Patriots go to work on division problem

AFC East rivals are coming after them

The mood in the Patriots' locker room following their hard-fought and hard-luck 18-15 loss to the Indianapolis Colts Sunday night was understandably funereal. It would be human nature to dwell on what could have been/should have been against the Colts, but the Patriots don't have time to wallow in pigskin self-pity.

With next to no contributions from their projected starting backfield of quarterback Tom Brady and running back Laurence Maroney, both of whom are done for the season, the Patriots sit at 5-3 halfway through the season, locked in a three-way tie with the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets for first place in the AFC East.

This Sunday's crucial game at home against the Bills kicks off a stretch of three straight division games for the Patriots. After the Bills, New England plays the Jets on a Thursday night, Nov. 13, at Gillette Stadium and then travels to Miami to face the Dolphins Nov. 23. Those games will go a long way in deciding whether the Patriots can win a sixth straight AFC East title.

Any anger over playing perfect stall ball on offense and limiting Peyton Manning and the Colts to 18 points on defense but still losing has to be left in the locker room at Lucas Oil Stadium, or the Patriots will be left behind in the AFC East.

"You got to take it for what it is - we're still 5-3," said cornerback Ellis Hobbs following Sunday night's loss. "We go from here. We continue to play. We've got an eight-game season. We have some division games coming up.

"It hurts right now, but it's just like a win. I take it for what it is today. Then tomorrow it's out of my system."

The Patriots have dominated the AFC East since 2001, winning five straight titles and six of seven. Their 36-10 record (.783 winning percentage) in divisional play since 2001 is the best in the NFL.

But this year is different.

The balance of power in the division shifted the moment Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard plowed into Brady's left knee in the season opener. While the Bills, Jets, and Patriots are tied for the lead, Miami, which already has beaten the Patriots this season, is just a game back at 4-4.

"I think all three of those are good football teams," said coach Bill Belichick. "We certainly knew about the Jets and Miami, that wasn't any surprise. The way that Buffalo has been built with the job that [coach] Dick [Jauron] has done there and getting a lot of young talented players on their team and how explosive they are in the return game, on special teams and offensively with [Lee] Evans, all the [other] receivers, and [Marshawn] Lynch [at running back]. Defensively, their speed and quickness up front with some talented guys in the secondary it doesn't surprise me that they have won five games, no."

The Bills may present the greatest challenge to the Patriots' AFC East supremacy. They are well-coached by Jauron. They have an explosive wide receiver in Evans, who is averaging 19.4 yards per catch, a talented running back in Lynch, and a quality quarterback in Trent Edwards, who in his second season out of Stanford has cemented himself as one of the game's good young QBs.

As if the Bills needed any added motivation, they have lost two straight games after a 5-1 start, both losses coming in the division.

Working in the Patriots' favor is that the Bills could be without safety Donte' Whitner, who suffered a separated right shoulder Sunday against the Jets, and defensive end Aaron Schobel, a pass-rushing Patriots tormentor who has a torn tendon in his left foot and has missed the last three games.

Belichick knows the task his team faces.

"I have kind of kept an eye on Buffalo," said Belichick. "They have played a lot of teams that we have played, so we have seen them to some degree. But now is really when we start zeroing in on them."

That's good because the rest of the division teams are zeroing in on the Patriots, and they don't care what happened against the Colts.

That means the Patriots must take Kevin Faulk's failed 2-point conversion rush, David Thomas's untimely unnecessary roughness penalty, and all the other what-ifs from Sunday's loss and toss them out of their minds.

Indianapolis is over, but the drive for a division title is in full gear.

"After a loss like this, you can feel bad, but at the same time we still have a lot of football left the second half of the season, so we'll see each other Wednesday and get back to work," said wide receiver Randy Moss.

Christopher L. Gasper can be reached at cgasper@globe.com.