01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, September 20, 2005

FOXBORO -- We are not used to this, of course.

Not used to sitting here on the day after a Patriots' loss. Not used to watching the Patriots self-destruct on television, looking like any other generic NFL team, not the one that's won back-to-back Super Bowls. Not used to sitting here inside Gillette Stadium on a Monday morning listening to Bill Belichick trying to explain a rash of penalties and no running game and an afternoon that got away from him in the fourth quarter. Trying to explain it all just like any other coach and not a guy who already has made a reservation at the Football Hall of Fame.

"We just have to do a better job of coaching and playing in all three aspects of the game," he said.

Got that?

"We just have to do a better job," he continued. "That's all there is to it."

That about sum it up?

He was standing at the podium in a cut-off gray sweatshirt saying how his team has to improve everything, in a tone of

a guy talking about the yard chores he's got to do the rest of the week. No emotion. Low key. Sounding as if he were reading off a list. As though he had watched the film, knew what the sins were, and now it was simply time to move on to the next week and try to play better.

Vintage Belichick.

The irony is that where once this was perceived as a weakness, now it's perceived as a strength. Remember? Remember when his lack of charisma was viewed as a negative, back in his first coaching stint with the Browns? Back when there were questions about whether he ever was going to make the leap from great defensive coordinator to great head coach? Remember when he was criticized for not acting like the coaches we've come to revere, all those jut-jawed, larger-than-life types, the ones who have charisma running off them like sweat?

Now that's all changed. Winning three of the last four Super Bowls will do that. So will being acknowledged as the best coach in the NFL.

Ultimately, it's all perception.

Now we are very familiar with Belichick's coaching persona, have come to learn that not only does it not make any difference what his style is, his style obviously works for him. That, too, is what winning brings. It trumps charisma. It trumps colorful one-liners. It trumps everything. Belichick could spend game day sitting next to owner Bob Kraft in a luxury box and we would say, yup, that makes sense, gives him a better view of the field. The point is, he's created his own style. With his sweatshirts and his low-key demeanor, his stoic game face and his postgame analysis that cuts through all the pretense, even if he doesn't speak in sound-bites.

Call it an anti-style.

We just have to do a better job of coaching and playing in all three aspects of the game.

We just have to do a better job. That's all there is to it.

Not exactly 'Win one for the Gipper,' is it?

All losing coaches sound similar these days, like they've all been to the same seminar, but Belichick long ago turned it into an art form.

So we come to him looking for answers, but of course there are none. Not really. None that he's going to reveal, anyway. And maybe there are no mysteries when you have six false-start penalties, give up a 76-yard punt return, can't run the ball, and give up 27 points to boot. Maybe you didn't have to come of age breaking down film like Belichick did to realize that in the NFL, teams that make a lot of mistakes usually lose, no matter what their pedigree. The line between winning and losing is simply too thin.

But we've also come to know one other thing about Belichick, the most important thing: he will make this team better. They will become smarter, will make fewer mistakes, will play better. Maybe not next week against the Steelers in another tough place to play. But soon. We know this.

This is the benefit of the doubt he gets, one that comes from those three rings. The benefit of the doubt this team gets, even if it's a new year and we know that each year is different, new mysteries to set out to solve. This is why there is no panic after Sunday's loss, no doubts. This is why we give the Patriots a pass on Sunday, chalk it up to just one of those games, a game when they didn't play well, case closed.

This is why Belichick doesn't have to prove anything to us, why he could stand there inside Gillette Stadium yesterday. Why he could say that everyone has to do a better job, him included, and we all nod our heads in agreement.

We have to play better

Yes, they do.

Is there anyone out there who doubts they will?