Once the 2012 NFL season officially began, it became clear right out of the gate that the New England Patriots were once again one of the best teams in the AFC Conference. The team appeared to be firing on all cylinders in the Week 1 win over the Tennessee Titans and the rest of the league took notice. Tom Brady didn’t have spectacular numbers, but he really didn’t need to as the team steamrolled the Titans on their first win of the year.

In Week 2, things drastically changed for the Patriots as they failed to reclaim their Week 1 form against the lowly Arizona Cardinals. With the Cardinals being by no means a serious threat to take down the Patriots in New England, no one took them seriously as they were dealing with a quarterback controversy and a team still trying to find its identity.

As a result, the Cardinals were able to pull off the upset of the week by handing the Patriots their first loss. This loss surprised everyone in the league as it became apparent there are some serious flaws in New England.

As if losing to the Cardinals wasn’t bad enough for the Patriots, New England also lost a vital piece to the offensive puzzle in recently re-signed tight end Aaron Hernandez.

Even though Rob Gronkowski is arguably the best tight end on the team and possibly in the NFL, the Patriots have made good use out of Hernandez in the offense. With that being said, seeing him go down will definitely hurt the team moving forward.

Reportedly, Hernandez injured his right ankle in the loss to the Cardinals and is in a walking boot as a result. There’s been no timetable set for his return as he is expected to miss at least the next couple of weeks.

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