FOXBORO — A troubling trend has emerged as the Patriots push for a sixth Super Bowl title.

They’re unraveling early in games, particularly on the road. Immune to blowouts for years, the 2018 Pats have been rocked multiple times.

Consider their recent history: From 2015-17, the Patriots faced double-digit deficits in the first half of three regular-season games. Jacoby Brissett started one of them. The Pats won the other two, both on the road against the Jets.

Yes, there were some duds these past few years. The Pats endured sloppy moments, like any team. But they rarely lost control of a game before halftime.

And this season?

Four times they’ve found themselves trailing by 10-plus points in the first half. They went down 21-3 at Jacksonville, 13-0 at Detroit, 17-7 at Chicago, and, most recently, 17-3 at Tennessee.

It’s an unfamiliar position, one that even Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and all the Patriots’ collective big-game experience cannot regularly overcome.

“We’ve always prided ourselves on starting fast and trying to play the game from ahead,” Pats special teams captain Matthew Slater said. “Any time you get behind, especially on the road, it’s pretty difficult. You start thinking about time of possession and how many possessions are in the game.”

Margin for error shrinks dramatically. And while players maintain confidence that they can ignite a comeback, many are aware of the unlikelihood that it’ll actually happen.

“When you step back and you look at all the numbers, if you will,” Slater said, “it’s not good.”

So far in 2018, teams facing double-digit deficits in the first half are 11-85-1. They end up taking the loss 87.7 percent of the time.

“I think the biggest thing that we’ve seen when we go down is that we just need someone to make a play — whether that’s offense, defense, or special teams,” safety Devin McCourty said. “The games I’ve played here where we have been down, that’s usually what starts it. One play and we get rolling, energize the rest of the day.”

To McCourty’s point, the Pats needed a Cordarrelle Patterson 95-yard kickoff return to find stable ground against the Bears. The play brought the Patriots within three points, instantly flipping the momentum and halting a 17-0 Chicago run.

“Now you’re talking about that game from a whole different lens,” McCourty said, “and you talk about this (Titans) game and the other two that we lost, it’s similar. Those games could have turned in the same direction, but we didn’t make that one play.”

McCourty added: “As we watch the film, it’s like, ‘Damn, if we would have just made a play here or there, that might have changed it, if we got that one third-down stop.’”

It’s difficult to diagnose exactly why the Patriots have started so terribly in four of their five road games. It’s completely out of character, and there doesn’t seem to be one obvious culprit. Everybody has a hand in their failures.

The kickoff coverage was an immediate mess against Tennessee, gashed for a 58-yard return at the game’s outset. The Pats defense allowed the lowly Lions to chew up 20:46 of clock on their first three possessions, which all resulted in scores. The offense didn’t help with three consecutive three-and-outs to begin the game. Against Chicago, the lone victory when the Pats trailed by double digits early, the defense was torched on the ground by quarterback Mitch Trubisky.

The Patriots’ road outings have exemplified the worst kind of complementary football. Both sides have been equally inept.

“I still don’t think we’ve played a full 60-minute game,” running back James White said. “This offense has a lot of potential but it doesn’t matter how much potential you have if you don’t go out there and execute.”

“I think every position needs to shore things up,” quarterback Tom Brady said.

The Pats enter the bye week well aware that they need to reverse this trend. They cannot afford a sluggish start in Week 15 at Pittsburgh. For whatever reason, SunLife Stadium in Miami has been a house of horrors for Brady and the Pats. That’s where they’re headed in Week 14. And, even though it’s a long way away, the prospect of an AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium must be floating in the backs of the players’ minds. The Chiefs are two games ahead of the Pats in the race for the AFC’s top seed.

This is a week for introspection. Any evaluation of the Patriots must include their uncharacteristically brutal starts on the road. That’s priority No. 1 coming out the bye.

“I think when we play the way we’re capable of playing, we’ve got to feel good about us against anybody,” Slater said. “But we’ve got to be consistent.”

Twitter: @KevinRDuffy