FOXBORO -- In 2003, the Patriots probably had their best assemblage of defensive talent. The 2004 defense might have been a smidge behind in talent, but it had huge reserves of resourcefulness. But no group trusted each other better or had more collective confidence than the 2001 Patriots.

That group worked like there were 11 guys sharing one brain. From the defensive ends to the corners, from the linebackers to the nickel backs, defenders felt free to play with abandon because they knew their teammates would be covering for them. It wasn't anything spoken, it was understood.

One of the signature plays from Super Bowl XXXVI was the Mike Vrabel pressure (and head slap) on Rams quarterback Kurt Warner. Corner Ty Law knew Vrabel was bringing heat and when he saw Warner getting hurried, he sniffed out the underthrow and jumped the route. The Rams receiver hadn't even turned around when the ball was nearly in Law's hands. The play resulted in a touchdown. Scores of plays unfolded like that. And a move the team made earlier in the season was a catalyst for it.

After the 24-17 home loss to the Rams, the Patriots went almost exclusively to the 4-3 defense with Tedy Bruschi at middle linebacker. Bruschi was in his sixth season and while his value was unmistakable, his value as a linebacker was still under some suspicion.

Was he an inside guy or an outside guy? Was he big enough to stop the run? Could he get to the passer on blitzes even though he wasn't the ideal height? Could this converted college defensive end be expected to be the nerve center of the defense?

He could, and he has. And he's been able to do it because he developed tremendous instincts and anticipation. This season, Bruschi will be inside and his likely running mate will be Monty Beisel, who struggled last season. Some of that was his fault. Some of it was tied to the fact that Chad Brown -- the other inside starter in 2005 -- was completely overmatched and Beisel was trying to take care of his responsibilities and Brown's at times. Beisel's anticipation is not yet very good.

"Tedy's played in this system a lot more than Monty has," Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said. "Tedy's instinctively a very good inside linebacker. He reads plays quickly and he understands our system very well and knows where he fits on everything. Monty does, too, he just hasn't had as much experience as Tedy has.

"It has to become a more instinctive natural thing for him (as it was) in Kansas City or playing down in college. It's part of the process. When Bruschi got here in 1996, playing inside was a big adjustment. He wasn't very good at it and didn't play very much, but it's hard to go from one system to another when they're different. Monty made some progress last year and he's already way ahead of where he was last year."

Trust in your teammates is perhaps the greatest key to success in team sports. It's the reason players with good individual skills so often join forces to beat teams that are made up of all-stars. To generalize, good players know how to defer and support. They also know when to take lead roles. Great players are accustomed to asserting themselves and aren't used to secondary roles. They can make great singular plays, but they can also leave teammates hanging out to dry when they freelance and are unpredictable.

"When you're confident, you can be more aggressive and you can be more assertive," said Belichick. "When you're less confident, you don't want to make mistakes and it tends to slow you down a little bit. Optimally on the football field you want everybody to know what they're doing, be confident in what they're doing, be confident in what the people beside them are doing so they can just be aggressive and do their job. Whether it's a quarterback throwing the ball because he knows where the guy's gonna be . . . whether it's a linebacker filling the gap or a defensive back jumping a route because he knows he's protected in the coverage."

Beisel, a coach's son from Kansas who played defensive end at Kansas State and then spent four seasons with the Chiefs, appreciates the chemistry the unit has to have.

"The thing about this defense more than any other is it's 11 guys," he said. "Everybody's got their responsibilities and you're counting on the guy beside you have to hold their gap. Eventually the runner comes into it. In a 4-3 (alignment) a guy can get beat but you can still make a play across the face (of the man who's blocking you) and make a play."

With Bruschi, Mike Vrabel and Rosevelt Colvin in the linebacker group with Beisel, there's a lot of subtlety that can be used.

"It's awesome to play with a guy like (Bruschi) and it gives everyone a big boost of confidence," said Beisel. "There's a lot of synchronization. There are a lot of moving parts and knowing the whole defense is important. If the outside linebacker is trying to get something done and I want to creep in and give a certain look to (distract the offense), that's something I can do. Communication is key.

"I learned very early last year it's a very patient defense. You're not going to make the plays by beating somebody. The play has to come to you. And when it comes to you, you have to make that play."

tcurran@projo.com / (401) 277-7340