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick know how to win. With the return of Gronk and an addition of a veteran deep threat in Brandon LaFell, Brady will have some more freedom throwing the ball.

The offseason acquisition of Pro-Bowl cornerbacks Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner has added plenty of talent to the Patriots’ secondary. With nothing but an increase in talent and experience, who’s to doubt that they can’t build chemistry in the next 13 weeks and see success again? So everybody needs to take a play out of Green Bay’s playbook and R-E-L-A-X, because like it or not, the Patriots’ reign in the NFL is anything but over.

Brooke Bell — Yes

The era of the New England Patriots is coming to an end right before our eyes.

There are major problems with the Patriots, starting with a giant hole in the offense. They are being forced to turn to their running game to try and save them. In last week’s game Brady was picked off twice, sacked three times and only completed one pass over ten yards. He was bad, and for Brady’s standards he was horrible.

Last week’s 41-14 loss to the Kansa City Chiefs is the worst loss for the Patriots under Bill Belichick. It was downright painful to watch. The team is now preparing for their upcoming Sunday night matchup against the undefeated Cincinnati Bengals. The Patriots have their work cut out for them if the have any chance of beating one of the best teams in the NFL.

The Patriots have one the best coaches in the league and one of the best quarterbacks, but are still finding ways to lose. It is no longer just a few rough games, it is now a rough season.