Patriots quarterback Bailey Zappe celebrates his TD pass with center David Andrews Sunday in Green Bay. (AP photo)

Is today a new beginning for the New England Patriots?

Perhaps. They are about to get a three to four week stretch prior to their bye week with potential winnable games, beginning with the Detroit Lions at Gillette Stadium this Sunday at 1 p.m.

Of course, there are so many question marks, it’s hard to predict. The first question is the most important: Who plays quarterback?

Those who are on the street that play the position should be contacting every team right now, because with the concussion issues and new protocols, teams might have to keep three QBs on the active game day roster. The Patriots, with Brian Hoyer in concussion protocol and Mac Jones nursing a bad ankle, are down possibly down to one.

“We’ll evaluate things going forward,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said on Monday. “It’s the next 24 to 48 hours, how guys respond, what tests they do and so forth.”

The Patriots did a good job of managing rookie Bailey Zappe, and as Belichick said on Monday he filled his role. “I thought generally, he handled himself well,” Belichick said. “Certainly, things he can improve on, we’ll work on. But I thought he did a solid job.”

Sunday was a good day for the Patriots rookies – Zappe, Jack Jones’ pick six, the line play of guard Cole Strange, etc. – but that won’t always be the case. Thus the optimism following the close Green Bay game isn’t exactly something to count on. The Packers aren’t what they were, because Aaron Rodgers isn’t connecting well right now with a new group of receivers.

But right now, the Patriots aren’t exactly facing a group of world beaters with Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, the Jets and and Indianapolis. Only Cleveland and New York are on the road.

This team will not be able to air things out. Jones’ ankle won’t magically heal; he’ll be impacted by it for awhile. It will restrict what little mobility he has. Hoyer is Hoyer, a veteran with a strong but inaccurate arm. Zappe is a rookie who will be restricted if he plays – a mistake the Patriots made in their one overtime possession Sunday that did them in. They were at the 50 and got too conservative.

But they certainly can run the football, and like it or not, that is going to be their offensive strength throughout the season.

Defensively, after four games, they are clearly above average. The best signing of the free agent splurge of 2021 will be Matt Judon, as he is a disruptive force in the defensive backfield. The key will be for him to stay healthy and keep that up, because the Patriots will need that defensive pressure.

Thus we see the strengths after the first month: the running game and overall defense.

The weaknesses: the offensive line and passing game, and they’re totally related.

But here’s the bottom line: The Patriots have started the season at 1-3, and don’t know who their starting quarterback will be for Week 5, given health and experience factors, none of them are appealing. That’s not good.

But one thing is for certain: We are in October, the first four weeks of the season are done, when really anything goes and outcomes are unpredictable enough to excuse losses.

Now, they mean something.

RANKINGS

With the first month of the season in the books, now we can rank teams weekly with a bit more meaning, so here are your top five in each conference:

AFC

1.Buffalo (3-1). 2. Kansas City (3-1). 3. Cincinnati (2-2). 4. Miami (3-1). 5. Baltimore (2-2).

NFC

1.Philadelphia (4-0). 2. Dallas (3-1). 3. Green Bay (3-1). 4. Minnesota (3-1). 5. L.A. Rams (2-2)