Over the past year, NBCSports.com asked more than 40 current and former athletes and coaches who they would pay to watch play. The story (http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/28752209) found some interesting responses.

FOXBORO, Mass. - Last week, it was the Patriots beaten and left bleeding on the side of the road by San Diego in front of a prime-time audience.

This week, it was the supposedly reeling Patriots shaming the AFC West leading Broncos in prime time, winning 41-7.

It just further amplifies that, in this 2008 season, a team in trouble is a temporary thing.

The Patriots aren’t as good as they looked Monday night just as they weren’t as bad as they appeared while getting whipped by the Chargers 30-10. The Broncos (thank the Lord) aren’t as bad as they looked the past two weeks in losing to the Patriots and Jacksonville.

Someone needs Dennis Green to get in here. Nobody seems to be who we thought they were and the teams themselves aren’t entirely sure either.

“One week we do great against one thing and the next week we don’t,” lamented Broncos corner Champ Bailey. “Teams, by the end of the year, you know what they’re gonna give you every week. We don’t know what the hell will happen every Sunday. We have enthusiasm but when they turn on the lights, it’s just not there.”

After starting 4-1, the Broncos — owners of one of the league’s most explosive offenses — are now 4-3. Monday night’s performance against a Patriots team that’s been struggling intermittently on both sides of the ball was alarming.

Especially to Bailey, the All-Pro corner who injured his groin in the first half and may be lost for a spell.

“The sense of urgency’s not there,” he insisted. “It’s not one thing, it’s a lot of things. We have to get better in every area of the game. We have to have a better attitude about approaching the game because right now the attitude’s not there. I can’t speak for everybody. I always have a nasty attitude and it’s not rubbing off on people and I don’t like it. It’s getting very frustrating.

“We have to get guys to understand it takes a little more to win games,” he added. “You can’t just go out there and be a body. You gotta play and play hard. We have to get that across to the whole team because you can’t get it done with the effort we had today.”

Broncos coach Mike Shanahan was asked if he had a grip on his team’s identity.

“It was pretty obvious today there’s a question mark and I’m very disappointed in how we played,” he stated.

Denver took a hit on the first play from scrimmage when quarterback Jay Cutler injured his right index finger on the helmet of an onrushing Patriots player.

But that didn’t excuse the hellacious run defense Denver exhibited, allowing Sammy Morris, Kevin Faulk and a young man named BenJarvus Green-Ellis to combine for 253 rushing yards.

No coach comes into a stadium expecting his team to get ravaged that badly. Especially when two of the opposition’s top two running backs (in this case, Laurence Maroney and Lamont Jordan) didn’t even play.

But the worries Denver took with it on its flight back across the country were the least of New England’s concerns. They were on the uptick after having been embarrassed last week.

Asked if his team had found its identity, Patriots corner Ellis Hobbs shook his head and said, “Not after one game. We need to continue to move on. Statement games are every week. You develop an identity every week.

“It’s the NFL,” he observed. “You look at a team like San Diego. They came out and dismantled us last week and then got beat by Buffalo. I keep emphasizing it: what you saw last year with this team (going 16-0 in the regular season) was an anomaly. Every week you saw a win. But this is the NFL.”

And the 2008 Patriots are just like so many other teams in this league right now. One week up. The next week down. Identity crises rampant.