FOXBOROUGH, Ma s. -- Sometimes the most creative thing to do is the same old thing.Acro s the country, the reverberations from were still shaking the league Sunday night. By then, the were already draining the drama from the AFC Championship Game as steadily as the New England downpour that doused the evening, running right at the , just as they had in dominating wins earlier this season and last. was not really nece sary, just a nifty wrinkle unveiled after using extra linemen all season -- particularly in these two games against the -- but only to power the run before. That will be useful for two weeks, giving the something else to ponder when they plan for a team so versatile and opponent-specific that they without a called George Kittle Jersey run in the second half, and with those heavy lines escorting to three touchdowns to complement 's three touchdown to ses.The , it turned out, were no real match for the , not in personnel or preparation. hasn't yet solved Belichick's defense, throwing 10 interceptions in four career games against the . But what this did was establish the -- in their sixth trip to the with Belichick and -- as a worthy foe for the defending champions, in a game so full of stars who rise to the moment that the edge might go to whichever coach is more aggre sive, whoever thinks furthest outside the box."It will be a defensive game," said , the cornerback who played for the last season. "I don't want to say too much. I've been thinking about this for months. Ali-Frazier, if that's what you want to call it Nick Bosa Jersey . I call it -."That will be good enough. This will be the ' third chance to win their fourth -- to extend a dynasty by halting a nascent one in the Pacific Northwest -- but even if they fail in Glendale, as they did against the at the end of the 2007 season, their consistency, shape-shifting all the while, has been staggering. In the locker room after the game, as players posed for pictures with the Lamar Hunt Trophy and danced, team owner Robert Kraft said he thought Belichick and Brady should be considered the best ever. Kraft is biased of course, particularly because he fired the coach who will be on the opposing sideline, , and replaced him with Belichick. It is hard to argue with Kraft's a se sment, nonethle s. Brady will be the first quarterback to start six s and Belichick, with 21 victories, is now the winningest coach in Elijah Mitchell Jersey postseason history.But it is the offensive line that, this season, has been a microcosm of what has sustained the since 2001 -- an ability and willingne s to switch personas, to go from a defense-reliant team when Brady was first taking over, to one fueled by an explosive offense that featured Brady and Randy Mo s in a spread attack and now one that shows remarkable balance. All have been succe sful to varying degrees, although almost all degrees of succe s have eclipsed other teams for 14 years.Earlier this season, the offensive line was largely blamed for the ' struggles, particularly in a to the that sunk the to 2-2, called Brady's future into question and that Kraft called the worst lo s he had felt with Belichick as coach. But in , the line stabilized as the settled on the correct combination of players. The end result is a line that has protected Brady as it did , when he attempted 50 pa ses (even after center was hurt), and steamrolled opponents like the to give life to a running game that accumulated 177 yards on Jerry Rice Jersey 40 carries this week. Since that shaky start, and since Belichick declared that the were New England has gone 12-2, before to close out the regular season."It's a game-by-game basis and whatever works best is what we're going to do," said offensive tackle , who was surprised to hear he was declared eligible, by one count, 28 times against the . "Today with the extra lineman, going in to try to pound the ball, it worked best. I think they wanted to see if we could grind the ball out, take some time off the clock."In practice, Fleming was the designated receiver on the pa s that Solder caught Sunday night. The way the operate puts pre sure on the players to be prepared for a variety of roles. They rarely play the same way two weeks in a row, and even on Sunday, Belichick said that running against Indy this time was much more difficult than it was in the regular season, when rumbled through the . Even , who has often seemed like the most important non-quarterback in the NFL, caught just three pa ses Sunday, an improbable stat line for a blowout."That's what practice is for," Fleming said. "Of course we adjust. We trust the coaches that it will work -- and it usually does."Yes, it usually does. The ' defense will present a unique challenge because of its size and physicality, and it will likely try to brutalize the ' pa sing game the way it . The need only look at the to know the importance of keeping their feet firmly planted on the gas when they have the ball. The truth, though, is that Belichick has never needed that reminder. Whether he goes with six linemen or four, with a run-heavy Kyle Juszczyk Jersey game plan or a pa s-happy one, the befuddle opponents who struggle to figure out which version of the they will get. It might not matter. With a smile in the rain, Belichick said the were on to Seattle. If it goes anything like the last time the turned the page, the , winners of eight straight, might not recognize their opponent -- or the results they deliver. Follow Judy Battista on Twitter .
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New England Patriots display shape-shifting brilliance on O-line
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