The football world seemingly had grown accustomed to the Patriots being a legitimate Super Bowl contender year in and year out.
It feels safe to assume New England won't reach football's biggest stage this season. Bill Belichick's team might not even flirt with the playoffs.
The Patriots sit at 2-5 on the campaign entering Week 9. After looking fairly impressive over its first three games, New England took a serious nose dive and now is a loser of four straight. Losing is one thing, but the way the Patriots have performed amid their skid has been jarring.
Joe Flacco isn't necessarily surprised to see how New England is trending, however. The 13-year veteran has been around the league long enough to know this type of slide is just the nature of the beast.
"I think when you’ve played as many games and seen as many games as I have, nothing really surprises you,” Flacco said Saturday, per the New York Post. “This league doesn’t give anybody any room to breathe. If you make mistakes that you usually don’t make, it’s not forgiving to anyone. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done in the past.
"It’s a year-to-year league, and you have to prove it every year that you deserve to be at the top. I’m sure they’re playing and practicing hard and doing all the right things just like we are to try to get wins."
The Patriots have a golden opportunity to get back in the win column Monday night when they visit the winless Jets. Flacco is expected to be under center for New York as Sam Darnold deals with a shoulder injury.
