By Andrew Stefanilo

The New England Patriots sit at 5-2 this season atop the AFC East after a 30-27 overtime loss to the New York Jets Sunday afternoon.

The Pats responded after a horrible performance against the Cincinnati Bengals two weeks ago with a win last week against the New Orleans Saints where their offense looked like it used to for much of the game.

There are many, many Patriots fans who don’t believe in the team this year. In fact, I’ve never heard so much whining from fans whose team is three games above .500.

I saw Facebook friends post statuses after Brady’s interception in the last few minutes against the Saints, saying things like, “Brady isn’t the same,” “I don’t have the same faith in him anymore,” or that the “Pats suck and the play call is worse.”

And then after his game winning pass to rookie wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins just a possession later, the feed becomes crowded with posts like, “Brady!!!” and “I love the Patriots!” from the same people who, just one week ago, were willing and ready to throw the entire organization under the bus.

The same things were mentioned after the tough loss yesterday.

Brady is getting older, and he’s not the same as he was in 2007. But are we forgetting the weapons he had? These rookie wide receivers are playing well don’t get me wrong, but they aren’t Randy Moss or Wes Welker.

Speaking of Welker, he wasn’t a big name player before he came to the Patriots. Brady helped him become the player he was when he left for Denver. Brady will mold some of these new guys into solid players by season’s end if you give him time.

So let’s stop blaming Brady and making these silly comments and realize that he’s throwing the ball to primarily rookies or journeymen players. The Patriots lead the league in dropped passes, and that’s a testament to the inexperience they throw out on the field every week.

Julian Edelman has really come a long way, but even he had two huge drops at the end of the game against the Saints. If Austin Collie can stay healthy and stay away from concussions, he should help out. He had two big catches for first downs on the game-winning drive against the Saints but was a non-factor against the Jets.

Speaking of concussions, all I heard after Danny Amendola left the game last week is how he’s always injured and needs to toughen up. I’ll admit, Amendola has an unusually hard time staying healthy, but the hit that he took would have sent almost anybody to the locker room.

Oh, and let’s not forget that Brady hasn’t had his best option, tight end Rob Gronkowski. Gronk returned against the Jets and had a solid game with eight receptions for 114 yards. In a few more weeks they’ll be even better together.

The Patriots have definitely had their struggle so far with injuries, but once they get fully healthy, they’re going to be a load to handle on the offensive side of the ball.

They’ve taken a hit defensively with Jerod Mayo’s injury for the rest of the season, but they’ll bounce back. They always do. The defense was fourth in the league before the Jets game in points against, having let up just 97 this season.

With Aqib Talib having the season he’s had, the defensive unit should still be OK without their leader Mayo. Talib is tied for first in the league with four interceptions and has broken up 13 passes, including one that sealed a win against the Atlanta Falcons a couple weeks ago. Once Talib is back, that’ll be another big help for the team.

The loss to the Jets yesterday was a hard game. Brady didn’t play great but that Jets defense is stout.

Just because we’re not seeing the same numbers in years past doesn’t mean Brady can’t lead this team in crunch time. It doesn’t mean he can’t win another Super Bowl either.

As fans, let’s realize that he doesn’t have the same weapons as he used to. There’s injuries to key players and all of these young guys are going to get better. That’s what happens when you play with someone like Tom Brady.

But with the team at 5-2, let’s not forget that they’re still getting the job done. The wins haven’t always been pretty this year, but the operative word here is “win.” I’ll take an ugly victory over a loss any day.