01:00 AM EST on Monday, November 24, 2003

HOUSTON -- Cheer first. The Patriots deserve it, because they're now 9-2. And you deserve one, too, if you rode the emotional rollercoaster yesterday for 3 hours and 44 minutes worth of exciting and frustrating, thrilling and irritating, mistake-filled but ultimately satisfying football.

Although if you'd rather heave a sigh of relief, that would certainly be both permissible and understandable, given the way the Pats won their seventh straight under the retractable roof at Reliant Stadium over Houston's more tenacious than talented Texans.

"It doesn't always go perfectly," said Pats QB Tom Brady. "It's all about finding ways to get it done when you're not perfect."

The Patriots were far from perfect yesterday. But they found a way to get past the Texans in a game in which it seemed as if they were determined to find a way to lose, despite outgaining Houston by the whopping margin of 472 yards to 169 while controlling the clock for 43:50 compared to the Texans' 30:29.

"Statistically," New England defensive end Richard Seymour said, "we should have blown them out."

Instead, the Patriots almost blew it.

They almost threw it away, as Brady had an interception in the third quarter that set up one Houston touchdown, and a foolish fumble in the fourth quarter when he was sacked while trying to pass that led to another TD for the Texans. He also got away with an interception in overtime that was nullified by a holding penalty against Houston.

The Patriots almost kicked it away, as the usually steady but suddenly shaky Adam Vinatieri missed the first indoor field goal of his NFL career at the end of the first half, then had a 37-yarder blocked in the opening minutes of overtime.

Struggling punter Ken Walter also had a hand -- or foot, as the case may be -- in the Pats' near giveway. He not only had a kick blocked in the fourth quarter that handed Houston an easy field goal, but also, with 5:50 left in overtime, managed only a 31-yard boot out of the end zone, giving Texas possession at the Patriots' 35.

That was when the New England defense, as it has so often this season, bailed out the team in a big way.

They'd already held Houston to a field goal after the Texans had first-and-goal inside the 1 in the first quarter.

"That was big for us," Seymour said. "That was huge. Especially when you look back on the game now."

While the Texas were disappointed to come away with only three points in that situation, they'll look back on the fact they came up empty following Walters's poor punt in o.t. as being much worse.

"All we were trying to do," said Houston center Steve McKinney, "was set up for a field goal. We didn't feel like we had to get any yards. We felt like Kris (Brown) was good from 52."

The Texans not only didn't gain any yards, they wound up losing five, thanks to Willie McGinest, who stopped rookie running back Domanick Davis for no gain on first down, then burst into the backfield to drop him for a 5-yard loss on the next play. Following an incompletion, the Texans had to punt.

"Our defense is awesome," Vinatieri said. "They stopped two drives in overtime. One of them started at our 35, and they still made 'em punt. They're unbelievable."

What bordered on the unbelievable was that the Titans would have any chance to win the game, given their massive deficits in terms of total yardage and time of possession.

"When you have turnovers," said Pats running back Kevin Faulk, "it's like giving the game away. But that was just another obstacle that we overcame."

Faulk, who has had problems with turnovers in the past, was sure-handed and quick-footed yesterday while playing what may have been his best game in his five years in New England.

Not only did he carry the ball 23 times for a game-high 80 yards, but he also led all receivers with 8 catches for 108 yards, as well as making two fair catches on punts in overtime, both deep in New England territory, where fumbles would have been disastrous.

"Kevin had a great day," Pats coach Bill Belichick said. "He really gave us some sparks, both running the ball and catching it. He also showed a lot of toughness picking up linebackers when they blitzed."

It wasn't a great day for the Patriots, but it was a great win.

"I didn't think we played particularly well," Belichick said. "We had problems in the red zone. We had problems in the kicking game. We had problems with turnovers. But we have a lot of tough guys in that locker room who did enough things to win."

"Sometimes," Brady said, "it looks better than others."

This was one of those times when the Patriots weren't at their best. But, at 9-2, they're looking pretty darn good.