The caveat to every Week 1 story is always that it's early. Things can and do change in the NFL. A year ago at this time the Green Bay Packers were embarrassed by the New Orleans Saints and the Buffalo Bills lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers, and by the end of the season the Packers and Bills firmly righted the ship.
Now that that's out the way, it has to be said: Playing against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday afternoon, the New England Patriots' offense looked as bad as everyone thought it might throughout the spring and training camp, when there were multiple days when the group was reported to have been a hot mess.