INDIANAPOLIS -- On paper, it would appear that they did everything right: They rushed for 140 yards as a team, kept their quarterback upright, held the opponent to just 2.2 yards per rushing attempt, and maintained possession for more than 34 minutes, keeping the ball away from an explosive offense.

But on that same paper, it says the New England Patriots didn't do something quite right against the Indianapolis Colts, because they were on the losing end of an 18-15 score.

Indianapolis got the victory it desperately needed, and is now 4-4; despite the loss, the Pats, at 5-3, remain tied for the AFC East lead with Buffalo, and now the Jets.

What went wrong can essentially be traced back to a couple of things: a sure touchdown that went right through Jabar Gaffney's hands and a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty against David Thomas that killed a late drive for New England.

There were others, to be sure, but as they flew home last night, it was likely Gaffney and Thomas that felt the weight of the loss heaviest on their shoulders.

"I pride myself on making every catch as they come to me," said the normally sure-handed Gaffney. "For whatever reason, I wasn't able to make that play and it cost us."

On first and 10 from the Colts' 39-yard line, Gaffney went streaking down the left sideline and had his man beat. Cassel put the ball right on the money, and it went right through Gaffney's gloved hands.

New England wound up getting points out of the possession on a chip-shot field goal by Stephen Gostkowski, but Gaffney knew his missed touchdown would have changed the game.

But just before Gostkowki's kick on fourth and one from the seven, the Pats may have missed another opportunity. The offense was on the field initially for the fourth-down try, and Cassel ran a quarterback sneak; it appeared that he may have gotten the distance the team needed.

The play was whistled dead, however - Bill Belichick had called for a timeout, New England's final one of the game, negating Cassel's dive.

"We didn't get a real good look at the spot, and once we saw what the distance was, we thought it was too far to go for the quarterback sneak," Belichick said.

Then there was Thomas. Likely the quietest Patriot in the locker room, he was flagged for pushing a Colts' player after the whistle (television replays showed that it was Robert Mathis); the penalty yardage pushed the Patriots out of field-goal range.

"Obviously they called it and I feel that it was a critical mistake by me and it really cost the team," Thomas said.

At the end of the night, only three accepted penalties had been called, with just one against Indianapolis, a false start call at the end of the first half. The Patriots' players didn't seem convinced that that was the Colts' only misdeed in the game.

"This is one of those tough games where you really have to watch what you say because fines come out on Wednesday," Randy Moss said.

Outside of the Thomas and Gaffney plays, or misplays, as it were, New England did alright for itself. Matt Cassel overall played solidly, completing more than 73 percent of his passes (25 for 34) for 204 yards, though he didn't complete a pass to Moss until the second half.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis earned his second start and ran more effectively than he had last week against the Rams, particularly on a hard-fought six-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

Kevin Faulk averaged six yards per carry, and even got in a little work at quarterback: twice the snap from Dan Koppen went to him, with the first resulting in a five-yard carry. On the second try, he passed to Wes Welker, but the Colts weren't fooled and Welker was taken down for a two-yard loss.

And the defense had to withstand another injury to a member of the secondary, this time to the left wrist or hand of rookie Terrence Wheatley, but performed well. Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes totaled just 47 yards rushing, though Peyton Manning completed more than 72 percent of his passes.

New England didn't give up any big plays, as it has in recent weeks, but the big issue last night was on third down, as the Colts converted six of 10 chances.

"It was a competitive game; this is like a rivalry game, a division game," linebacker Adalius Thomas said. "[But] when you lose, nothing is really good enough. They are an explosive team. They made plays and we didn't."

On paper, the Patriots made all the right moves. In the standings, however, they absorbed a loss.

smanza@projo.com