01:00 AM EST on Monday, October 27, 2003

FOXBORO -- They scored only nine points, and whatever style points they had came on defense.

But the most important point to remember about what, to fans of wide-open football was a forgettable game, is that the Patriots are 6-2 midway through a 2003 season in which a look at their injury list from week-to-week would prompt you to think they ought to be 2-6.

The Pats now are halfway to the playoffs, and there's never anything boring about winning.

Because they beat the offensively-overmatched Browns, holding them to a single field goal and allowing them to cross midfield only once, this latest Patriots' victory has to be considered hard-fought rather than dull.

Because they won, what could have been mind-numbing instead was stimulating. Rather than putting fans to sleep, it kept them on the edge of their seats. Instead of drab, it was exciting. And very satisfying -- if not aesthetically, than at least in terms of the AFC East standings.

"That's all you're looking for in this league -- to find a way to win," coach Bill Belichick said.

That's what the Patriots have done the past four Sundays, and six of the last seven. They've found a way to win.

They've done it more on tenacity and toughness than talent. They've done it by paying minute attention to preparation during the week and then, on game day, coming through with 60 minutes of intelligent execution.

"We've got to do everything right each week to give ourselves our best chance," Belichick said. "We can't just roll it out there."

The Patriots aren't good enough nor healthy enough to win simply by showing up. Not even against a Cleveland team with injury problems of its own -- top running back William Green was sidelined yesterday, along with several starters along the offensive line -- that came in ranked 28th in total offense.

The New England offense obviously wasn't at its best yesterday, but there certainly wasn't anything wrong with the Patriots' smothering defense.

Bolstered by the return of linebacker Mike Vrabel, who had three sacks, cornerback Ty Law, whose interception at the N.E. 25 in the final minute clinched the win, and Willie McGinest, the Pats kept the Browns bottled up in their own end of the field almost the entire game.

"They played a lot of different looks," said Cleveland quarterback Tim Couch, who had to leave the game late in the second quarter with a sprained thumb on his throwing hand. "They do things to challenge you mentally."

His replacement, Kelly Holcomb, who's still recuperating from a broken leg and injuries to both ankles, said: "I got confused a couple of times."

The New England defense seldom looks confused. Instead, the Patriots defenders seem to know exactly what needs to be done on almost every play.

That's a tribute to Belichick, defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel, the defensive assistants, and, most of all, to the determined group of players who work so hard, not just on Sundays, but every day.

"This team prepares pretty well," Belichick said. "They know what the other teams' tendencies are, what the things are that they have to stop on a week-to-week basis."

The Patriots stopped Cleveland both on the ground and in the air. The Browns' longest pass completion was 19 yards. Their longest run was 15 yards.

"Romeo called a nice game today," Belichick said. "He kept them off balance."

In danger of falling flat on their faces early in the year, the Patriots now are on solid footing heading into the second half of the season.

"Starting out the season losing 31-0 (at Buffalo), that was tough," quarterback Tom Brady said. "We had a bunch of guys hurt after the second week and, at that point, we were 1-1 and reeling. We were saying: 'What type of team are we going to be? Is this going to be one of those years of bad luck?'

"The team made a decision then," said Brady, "that, no matter who was in there, we were going to go out and fight as hard as we could to win each game."

That's what they did yesterday, just as they'd done last week at Miami, and the week before against the Giants, and the week before that against Tennessee.

"I think we've done a good job of taking it one opponent at a time," Brady said. "It's just been: 'Hey, let's win this week.'

"We weren't thinking about Cleveland last week. We were thinking about beating Miami. And sure enough, we pulled that one out. This week, there was nothing about beating Denver (next Monday night.) It was all about beating Cleveland."

By beating the Browns, the 2003 Patriots equalled the best midseason mark in franchise history. But Belichick undoubtedly will remind his players that the last time the Pats started 6-2 was in 1999, which turned out to be Pete Carroll's last year in New England after the team went 2-6 the second half and failed to make the playoffs.

"We've won some good games," Belichick said. "We've played some tough teams and come out on top. But six wins is not going to get us anything. We're going to have to do a lot more."

The Pats want to score a lot more than nine points. But thanks to the defense, it was more than enough to win yesterday. And, as Belichick said, that's all you're looking for in the NFL.

Even if you don't look all that good doing it.