Are the Patriots of 2014 worse than the Patriots of 2009?

Tom Brady hangs his head in blowout loss, via ESPN

Through the first four weeks of 2014, the New England Patriots have that lost, helpless look they had in 2009. In the past, the Patriots have had problems they've been able to solve, but this year, just like 2009, it seems that even a mastermind like Bill Belichick is clueless.

There are a lot of things to take into consideration here. Here are three reasons one could argue that this year isn't as bad:

-Tom Brady isn't coming off an injury
-The defense does have talent
-We're only four weeks into the season

Here are three reasons it could be as bad:

-The offensive line has showed no signs of being capable of protecting Brady, giving him less than ideal time to make plays.
-Josh McDaniels poor play calling is consistent. In other words, he's not adapting or making changes.
-Did I mention the offensive line not giving Brady enough time?

Based off four weeks, this team certainly has potential to be worse than the 2009 team. However, "four weeks" is the key word.

We are four weeks into the season, with the offensive line being the glaring problem. What was our biggest coaching staff change this offseason? Offensive line. Give Dave Deguglielmo some time to coach this offensive line and let them gel under a new guy. Dante Scarnecchia was incredible, so his departure clearly shook the line up a little bit, specifically Nate Solder, who looks like a different player. Maybe the Patriots should have kept Logan Mankins around for a veteran presence while the line was trying to get used to a new guy, but it's too late to debate that now.

I'm not justifying or saying the performance has been acceptable, but the Patriots offensive line needs more time under Deguglielmo. Unfortunately that time is running out. It's time for them to get it together and give our offense a chance to perform. For right now, it's too early to say if this team is worse or not, because there are too many arguments that can be made. Both doubts and hopes for this team can't be confirmed yet (although postgame Monday night when the wound was fresh, it was tough not to confirm such doubts).

This topic can be revisited in another couple of weeks when we have a greater body of work to look at. For now, it's all about taking steps in the right direction, even if they're small. These problems can't be solved overnight, but they can be solved.

-Brian Thibodeau

Follow me on Twitter - @b_thibs34

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