New England has trailed just three times at halftime since the start of its 21-game winning streak.

01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, October 26, 2004

By TOM E. CURRAN
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO -- If Red Auerbach were coaching these New England Patriots, the Celtics coaching legend could light his victory stogie on the way to the locker room at halftime.

This New England team is so efficient in the first 30 minutes that by the time the third quarter starts, it's usually all over but the shouting for their opponents.

They open the game well. The Pats have scored on four of six opening possessions this season.

They're even better at closing halves. They've scored five out of six times on their final drive before the break.

So accomplished are these Patriots at taking control early, they've trailed at halftime just three times (against Tennessee and Denver last year and against the Colts in the opener this year) since their 21-game winning streak started. They've been tied at the half twice (Cleveland last year and Buffalo this year) since their streak started.

And they are incredibly efficient when leading after halftime, having won their last 19 when up at the break dating back to 2002. If they're on top after the third? Collect your things, they've won 32 in a row going back to 2001.

Getting things done at the start of

games hasn't always been a given. In recent seasons, the Pats had issues converting their opening drives into scores, head coach Bill Belichick acknowledged yesterday.

But this season it's been smooth, including Sunday's 13-7 win over the Jets, when Adam Vinatieri closed the Pats first drive with a 41-yard field goal.

"That's the way you want to start it," said Belichick. "We tell the team sometimes on Friday and at the latest on Saturday and again on Sunday morning, 'This is the way we'll start the game. This is the sequence. Some of [the play calls] are situational -- the first third-and-long is this; the first third-and-short will be that -- but we make sure they're prepared so they know what to expect on those plays. [They know], 'If we get this look, this is what happens; if we get that look, this is what happens.' You want to make sure you start the game in a positive way and with the best execution you can have.

"Credit comes down to the execution of the offensive team across the board," Belichick said. "When it doesn't happen, it's been very disappointing. You say, 'These are the first plays we'll run,' then you go out and run them and have major problems."

Those instances have been rare, thanks to top-notch preparation. And Belichick cited preparation as the key to the Pats' success at running the two-minute drill before the half. In fact, the prep was so good last week, New England acted out a scenario during their two-minute drills on Friday that they ended up facing against the Jets. It was just a happy coincidence, Belichick said.

"When you do two-minute drills you cover every situation [in the course of the season]," he said. "You pick one out [to practice on Fridays] but the chances of that one coming up in that game probably aren't good. This week, the situation on Friday was identical to the one at end of half. That's way [offensive coordinator Charlie Weis] scripted it, and that's the way it turned out."

The Patriots took over at their own 38 with 1:49 left and two timeouts. It took them two plays to go 28 yards -- a 14-yard pass to Bethel Johnson and a 24-yard catch-and-run to Kevin Faulk. When lineman Dan Koppen got whistled for a false start with 58 seconds left and the Pats at New York's 24, the coaching staff had a decision. Pre-snap offensive penalties in the final two minutes of a half or the fourth quarter result in the offense either being charged with a timeout or having 10 seconds run off the clock. This is done to prevent the offense from intentionally stopping the clock with penalties when they have no timeouts.

"We could have taken the timeout and bought 10 seconds back," said Belichick. "Had it been 38 [seconds] instead of 58, the decision would have been obvious. But at 58, it could have gone either way."

The Pats sacrificed 10 seconds and had first-and-15 from the 30 with 48 seconds left. Completions to Faulk and David Patten got them to New York's 14. Brady threw to Faulk for one yard, then threw incomplete to Faulk on second down. But Jets defensive lineman DeWayne Robertson got whistled for a questionable roughing-the-passer call and the Pats had first-and-goal at the Jets' 7 instead of a third-and-9 at the 13. A trap play with 14 seconds left got nothing and the Patriots called their final timeout.

During Friday's practice, the Patriots ran a set of red zone, two-minute plays and neither Weis nor Belichick liked the way they looked against the New England scout team, which was running New York defenses.

"We revised [the play] Friday, went over it on Saturday and, ironically, it came up exactly the way we planned it," Belichick continued.

On second-and-goal with 11 seconds left, Brady hit Patten for a 7-yard score.

"It's a good thing we talked about it because it probably resulted in more points," said Belichick. "Good job by Charlie with the mental telepathy."

The fact the Pats got seven points instead of three on that drive made a difference later on. Otherwise, New York -- which held the Pats scoreless in the second half -- would have been coming back from 9-7 late in the game instead of 13-7 and a field-goal attempt would have been in the picture on the Jets' last drive instead of a desperation pass by Chad Pennington on fourth-and-8.

"Every time we do the two-minute drill in practice we learn something as coaches and players," Belichick said. "It seems like there's always a teaching point that comes out of there. The question is if it ever comes up in the game or not. You can go 12 games and it never happens. This one was fresh in our minds."

And the execution wasn't half-bad, either.