01:00 AM EST on Friday, November 26, 2004

BY TOM E. CURRAN
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO -- Aside from Corey Dillon, the best addition made by the Patriots in the offseason was Josh Miller. The former Pittsburgh punter, who was signed as a free agent, has a gross average (the punt before the return) of 45.3 yards and a net average (punt minus return) of 37.6 yards. He's dumped 11 of his 30 punts inside the 20 and he's had just three touchbacks. He's second in the AFC in gross average, third in net. Were it not for a punt-return touchdown by the Bills two weeks ago, Miller would likely be in second in net average.

Last week against the Chiefs, Miller punted twice to the dangerous Dante Hall. On the first, he hung it up beautifully and angled it against the sideline making Hall a sitting duck for Dexter Reid, a very solid rookie kick coverage man. On the second, Miller knifed the ball out of bounds at the Chiefs' 18.

"They did a great job covering and when you play starters on coverage teams, that's what happens," said Miller.

"I think Josh has had a good year for us," said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. "He really has. He did a nice job with the hang time on Hall last week and directional kicking. The holding has been good. Adam [Vinatieri] has kicked well and that was also part of (Miller's) job in replacing Kenny [Walters] as a holder as well as a punter. I think he has been really solid for us all the way through the year."

This week, the Patriots face another dangerous returner in Baltimore's B.J. Sams. "Sams is a pretty complete guy back there," said Belichick. "Number one, he has some power. He is a strong runner. He breaks a lot of tackles. [He] runs with good body lean. He definitely doesn't go down easy. He has speed. He has good run vision. He has broken returns pretty much in every area. He has just gone in there and hit it and run through people. He has bounced it outside and outrun people to the perimeter. He cuts the ball back. He looks pretty good doing a lot of things."

That means the pressure is on Miller again. Fortunately, he says he's dealing better with that these days.

"It took 34 years for me to figure this out but when (the Patriots signed me), I didn't have to do anything I didn't do before," he explained. "Usually I'd think I needed to show them a whole new me -- do something totally crazy, kick it 5 yards farther. They just said, 'Do what you're doing (in Pittsburgh) here.' So I've just tried to be relaxed and calm and not hurt the team. This is a Super Bowl team and I'm fortunate to have been asked to come here. My punting could be better and it will be."

Sanders still a concern

"Prime-time" has seen little time since injuring his hamstring and this week may be the same deal since cornerback Deion Sanders is listed as questionable for Sunday's game.

People were dubious when Sanders left the comfort of his network perch and joined the Ravens, but he has been a factor when he's played.

"He is a phenomenal athlete," said Baltimore coach Brian Billick. He has "an incredible work ethic. Injuries, as we have seen for us, are going to happen regardless of age or position. The injury that happened to Deion was going to happen to anybody, regardless of age. We will be glad when we have him back because he is a big part of what we are able to do on that back end."

Said Belichick, Deion "has his own unique style of play and that's created a lot of problems in itself. But, Deion can run and so it is hard to get behind him. He has a tendency to play off [the receiver], so you are not really thinking about running by him anyway. But when he is off, he is really able to close quickly on the patterns that are in front of him. He does a nice job of pressing the receivers, again with his long arms and his speed, so it is kind of hard to get away from him. He has several different things that he does and you are never sure exactly what you are going to get out there. Each one is tough and brings its own elements with it. But you can't even count on that.

"The worst thing about playing with him is, if you throw the ball in his area deep, he is going to intercept it. It is not going to be an incomplete pass. You are not going to get out of there with a foul ball. Then, you better hope he doesn't run it back for a touchdown. He will make you pay for a mistake."

Tough road ahead

The Ravens schedule gets fairly nasty down the stretch as they play three challenging road games -- at New England, at Pittsburgh and at Indianapolis.

"If it doesn't kill us off, we have the chance to be certainly battle tested," said Billick. "Going into the playoffs, the mantra I always have for my players is that even if you get home field advantage, at some point, even the Super Bowl is played on the road. So, at some point you have to play well on the road and that is the challenge for this team."

Squib kicks

Even though he had just one catch for three yards on Monday, Patriots wide receiver David Givens is still seventh in the AFC in receiving yardage with 713 yards. . . . Dillon, two yards from 1,000 yards, trails AFC leader Edgerrin James by 83 yards in rushing. . . . The Ravens have 576 interception return yards. The team in second in interception returns? Houston with 302.