Well it was only a matter of time until the coronavirus made its way into the NFL. First, it was the Tennessee Titans who had to completely reschedule a game to a later date, due to the fact that eight of their players tested positive. Now that another player on the Titans has tested positive, there is a chance that the NFL will make them forfeit their week five match-up.

Unfortunately, the New England Patriots now find themselves in a similar situation, as they were greeted with some unpleasant news last weekend. On Saturday, the Patriots learned that their starting quarterback, Cam Newton, had tested positive for COVID-19. This ultimately pushed their matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs back by a day, only because no one else had tested positive at that time.

The loss of Newton was easily visible on Monday night against the Chiefs, the defending champions. Brian Hoyer got the start, and then, the offense seemed very stagnant. They really could not get anything going. It seemed that whenever the Patriots made it to the red zone, Hoyer turned into a puddle. Two times the Patriots made it inside the Chiefs 15-yard line, and both times they ended up with 0 points with Hoyer as QB. Though Stidham wasn’t anything special when he took over for Hoyer, he at least was able to put up 6 points when he got in the red zone.

Now with that loss, the Patriots are two games out of first place in the AFC East. It is still very early in the season, and the Pats will have two opportunities to face off with the Buffalo Bills to regain first place, but for now, the Patriots have to be resilient to dig themselves out of the hole they put themselves in.

As if being without a starting quarterback wasn’t enough, now the Patriots are going to be without Stephon Gilmore, as the virus seems to slowly be finding its way throughout the Patriots roster. Luckily for the Patriots, they won’t have to forfeit their game this weekend as the rest of the team tested negative. However, the Pats will be without two of their most important players this week as they square up against the Denver Broncos.

Some good news on the side of Newton and the Patriots is that Newton has been asymptomatic, and if he can post two negative tests within a 24 hour span, then he can be cleared to rejoin the team and play. However, it doesn’t look like that will be happening this week, as Sunday is beginning to creep up on us. It seems more and more likely that Newton will be back with the team by week six, when they play the San Francisco 49ers.

If Monday’s loss to the Chiefs was proof of anything, it is that there is only so far Bill Belichick can carry this team with his coaching before the actual talent of the players make a difference. Going into halftime, the Patriots were in good position to beat the defending champions before Hoyer had the brain fart of a lifetime. Many people could and should make the argument that with Newton, the Patriots would have had that game won. It is imperative that the Pats get Newton back on the field ASAP.