Team has a bit of everything

This is the team for accountants, mathematicians, and all those who see beauty in numbers. This is the team for dreamers. This is the team for streakers (no, not that kind). This is the team for serious thinkers, motivators, practical jokers, and even gifted students who sometimes lose their focus.

All of this -- and a bunch of snow -- was on display yesterday at Gillette Stadium. Jacksonville was in town, and the Jaguars' logo became the latest symbolic brick to be placed in the stadium walls. The Patriots won, 27-13, to push their winning streak to 10.

Their 10-game streak is the longest in team history. Their 12 wins are the most in team history. They have allowed 22 points in their last five home games, which is one of the best defensive runs in any team's history. They have allowed 68 points at home, and 30 of those came in one game.

At times, the Patriot coaches must feel like teachers trying to come up with a demanding curriculum. Bill Belichick and his staff are constantly challenging the players to achieve a goal that has eluded them.

Some of the targets are obvious (win the game, don't turn the ball over). Others are directed at specific game situations. One of yesterday's Patriot challenges was to score on the opening drive. After about five minutes and 66 yards, the team had wiped another item from the coaches' charts.

But there's always something.

As much as Belichick enjoys leading a team with 12 wins, he is forever fearful of complacency and arrogance. The coach counts Jim Brown as a close friend; you would have thought he was talking about Brown when he described Jaguars running back Fred Taylor last week. Most fans probably have noticed how much Belichick has downplayed wins lately.

Remember, this was the same man who threw his headphones in the air in Miami and was extremely complimentary of everyone in Denver. Not now. He knows there are fewer dissenting national voices when it comes to the Patriots. He knows that his players can't sing the "nobody believed in us" refrain, because it seems that everyone believes lately.

So when there is even the slightest sign of a lapse, he reacts. Rookie receiver Bethel Johnson did not have a strong week of practice, so he was inactive for yesterday's game. Belichick is intrigued by Johnson's speed and potential, but not intrigued enough to put Johnson on the field when he is drifting during practice.

The coach is a fan of Tyrone Poole, who has played like a Pro Bowler at cornerback. But Poole realizes that some coach may make an example out of him this week. Poole intercepted two passes yesterday. On his second pick, he had a 44-yard return and appeared to be headed for a touchdown. He held the ball up near the 5, thinking he had a clear path to the end zone.

He didn't.

He was tackled at the 3.

An interviewer asked him if the name Leon Lett sounded familiar. He smiled. Lett is the former Cowboys defensive lineman who celebrated a touchdown too early in the Super Bowl and had the ball stripped from him on the way to a score.

"I didn't fumble," Poole said. "I wasn't in the same area [with Lett]. I may be the next-door neighbor, but I'm not in the same house."

Belichick has been known to use books (Sun Tzu's "Art of War"), songs, and videos to motivate his team. He'll be at it again for the next of couple weeks. He knows what's in front of his team now: a chance to win out and, ultimately, secure the right to play in the sloppy weather of the Northeast.

The team will be naturally motivated against the Jets. It will try to return the shutout delivered by Buffalo in Week 1. And it will try to keep its eyes and ears away from newspapers, magazines, radio shows, and television specials.

This team doesn't view The Streak as a streak. It sees yesterday's game as one episode out of 16.

In the latest episode, the Patriots held Taylor to 57 quiet yards. They got touchdowns from Troy Brown and Daniel Graham. They got an efficient game from Tom Brady. They proved once again that they know what they're doing, even when they are playing in snow.

These Patriots, built by white-collar workers and sustained by blue-collar employees, truly belong to the region. Yesterday, for the 10th consecutive game, they produced an episode that was an all-ages show.

Michael Holley is a Globe columnist. His e-mail address is holley@globe.com.