FOXBORO — Two things threaten the Patriots today as well as this season and both involve getting to the quarterback.

The first is people getting to your quarterback, which has happened far too often for comfort the past three weeks. The other is getting to opposing quarterbacks like Cam Newton, who will bring to Gillette Stadium far more skills than the elusive Deshaun Watson did a week ago when he ran through the Patriots pass rush as if the latter wasn’t in much of a rush to tackle him.

The first issue is a concern primarily because Brady has been hit 18 times this season and sacked six in three games, two numbers that would be alarming whether your quarterback was 40 or 20. Brady says he actually recovers faster now than he did before adopting the TB12 Method. Perhaps so, but keep getting knocked on your head like that and he’ll likely have an opportunity to perfect the TB12 Rehab Method.

The good news is offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia has a consistent track record of solving these kinds of problems. Today he’ll get a chance to improve his resume against a team whose greatest strength is, arguably, its front seven. So if nothing else this should be a good test of whether things are improving at the line of scrimmage or not.

Carolina’s front strength is defensive tackles Star Lotulelei, Kawann Short and Vernon Butler, which means the middle rush could be fierce. The middle rush is also Brady’s biggest bugaboo, so this bears watching. Fortunately for struggling left tackle Nate Solder, however, defensive end Julius Peppers is no longer the player he once was. If he were, then the operative word to follow would be — “TTIIMMBBBEERR!”

Solder has struggled with speed rushers, especially off his outside shoulder. Whether he has health issues or technique issues is unknown, but historically he is a better player than he’s shown. If things don’t improve something will have to be done, but what? They have no adequate replacement for him, but if Peppers and Charles Johnson, who is also long in the tooth, take him to school one will begin assuming this is a long-term issue because Solder has played enough years for Scarnecchia to have corrected any technical ills by now.

On the other side is Mario Addison, a seven-year veteran in his fifth season with the Panthers. After a 9.5-sack season in 2016, Carolina invested in him, believing he has considerable upside. If he does, he’s facing the right line to show it.

Behind them stand a set of linebackers that include Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis, two troubling playmakers. Both can get after the quarterback and cover Rob Gronkowski’s “push off” routes and running back James White without needing a lot of help. That doesn’t mean they’ll win every battle, but they can cause problems if the offensive line doesn’t hold up once again.

Adding to that is the presence of Panthers coach Ron Rivera. He’s 1-2 in various iterations vs. Bill Belichick but in those games his defense allowed an average of only 16 points dating back to his days as defensive coordinator in Chicago and San Diego. Whether the Panthers are up to the challenge of facing down the league’s No. 1 ranked offense remains to be seen, but the key for both sides will be how often the quarterback is upright. The team that wins that battle will likely win the war.

The same is true defensively. Cam Newton has struggled to overcome offseason shoulder surgery that has limited his practice time. The result has been a shaky 69.7 passer rating and twice as many picks (four) as touchdown passes (two). With Pro Bowl tight end Greg Olsen and center Ryan Kalil out and Kalil’s brother, left tackle Matt, already having allowed four sacks, on paper this offense seems made to order for the league’s statistically worst defense to get healthy against.

But will it?

That is the other side of today’s test. After three games the Patriots defense is last overall, last in points allowed and last in pass defense. Last Sunday, it made Watson look like he knew what he’s doing, which for the most part the rookie does not.

Now they are facing the former Offensive Player of the Year, albeit one who’s throwing accuracy seems to be in question at the moment. The three picks he threw against New Orleans’ Godawful defense last week killed the Panthers and the fact he led them on two early drives that consumed over 13 minutes yet netted only two field goals adds to the feeling this is a team the defense should show improvement against, if it’s capable of improvement.

The Panthers can still cause problems, however, if the Pats’ rush either can’t reach Newton or, if it does, can’t prevent him from running around and through them as Watson did. They also face a potential matchup nightmare if any of their linebackers are forced to cover rookie running back Christian McCaffrey out of the backfield. To solve the latter problem perhaps they’ll go with three safeties and put one on McCaffrey, but whatever they do, don’t ask Elandon Roberts to do it.

The Panthers may be 2-1 but they got there beating the 49ers and Bills and scored only nine points against Buffalo before being thumped last week by a divisional opponent at home, where Drew Brees riddled their defense for three touchdown passes while Newton twice forced third-down throws that were intercepted and left his defense in bad circumstances. The Pats, meanwhile, are winning with offense despite protection problems and their defense’s struggles.

That makes this a good test to see if the issues that have plagued the Patriots thus far are closer to being solved. The offensive line should fare better against Carolina’s front than it did against the quicker Texans and its troubled defense is facing a quarterback not yet up to speed and without his most reliable weapon, while playing behind a shaky offensive line of his own.

If the Patriots are going to show signs of early improvement it should be today. If not there’s always TB12. At least for now.