The New England Patriots are plunging into an early sporting crisis. And Tom Brady is suffering along with them.

The New England Patriots have hit a first low point in the young season. And Bill Belichick right along with them.

The 3:38 at the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4 was a statement of the Pats in the most negative sense: The franchise is down athletically, coach legend Belichick can find no answers and means and must first digest the highest defeat of his NFL career.

The weaknesses in the offensive line around quarterback Mac Jones, who gave up against the Cowboys, are obvious, and the playmaker is not getting going even with new offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien.

But that is only one problem of the Patriots, only one facet of the crisis, the reasons are manifold – and are not only causing headaches for Belichick.

Quarterback legend Tom Brady is also worried. And suffers along with his former team, which stands at a 1-3 record after four games. “I’m just watching,” Brady said on his “Let’s Go!” Podcast. “And that’s a tough thing to do, because some things just make you want to pull your hair out and say, ‘What the hell is going on?””

Tom Brady: “All you think about is your own defeat “

Other than that, Brady kept it general when asked about how things are now with the Patriots. “It’s tough. I mean, losing in the NFL is tough,” Brady said. “For me, watching a lot of football, every loss hurts. And believe me, when you’re part of a loss, you don’t care about anybody else’s losses. All you think about is your own defeat. When you win, you look around and ask yourself, ‘All right, who lost it all?’ For any team that lost, it’s hard. It’s tough because you prepared all week and it didn’t go the way you wanted. Football is just a tough sport. It’s brutally tough.”

Perhaps the past can provide some solace. Belichick’s worst loss to date was a 31-0 defeat to the Bills in the 2003 season opener, but the Patriots were undeterred and ended up winning Super Bowl XXXVIII against the Panthers, the 31-0 loss one of only two losses at the time.

However, it seems questionable whether the Patriots will be able to make a similar comeback this season.