This time, the roles were reversed.

Back at Indianapolis' RCA Dome, site of the most recent AFC Championship Game, it was the colts who had a late lead that they couldn't hold onto against the New England Patriots.

"Usually you want to feel like you can close people out in the fourth quarter, and we couldn't do it,'' Colts coach Tony Dungy said moments after his team's 24-20 loss to the undefeated Pats.

One reason was that the Colts couldn't stop New England's big-play receivers, including Randy Moss.

"We didn't have an answer for Randy Moss," Dungy continued.

And though they didn't score nearly as many points as they normally do, the Patriots still set a record yesterday, albeit a dubious one. Their 10 penalties for nearly 150 yards were the most yards the team has ever been penalized in a game, as The Boston Globe details today.

"We got really good short-term memory because we were really poor," said linebacker Tedy Bruschi. "We just had to do our best to forget those because when you have a penalty like that you can't really complain to the ref. The flag's on the ground. What are you going to do? You got to just move on. This game, we just had to do a lot of moving on."

QB Tom Brady also got pressured more than he has all season.

"A bunch of things didn't go the way we had planned," Brady observed in his post-game press conference.

"They played a lot of man coverage inside, which isn't usually what they do. They tried to take away the quick throws that we hit last week (in a 52-7 rout of the Redskins.) That means I've got to hang on to the ball longer and, with their pass rush, that's not really what I want to do."

But, as The Providence Journal notes, the Pats were still able to prove they were the better team on Sunday.

QUICK HITS

Sports Illustrated's website is now saying the Patriots are definitely on track for a 19-0 season.

USA TODAY says this is exactly the type of win New England needed at this point in the season.

And Pats fans have their say in a Boston Herald feature this morning.