01:00 AM EDT on Monday, September 29, 2003

LANDOVER, Md. -- What do you want to say about your New England Patriots?

What do you want to say to them?

Do you want to compliment them for making a gutsy, gallant comeback after being 17 points down with 20 minutes to go, and eight starters out of the lineup because of injuries?

Or do you want to curse them for blowing an opportunity to steal a victory from the penalty-prone, suddenly-reeling Redskins?

Do you feel sorry for the Pats, to have played so hard while so shorthanded, only to come up just short?

Or are you angry with them for committing four turnovers that led to defeat in a game they could have -- and arguably, as it turned out, probably should have -- won?

In the beginning, you had to figure that there was no way the Patriots would beat Washington yesterday afternoon at sunny FedExField.

Not with three starters missing on the offensive line -- center Damien Woody, guard Mike Compton, and tackle Adrian Klemm -- and wide receiver David Patten also out of action. Not with three linebackers missing on defense -- Rosevelt Colvin, Mike Vrabel and Ted Johnson -- along with nose tackle Ted Washington.

But in the end, you had to figure the Pats were at least going to send the game into overtime after they took over at the Washington 45 with 1:39 remaining and trailing by only a field goal.

So, do you want to pat the Patriots on the back? Or kick them in the tail?

Are you feeling charitable? Or are you feeling cheated?

It's understandable if you're conflicted -- if you have mixed feelings, about what transpired in the intriguing matchup of Steve Spurrier's Fun 'n' Gun offense and Bill Belichick's hurting, but still confusing, defense.

You had to be proud of the way the Patriots played. But you had to be disappointed that they couldn't complete the comeback, that they couldn't pull off the upset.

Belichick was.

"That was a disappointing game to lose," he said. "We weren't able to make quite enough plays in the end. We just came up a little bit short."

Belichick refused to acknowledge that his team came in at a serious disadvantage in terms of manpower. He wouldn't talk about it with the media after the game, and he didn't waste time talking about it beforehand with what players he had on hand.

"We talked about doing what we needed to do to win," he said. "We talked about the game plan. We talked about strategy. Those are the things we talk about before every game."

Game day, he believes, is the time to make plays, not excuses.

"We had 46 guys," veteran wide receiver Troy Brown said. "We weren't shorthanded."

While the Patriots may not have been lacking in numbers, they certainly were lacking experience along the offensive line, where rookie fifth-round draft choice Dan Koppen started at center, and tackle Tom Ashworth and guard Russ Hochstein both were making their first NFL starts.

But quarterback Tom Brady's three costly interceptions weren't the result of poor protection.

"You don't know how hard it is on the players on this team," offensive tackle Matt Light said, "to come into an environment like this, when you feel everybody around you gave 110 percent, and lose.

"The guys on this team are tough players. They wouldn't be here unless we felt they could help us win. You saw that today. You've seen it in weeks past. It's a credit to the guys who are doing it, because it's not an easy thing to do.

"We have a lot of the season left. It's going to be an uphill battle. But it's not something we can't do."

Is this the way it's going to go from now on?

Is this the way it's going to be the rest of the season -- with the injury-riddled Patriots giving their all, but still coming up frustratingly, heartbreakingly shy of victory?

"We need to get this kind of game, especially on the road," Brown said. "But it was tough to overcome everything we did wrong. We did too many bad things and it cost us.

"But we have to keep playing. This is when we have to be professionals. It's easy to come to work when you're winning and everybody's smiling, everybody's happy. It's tough after you lose like this. But we can survive. We can bounce back."

Will they bounce back next week against a 3-1 Tennessee team that yesterday demolished the Steelers in Pittsburgh? Can the Patriots survive a season in which it seems they are destined to have as many players on the injured list as they have on the active roster?

Is this, then, what we have to look forward to the remainder of what could be a very long, very disappointing year, a year that began with high hopes -- with the undermanned, injury-riddled Pats battling hard, hanging in, fighting all the way, coming close, but not being quite good enough, quite deep enough, to win?

What do you have to say to that?