FOXBORO - Bill Belichick demands nothing less than exceptional play from his team, so when the New England Patriots' second-half defense in Miami didn't measure up to Belichick's standards, he let the unit know about it.

Message heard, loud and clear.

The defense brought its "A" game against the Washington Redskins, not allowing them inside the New England 20-yard line until late in the third quarter, forcing four turnovers, and holding them to just 13 first downs and 22:11 in possession time in a 52-7 pasting at Gillette Stadium.

New England's win, coupled with the Colts' road win over Carolina, sets up a showdown of undefeateds on Sunday in Indianapolis.

While the offense did its thing as usual on Sunday -- Tom Brady once again threw for three touchdowns, to three different receivers, giving him a career-high 30 for the season, and ran for two more -- the defense played a large role in the win as well, flummoxing still-green Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell.

"Particularly in the second half, we weren't really focused in Miami," Rodney Harrison said. "So the emphasis was on coming out fast, trying to create some turnovers, and just trying to tackle better."

The Patriots were in Campbell's face from the first play of the game, when his pass attempt was batted down by linebacker Rosevelt Colvin.

Before the first half was out, New England had denied the Redskins on five of eight third-down tries -- twice by Mike Vrabel screaming off the edge and stripping Campbell of the ball; Ty Warren recovered both times.

"It was like I was out there Easter egg hunting, or picking up a golden egg," Warren said.

A second-quarter second-and-14 ended with Asante Samuel picking off a pass intended for James Thrash, his fourth pick of the season.

But with the Pats up 24-0 through the first 30 minutes, the second half would be the true test for the defense.

Ellis Hobbs said any potential second-half letdown was taken care of at halftime, when up and down the locker room players on offense and defense were reminding each other not to let up.

The offense kept its part of the bargain, grinding out a 13-play, 85-yard drive off the intermission, and then Vrabel got to Campbell again. This time, it was Colvin scooping up the loose ball and returning it 11 yards for a touchdown.

Ten minutes into the half, New England was up 38-0.

"From our standpoint, we just couldn't get anything going out there today," Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said. "Looking across [the sidelines], I don't know of a weakness that they have. I was hoping we could make some plays and get ourselves going, but we couldn't."

Washington got on the scoreboard late in the fourth, when the Patriots had subbed out some of their first-team defenders.

Just to underscore that they had no interest in easing up, New England twice went for it on fourth down in the fourth quarter. The first was on fourth and 1 from the Washington seven, when Brady (29 for 38, 306 yards, three touchdowns, one sack) kept the ball for a two-yard pickup, and the second was on fourth and 2 from the Washington 37, when Matt Cassel dumped off to Jabar Gaffney and it became a 21-yard gain.

Belichick was asked what his philosophy was in going for it with his team up by such a large margin on those plays, and he retorted, "What did you want us to do, kick a field goal? It's fourth down. [We're] just out there playing."

Playing football, playing with their opponents, playing with history.