FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- One of the common lines of thinking in Bill Belichick's coaching tenure has been that September is an extension of the preseason, in the sense that the coach is still figuring out how all the pieces fit.
That's why some of the New England Patriots' slower starts in past years have usually been viewed through the prism of a team that often gets better as the season unfolds.
Is this year different?
No one truly knows the answer at this point, but for those who might make that case, it wasn't that the Patriots lost on Sunday against the Detroit Lions, it was how they lost.