One thing to keep in mind about how bad the Pats' offense has been playing is this little maxim: a successful drive is one that ends with a kick - a FG, a PAT, or a punt. In other words, just do NOT turn the ball over, and the defense and special teams will make plays for you.
This season so far, the Patriots are #3 in the NFL in fewest turnovers: 8 interceptions, 4 lost fumbles, for 12 turnovers. NO is #1 with 8, and GB is #2 with 9. And when you think about it, when have the Patriots gotten into trouble this year? Turnovers.
In the Ravens game, they got back into it thanks to generating Baltimore turnovers (the Ravens are also very good at protecting the football, btw - damn, they're good at EVERYTHING), but then just as the Patriots were driving for the lead, Edelman coughs it up, and Brady later throws a game-sealing INT.
In the Texans game, the Pats scored first, immediately got the ball back, and then Brady threw a terrible INT that led to a Houston TD, and the Texans never looked back.
In the Chiefs game, the Pats essentially had two backbreaking turnovers: one on the blocked FG attempt that would have put them up 10-3, and that blocked FG led to a Chiefs' TD, so the score, instead of being 10-3 NE, was 10-7 KC. And then Brady threw an interception that led to another Chiefs' touchdown.
So while we hate the ugly Brady throws in the dirt, most of them are on purpose, looking to avoid turnovers. The Pats are currently 5-0 in games where they haven't turned it over, by a combined score of 124-48.
When the Pats are X in the turnover margin....
>+1: 6-0
+1: 4-1
0: 0-1
-1: 1-1
<-1: 0-0
So 10-1 when they are in the positive in turnover margin. I know for most teams this is similarly a big deal. But for NE, their offense can't seem to make up for huge mistakes, so it's imperative that they play a clean game from a turnover standpoint. In years past, they could afford a couple of turnovers because their offense was still capable of putting up huge points. Not this year. Gotta play turnover-free ball against Buffalo this week.