Heading into Sunday’s matchup with the Houston Texans, the Patriots have 9 players listed on the injury report with an illness designation. Although not much has been made of how so many Patriots came down with what’s being reported as the flu, there’s an easy conclusion to come to when looking back to last week’s game against the Cowboys.

It’s not what New England fans were hoping to hear about their first round receiver just a few weeks after he was removed from injured reserve, but N’Keal Harry doesn’t appear to be close to making a big impact in Josh McDaniels’ offense. To put it in the kindest possible terms, the former Arizona State wideout is going to take some time to develop into a star for the Patriots.

​In many ways, it seems ridiculous to be worrying about a 9-1 football team that is defending a Super Bowl championship. But as the Patriots head into Week 12, there seems to be an overall feeling of concern.  

​Two years removed from their first Super Bowl win the Patriots were ready to begin their quest for the Lombardi once again. This time though without one of the players on the team that everyone around New England seemed to love. 

There's clearly a problem with the Patriots offense… at least, Tom Brady seems to think so. After last Thursday’s win over the New York Giants, a game in which the Patriots had their second highest scoring output of the season, Brady made waves throughout New England with his response to a question asking for his feelings on the Patriots offense.

The New England Patriots moved to 6-0 last week after a win against the Giants, but unfortunately, the health of the roster continues to be an issue. With Matt Lacosse, Jakob Johnson and Josh Gordon getting hurt in the game, the list of injured players for the Patriots only got longer and the team was left with more question marks at certain positions than before. These multitude of injuries have already massively impacted things for the Patriots this season and will they continue to drastically change how the roster is managed as the season progresses. 

​Going in to the 2001 season the Patriots fans had rather low expectations of the team. They had gone 5-11 the year before and fans were starting to wonder if trading for Belichick was good move. The year 2001 was galvanizing not only for the Patriots as a team but America as a nation.