Don’t panic, Patriots fans

The New England Patriots made a lot of fans sad this weekend.

It was a boohoo kind of a day when the Patriots played the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday -- and lost. They lost 37-20 which was not only disappointing, but a big shock. No one would've expected the Patriots defense to give up that many points. After all, through the first eight games of the season, they were on pace to set the NFL record for fewest points allowed in a season. Not to mention, they were on pace to go undefeated -- just as Tom Caron once stated he is on pace to live forever.

But as we know, no NFL team has ever had a perfect season since the league has expanded to 16 games. Sure, the Patriots went 16-0 in the regular season, but we all know what happened in the Super Bowl that year. It was a sad occasion.

It wasn't like this...

The Patriots have never won the Super Bowl and gone 16-0 in the same season. What does that tell you? They have down weeks during the regular season sometimes. It happens. It's better they have a bad week now than having one in say, January or February....

One place the Patriots could use some help -- and odds are it won't be addressed before the end of the season -- is at running back. Sony Michel, statistically speaking, is among the worst running backs in the NFL despite having a decent offensive line blocking for him. In short, he makes Laurence Maroney look like Barry Sanders.

Some might say this loss exposed the Patriots because they played an easy first half schedule. I don't think that's accurate. We need to see more of them in the second half before we can draw any conclusions. It wouldn't be fair to Tom Brady, AKA the best player of all-time.