The New England Patriots' lack of talent has been evident over the last two weeks in an 18-12 loss to the lowly Denver Broncos and a 33-6 defeat to the San Francisco 49ers.
But do their issues go beyond personnel?
Patriots special teamer and team co-captain Matthew Slater issued a blunt (by his standards) criticism of his teammates' play on NBC Sports Boston's "Monday Night Patriots," suggesting to co-hosts Phil Perry and Ted Johnson that the team isn't playing hard enough.
"I think there were times last night (against the 49ers) where we let the attitude and effort part slip away from us," Slater said.