Well put, because the Patriots have another big game on the horizon this weekend when they face division-rival Miami on the road in a game that could either end the AFC East race or make it tight down the stretch.

Thanks to Miami's ugly loss to Buffalo last weekend, the Patriots still have a two-game edge over the Dolphins. A win by the Patriots makes it three with four games to go. Barring an epic collapse, Sunday's game could be the unofficial end of the AFC East race.

That, however, isn't the ultimate goal. The Patriots entered the season with Super Bowl aspirations, but they've stumbled at times and now sit at 7-4 with all four losses coming on the road.

The Patriots realize they need to clean up their act in order to earn a first-round playoff bye, which, at the moment, might be a pipe dream, but the real pressing issue is securing a noteworthy road win at some point. Sunday would be a great time to start.

"The ultimate goal is something you set out early in the season," Brady said. "It's the reason why we're all here, trying to commit ourselves to winning Super Bowls and so forth. But that's not the goal for this week. This week is to beat Miami and to play a better game than we played last week."

With all the doom and gloom surrounding the organization right now, Brady also took the time to remind everyone that the Patriots are still in an envious position since they've got what appears to be a safe lead in the division and a playoff berth all but locked up.

"We're 7-4, you know? We're ahead two games in the division. The season is not lost by any stretch," he said.

"When you don't play good football, you lose games. I don't think that's a new revelation for any of us. When we don't play well, we lose. That's happened four times this year. We've also won seven games. We got five games left.

"The season isn't decided yet at all. We're still trying to make improvements, and there's a lot of things that are going to happen over the course of the next five weeks. We're in a good position in terms of our division. A win this week would do a lot for us. So that makes it a critical game for us."

The first step toward securing that win would be to shore up the pass defense, which allowed five touchdown passes by Drew Brees on Monday night. The good news is the Patriots believe their mistakes are correctable, which could mean bad news for the Dolphins.

"We've got to use whatever emotions we had at the end of the game to understand those are the emotions you have when you don't play well," Brady said. "Hopefully, we don't feel that way again. We've got to move forward to Miami, who's a tough opponent.

"I know everyone wants to talk about last week's game, but that was last week's game. I'm not so concerned with last week's game at this point. I've moved on to Miami. The mourning period is over. That game has come and gone. 'Let's go play Miami' -- I think that's the attitude in the locker room."

SERIES HISTORY: 86th regular-season meeting. Dolphins lead series 48-37. The Patriots have won 11 of the last 16 meetings, including a win earlier this season at Gillette Stadium. On the road, the Patriots have struggled at Miami with an 11-32 record, though most of those losses have come in September and October.