FOXBORO, Mass. -- Darkness arrived rather early this Sunday in New England. The sky turned black before the end of the first half. The horizon appeared even bleaker. And it had nothing to do with the end of Daylight Savings Time.

An extra week to prepare and an extra hour of sleep were not enough for the Patriots to awaken from their nightmare. Five weeks ago, they strutted out of this stadium after an overtime win against Kansas City, undefeated in their previous 12 games, defending Super Bowl champions. Five weeks later, they're still the defending champs – but look like anything but.

	There wasn't very much for Tom Brady and the Patriots to smile about Sunday.

"It's just so different," Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said after New England dropped a 24-16 decision to Denver on Sunday.

The New England locker room was practically silent after the game. No one wanted to talk, except for the reporters. Safety Lawyer Milloy outright refused. Coach Bill Belichick escaped the interview room in less than five minutes. Everyone else wanted to escape, too.

And at one end of the room, Brady sat in a folding chair, staring straight ahead at his locker. Sitting alongside him was his best friend, Tom Brady Sr. They exchanged hushed words for a few minutes, before the son hit the showers. Wondering, why are things so different?

That's what everyone is wondering.

Belichick hoped he had cracked the case during his team's bye-week layoff. He tinkered with his lineup, inserting a fifth defensive back, Victor Green, and linebacker Willie McGinest as starters. But Broncos quarterback Brian Griese and running back Clinton Portis still picked them apart.

On the other side of the ball, Denver's top-ranked rushing defense kept Antowain Smith in check, and Brady felt heat all day. Even wearing gloves, a la Doug Flutie, he couldn't captain a comeback. And failure is an unfamiliar feeling for the reigning Super Bowl MVP.

The Patriots have had some injuries this year. Leading receiver Troy Brown just returned last week against the Packers after missing defeats against San Diego and Miami. But there are no excuses for the mental mistakes that have plagued the Pats of late. Two weeks ago, they were penalized 12 times. This week, eight times for 83 yards. Their home crowd brought out the boos before halftime.

Has the team lost all its confidence?

"I think there's some left," said Belichick. "But we have lost four games in a row. It is hard to have confidence."

Especially when even the breaks aren't going your way, as they seemingly did all of last season for the Pats. Late in the fourth quarter, with an opportunity to tie the game, Brady dropped back to pass and, before being sacked by Trevor Pryce, had his facemask practically torn off. No flag. Out of luck.

	“	It's getting to a point where it's tearing you apart inside. We need to rally. ”
		— Steve Martin, Patriots defensive tackle

The Patriots also get few breaks from a brutal schedule. The four opponents who have beaten them have a combined record of 23-6. But now they've lost two consecutive at home -- embarrassed by Green Bay and drilled by Denver.

"It's getting to a point where it's tearing you apart inside," said defensive tackle Steve Martin. "We need to rally."

They'll need a lot more than a rally monkey. With the NFL's realignment, there are only two wild-card slots, and the 3-4 Pats are third in their own division. Plus they're about to embark on the longest road trip in the NFL this year, traveling to Buffalo, Chicago and Oakland over the next three weeks. They'll travel 7,872 miles -- but the Super Bowl seems even further away. The first half of their season won't end until next week, but the horizon is hazy at best.

But here's some hope. On Oct. 28, 2001, the 3-3 Patriots faced the Broncos in Denver, and were defeated 31-20. Remember what happened after that? Except for a tough loss three weeks later to St. Louis, the Patriots were undefeated.

They're the hunted, no longer underdogs. This season is different. Their leader has never been through this before. But they did show some spark in the second half of their loss to the Broncos

They'll need lots more of that during the second half of their season.

"We gotta play like our lives are on the line," said Brady.

Before the lights go out.

Kieran Darcy covers the NFL for ESPN The Magazine.