SAN DIEGO—If the Patriots were able to get out of San Diego with a win on Sunday night a more than reasonable argument could be made that New England was still the class of the AFC. With a 4-1 record and an easy schedule, fans could start dreaming of a one seed and maybe, just maybe, start looking at hotel prices in Tampa. Okay, there weren’t any 55-10 wins or 50 TD passes on the horizon, but things seemed back to normal after a solid 30-21 victory over the 49ers last week.

After a 30-10 beating at the hands of the Chargers, however, reality set in quickly.

Any aura of greatness left over from 2007 is completely extinguished.

Welcome to the middle of the NFL.

“It is what it is,” said Rodney Harrison following the loss, the second blowout the Patriots have suffered in the last three games. “We are not going to blow teams out by 25 points. We aren’t going to average 38 points a game. We are not that kind of team. We are going to have to scratch and fight just to stay in each game.”

To expect the Patriots to get close to the level of play from last season is crazy, of course. One Bernard Pollard hit saw to that. But to be embarrassed first by Miami and the Wildcats, and then to a team that the Patriots have owned over the last two seasons is a serious red flag at best.

“We need to do more,” said head coach Bill Belichick after the loss, which dropped the Patriots to 3-2 and a game behind the Bills in the AFC East. “The San Diego Chargers were better than the New England Patriots tonight. That’s across the board.”

This was a game absolutely controlled by San Diego from the start. Philip Rivers (who was brilliant throughout the contest with 302 yards passing and three TD passes) hit Vincent Jackson with a 48-yard pass on the first play from scrimmage. That set the tone for a first quarter that saw the Chargers post 154 yards of offense (against just 57 for New England) and grab a 10-0 lead that was never really challenged. It was 17-3 at halftime and the Pats went to the locker room looking for answers that were not found.

“Give credit to the Chargers,” said Belichick. “They outplayed us in all three phases of the game. We need to work harder and and just do a better job all the way around. It is as simple as that.”

The Patriots started the second half with designs to make this a competitive contest. Matt Cassel completed five-of-six passes for 65 yards to get to the San Diego one-yard line with a first-and-goal that should have led to a TD that would have made the game 17-10. The ghost of Larry Kennan, however, was in the air as the Patriots inexplicably called three passing plays and saw their scoring hopes end with a Ryon Bingham sack of Cassel on fourth down. The Chargers promptly took over and marched 98 yards in four plays to take a 24-3 lead and put this game on ice.

“We couldn’t get it in,” lamented Belichick of the goal-line ineptitude. “That’s why they won tonight. They made more plays than we did, and made them down on the goal line.”

“After that happened,” Harrison said, “It sucked the wind out of us and we were done.”

This was a potential season-saving win for the Chargers over a much-loathed opponent. Think about the Patriots’ dominance over San Diego in the last 22 months. They have won in the warm weather and cold weather. They beat Marty and then they beat Norv. In blowouts and thrillers. They won with a terrible WR corps (Reche Caldwell) and with the Randy Moss-Wes Welker juggernaut. They beat them in the regular season and the postseason. Pre-Spygate, the week of Spygate and post-Spygate. On CBS, NBC and CBS again. This was truly, for San Diego, the definition of a must-win. They played with the intensity the game deserved. The Patriots played with the intensity of a team that has been on vacation in California for a week.

“This was obviously a big game for us,” noted Rivers. “We didn’t intentionally downplay it. It wasn’t necessarily a payback game; it does not replace the three losses. But it was big to beat those guys, I won’t deny it.”

The loss to Miami three weeks ago could have been dismissed as a fluke before tonight, an inability to stop a play that they may not see again this year. But now that performance joins the season opener (a close home win over a Kansas City team that is on a collision course with 4-12) and the loss to the Bolts as proof that this is no longer a team that deserves to be considered among the NFL’s best. They are what most teams in the league are today—capable of beating any team and capable of losing to any team.

“We’re going to move on and we’re going to get better this week.” Cassell (22-of-38, 203 yards) noted. “We are going to continue to work hard.”

Hard work is swell but it is not going to be a panacea for what is hurting this team. Hard work is not going to make Deltha O’Neal (torched several times last night) 6’4. Hard work isn’t going to make Tedy Bruschi 26 years old. Hard work isn’t going to solve the ongoing mystery that is Laurence Maroney (inactive last night with shoulder problems) and his lingering “issues”. And hard work will not make Cassel into Tom Brady.

“It’s over and done with,” said Harrison. “This year's team is totally different than last year’s team.”

And that is where the problem starts.

Kirk Minihane is a WEEI.com Contributor.