(AP)

The New England Patriots were destroyed on Monday night at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs. A 41-14 rout showed the glaring holes throughout the Patriots lineup. Tom Brady could point a few of those holes out, whenever he’s able to get up off the ground.

The Patriots pulled Brady in the fourth quarter after getting picked of twice and sacked three times. He only completed one pass over 10 yards on the night. Brady was bad. By Brady standards, he was terrible. But this isn’t a Tom Brady loss by any stretch. He certainly had his struggles, but yesterday Tom Brady was the New England Patriots’ best player and today, Tom Brady remains the New England Patriots’ best player.

The players surrounding Brady are average, which isn’t necessarily a new concept in New England. Coach Bill Belichick has found schemes that bring the best out of wildly average teams before. In 2013, his wildly average team reached the AFC Championship game. A wildly average Belichick team is usually much better than everyone else’s pretty good team. And as long as Belichick and Brady are together, conventional wisdom tells you that they will find a way.

(USA TODAY Sports)

There is still plenty of time to find a way in 2014. The NFL this year, unlike many years in recent memory, is wildly erratic and inconsistent. Teams many thought would challenge for a Super Bowl like San Francisco and New Orleans are in disarray. Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Bengals appear to be the best team in the league.

Patriots fans – and players for that matter – can take solace in the fact that no one seems to have it figured out at the quarter. There are problems in New England, of course. There’s a gap in their offensive line big enough to drive a tractor-trailer through, they look to the running game the same way we might turn to an episode of Seinfeld – if we don’t have anything else left, why not? – and Brady’s best receiver inexplicably remains Julian Edelman.

None of these problems are particularly easy to fix, and Monday proved that when none are addressed the result is very ugly. But the Patriots still have the best coach in the NFL and even at 37, one of the best quarterbacks too. There are reasons to be leery of what the rest of this season holds, sure.

It isn’t time to abandon hope … yet.

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