FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -Losing Tom Brady was just the first of the Patriots' problems. Now they're wondering just how good, or bad, they really are.
Are they a playoff contender or a long shot, a team whose coach is smart enough to overcome major misfortune or just another sideline boss at the mercy of his players' ability?
``You don't really know what to expect,'' cornerback Ellis Hobbs said Wednesday. ``We just have to go out there and find some type of consistency.''
New England (3-2) already has lost more games than it did all last season - both by blowout margins. The defense has been vulnerable to big plays, the offense has made very few and the players are searching for answers.
They're not nearly as good as the Patriots teams that won three, and very nearly four, of the last seven Super Bowls. But can they at least play well enough to pick up enough wins to get to the playoffs?
``I know there are questions out there as far as, `Can we do it? What's going on?' `` Hobbs said. It's ``human nature in here, guys looking for some type of stability and just trying to come together, where it's been kind of like a roller coaster right now.''
The offensive problems were predictable after 2007 NFL MVP Brady suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first quarter of the first game. He was replaced by fourth-year pro Matt Cassel, who hadn't started since his senior year in high school.
The Patriots did win their first two games, 17-10 over Kansas City and 19-10 at the New York Jets.
But then the defense, so stingy last season when it allowed the fourth-fewest points in the NFL, sprung leaks in losses of 38-13 to Miami and 30-10 last Sunday to San Diego - separated by a 30-21 win at San Francisco.
The Patriots miss cornerback Asante Samuel, who signed as a free agent with Philadelphia, especially after his replacement, Deltha O'Neal, was beaten for completions of 48 and 49 yards by the Chargers.
``I felt embarrassed. I felt down,'' O'Neal said. ``I sat there and thought about it these past couple of days, the whole flight home. I'm over it now.''
Linebackers Tedy Bruschi and Mike Vrabel might finally be showing their age and first-round draft pick Jerod Mayo, starting at inside linebacker, has played well but lacks experience.
``It's easy to sit back from a media standpoint or even a team standpoint and try to point fingers,'' safety Rodney Harrison said, ``but we're sticking together. We've been through it before, tough times, and there's a lot of football left.
``From week to week people jump on and off the bandwagon, but it's what the 53 guys in this locker room think'' that counts.
Actually, there haven't been too many tough times since Harrison joined the Patriots in 2003. In his first five years with them they were 66-14 in the regular season and 11-3 in the playoffs, with two Super Bowl titles.
But only 16 players, not including Brady, remain from the 2004 team, the last Patriots squad that won the championship.
Last season, the Patriots set a single-season NFL scoring record, averaging 36.8 points. This year, they've put up just 19.8 points per game.
Without Brady, they rarely throw long passes to Randy Moss, a tactic that worked all last season when he caught an NFL single-season record 23 touchdowns. And with running backs Laurence Maroney and LaMont Jordan injured, Cassel doesn't have the security of a consistent ball-control offense.
Cassel ``has certainly had some good moments just like every other player. There are plays I'm sure he'd like to have back,'' coach Bill Belichick said. ``He's done a solid job for us, gotten a little bit better each week, and he's certainly comfortable running the offense.''
The Patriots' decline is more striking because of last year's success. They were 16-0 in the regular season, won their first two postseason games, then lost the Super Bowl to the New York Giants 17-14 on a last-minute touchdown.
``We've got to quit comparing '07 to '08 because you just don't see things like that,'' Hobbs said. ``Look around the league, how much more competitive it is. ... Last year is last year and I'm pretty sure I'm not going to see another one like that in my career.''
There seems to be more parity this season. Last Monday night, the Cleveland Browns shocked the previously unbeaten Giants 35-14. This coming Monday night, the Patriots are home against the Denver Broncos and their wide-open passing game.
For Hobbs, that game is as crucial as last Sunday's was for the Chargers, who were 2-3 before routing the Patriots.
``They were getting questioned on a lot of things. Were they a team to contend with?'' Hobbs said. ``I feel like my back's against the wall, our team's backs against the wall, and we've got to come out swinging, no matter what.
``It's early in the season, but this is how you get the momentum going, one way or another.''
