The New England Patriots lost to the Carolina Panthers 33-30 on Sunday. With the loss, their record moves to 2-2 on the season with both of their losses coming at home. To put that into perspective. The New England Revolution have lost two home games all season.

So what exactly is the issue here? I don’t think you can point to one thing and say that is the main factor. There are two things that stand out from afar. The Patriots defense is really really really bad. The other is the loss of Julian Edelman which has slowed the time between snap and throw for Tom Brady.

The defensive factor is the primary reason for their early-season struggles though. Defensively the Patriots are historically bad. They have allowed more points through 4 games than any other Patriots team in the history of the franchise. With Graham Gano’s game-winning field goal, the 3 points pushed the Patriots to that historic low past the 1969 Patriots team.

Despite allowing 33 points the defense as a unit made a number of key stops throughout the game. The issue was that every time they made a key play to force a 4th down Stephon Gilmore would commit a penalty extending the Carolina drive. The other primary culprit was Eric Rowe who got torched on a number of occasions and seemed to have no idea what plays the Patriots were calling.

Rowe’s struggles are understandable because everyone knew he blew and is a third cornerback at best on a bad football team. Gilmore, on the other hand, was a high-priced free agent with lofty expectations of being one of the leagues best corners. Gilmore’s penalties made him the Panthers MVP of the game with the Patriots corner committing penalty after penalty.

What makes his performance worse is his lack of ownership after the game. Instead of showing remorse he instead said he would continue his antics hoping referees stop calling his penalty. He admittedly said he needs to communicate better on the field, but that had nothing to do with his facemask penalties.Gilmore and the signing of him is looking like a bust. But there is still plenty of time for him and the Patriots to turn this all around.

With a short week with a game on Thursday, the Patriots are going to have to bounce back quickly. But as of right now this season’s failures are on the defensive unit and the coaching staff.

Here's Stephon Gilmore's first illegal hands to the face penalty. Had two fingers on Benjamin's facemask. pic.twitter.com/OgHwyZZwLE

— Zack Cox (@ZackCoxNESN) October 2, 2017

There was 4 minutes left on the clock and Carolina had the ball at about their 20.  They pushed the ball past the 50 yard mark.  Once being on a Pass interference holding call on the Patriots Defense.  It was deflating, to say the least!  The Carolina Panthers went on to kick a Field Goal with less than 5 seconds on the clock.  Winning the Game with that Field Goal [33-30].

The slow start of the game for the Patriots contributed to this loss.  As they went 3 and out with a Field Goal on the 25 Yard Line.  The Patriots had previously gone out to score a TD every 1st possession of the game.  This game turned into a reality check for the Patriots.  They didn’t play spectacular and the defensive hold on that last drive of Carolina’s drive proved it.

What the needed was the ball on the last few plays of the game.  And that Defensive hold cancelled that out.  Tom Brady threw a beautiful pass to Danny Amendola with 5 minutes to go in the game to tie it [30-30] in the 4th Quarter.  They were looking for a comeback but it was not to be had by the Pats Offense.  The Defense failed them.

I cannot explain how badly that Defensive hold hurt the team.  It gave the Panthers back a 1st down and that is devastating to a Defense.  Any Defense especially into the 4 minute mark with 3 and out.  Some takeaways from the game that I saw were:

The missed opportunities to score on their first drive of the game.  Tom Brady missed Brandon Cooks on a 3rd and long pass to a TD.  It was disappointing and Tom Brady knew it.  It hurt their chances to win the game, that’s 4 points off the scoreboard.

The next was missed opportunities on the Interception by Malcolm Butler.  Listen the Patriots had the ball back with plenty of time on the clock.  What they needed was a score and they didn’t get it.  Instead they went 3 and out with a punt.  In fact they punted about 3 times during the game.  These are all missed opportunists to score and catch up on the other team.  Instead they played point for point, TD for TD.  That’s not Patriot’s Football.  They typically are the team that leads the way on Offense.

Unfortunately they fell behind in the 4th Quarter and that really hurt them.  They were planing to get the ball back as the last possession of the game and that’s what it comes down to.  The Defense let them down and they couldn’t get the ball back for a comeback or even a tie  ball game into overtime.  Hey, that’s what it comes down to some times.  You win some, you lose some and that is kind of what happened to the Patriots today.  It was a good game that came down to the last play of the game.  I think if you put it into terms like that it’s more understandable.  Hey, they did their best in this situation and they iced the Kicker too.  But you know every game can’t end with a TB12 Touchdown, even if he has had 50 4th Quarter comebacks in the past.

Expect a big shake up in the Defense for the Patriots as they have a short 5 day week.  They will be playing Thursday Night Football on October 5th, at Tampa Bay, at 8:25 pm on NFL Network.  Pick yourself up and dust yourself of Pats!

The Patriots will be facing off against two NFC South teams this upcoming week. The Carolina Panthers on Sunday at 1 PM EST and then against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday Night at 8:25 PM EST. The team is on a tight schedule as they will be going from Gillette down to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida. The team will be walking a very thin line as both teams Thursday will be on a short schedule.

The Patriots already had a Thursday night game (the season opener), but having two Thursday night games will be difficult. Bill Belichick will have to work overtime to get the team through this upcoming week. Nonetheless, I feel that the team can handle both teams but that will be based on how they play matchups.