The Pats have been the _unluckiest_ team in the NFL this season.
Give them half the amount of injuries to key players that they actually had, and give them an end-of-game penalty against CAR that absolutely should have been called by the standards of PI in today's NFL, and they could very well be 13-0. They, not the Chiefs, Broncos, Seahawks, Panthers or other-flavor-of-the-week team would be the story of the season.
Today's injury to Gronk just continues the bad luck, and likely means the end of the Pats as a serious Super Bowl contender.