Patriots' presumed strength has proven to be their biggest weakness already

For much of the offseason, it was believed that the Patriots' defense was going to be their biggest strength, as it had been for most of the last few seasons. But based on what we saw during the preseason, it was clear that wouldn't be the case. It was the special teams that could determine the fate of this year's team.

The biggest reason for that was the return of special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer, who impressed so much during his first season with the team last year that Mike Vrabel chose to keep him around on his coaching staff.

But they've already run into a massive problem through just two games; the third unit continues to create more problems for the Patriots rather than help them, and that was on full display against the Dolphins on Sunday.

The Patriots' special teams continue to put the team in hole they can't always get out of

Concerns about special teams began early this week, as rookie kicker Andy Borregales missed back-to-back extra point attempts to have the Patriots lead 12-0 going into the second quarter. This was after he had an undesirable NFL debut last week, so the misses certainly didn't help his case.

We also saw some misses by the typically reliable Bryce Baringer on punts throughout the day, and a lot of missed tackles by the gunners. One showing was so bad that it led to a 74-yard punt return touchdown by Malik Washington, putting the Dolphins ahead midway through the fourth quarter.

Fortunately, the Patriots repaid them by scoring on their own kick return on the following play to get back ahead. However, the point still stands that their problematic special teams are a concern as the season progresses.

They were once the best team in the league when it came to setting the standard for what the special teams unit should be, and it prompted other teams to prioritize improving the third unit to keep up with what the Patriots were doing.

Now, that's a thing of the past, even dating back to before Bill Belichick's departure, and it continues to create issues that put the team back when they cannot afford to be playing from behind.

There is still time to get things right, and we've seen that Springer can accomplish that when given the time. The problem is that the Patriots aren't afforded a lot of patience when it comes to waiting for groups to improve because they are not a steady enough team to rely on in-season growth coming eventually.

The hope is that they can turn things around as soon as this upcoming week against the Steelers, even if they might need a new kicker in the meantime.

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