The week the New England Patriots lost to the Indianapolis Colts, I had planned to spew some of my venom, but soon felt there was more to life than football after dealing with the death of three people I knew.

This week I'd like to dedicate this article to a friend, "Shim," Alton Caldwell and my cousin Lisa Hayes who died unexpectedly over the last few weeks. My prayers and blessings go out to my family and friends who had to deal with these sudden losses.

This past Sunday, the Pats took it on the chin at Arrowhead Stadium in a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. It was a day that had QB Tom Brady throwing four interceptions, which was a key to locking up the loss.

Brady had an awful game, over throwing several receivers, which led to three tipped passes getting picked off by the Chiefs secondary, with one delivered right into the arms of a Chiefs defender.

This type of day for Brady was bound to happen, as this team is hurting and he's has been doing whatever he can to keep this team in the win column. And even though most armchair QB's would argue it is his job to do that, you have to realize this is a team sport and from time to time it's up to the soldiers to help out their field general.

To be honest though, I would have liked the Patriots to have come out of this game winners in this AFC match up, but it didn't go that way. That means the Pats playoff hopes are pinned on finishing atop their division, which means the Jets will certainly have to fall next weekend.

Which brings me to the topic of consistency... Usually from November to the end of the year, the past has always been littered with some of the Patriots strongest performances. However, the question is -- can they do it with the patchwork offense and defense they are putting on the field week after week?

A few weeks ago, WR Troy Brown returned to the opposite side to play cornerback, but with the play of CB Ellis Hobbs picking up, maybe they can keep Brown where he belongs. This teams needs full time players, and most of all they need some depth on both sides of the ball.

Two of the places where they need to utilize this is by getting the TE's more into the game. Something I have been saying since week 1, and now that RB Heath Irwin has emerged as a helpful backup, it would be nice to see RB's Corey Dillon and Kevin Faulk back healthy so the three of them can hold down the offense.

If this team can be successful with a three tiered ground attack, it should open up ground for the TE's, which would spread the field making things easier for Deion Branch, Brown and the rest of the receiving corps.

The defense has the toughest battle ahead of them... They have to keep teams from scoring in the red zone, converting third downs, stopping the run and defending the long pass. Since Tedy Bruschi's return, some of that toughness has returned, but it has to be more than that.

The guys in the secondary need to bring it play after play, as opposing teams can smell the blood knowing that this is the Achilles heel for the Pats this season, and they are going to keep testing them from now till December.

Which brings me to the Colts who defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers on MNF, bettering themselves to 11-0 and pretty much securing home field advantage throughout the playoffs. So far this season they have dodged the injury bug, but as I have said before (long before Earl) I believe in sports karma, and if there was any type of karma to bite the Colts in their arses it would come from the Patriots.

The Colts beat up on an injury riddled team earlier this year, and did so with some shoddy game play and violating several "unwritten rules," like going for a two-point conversion late in the fourth when the game was already out of reach.

Another thought I have to get off my chest are these guys who are doing a lot of chest thumping when they shouldn't be. Case in point, last Sunday's game DL Vince Wilfork stuffed RB Larry Johnson for a loss, got up and began to pound his chest in self thumping satisfaction. It's nice to see him exude this much self gratification, but doesn't he realize he could have had more of these moments if he showed up to play for the last 12 weeks.

Lastly, this Sunday will mark the return of CB Ty Law, a guy I have much respect for, and wish he was still here, but unfortunately the signing of Champ Bailey to the Denver Broncos killed any hopes of Ty staying here, as the Patriots bluffed their offer and lost a Hall of Famer.

The word is that he is still not at 100 percent, has more penalties than picks, but one still has to wonder if he will nab at least one Brady pass for the day. I myself am looking forward to him covering Branch, because I remember some of the match ups they had during training camp.