Bill Belichick says his Patriots were anything but dominant against the Colts.
FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) -With an eight-game winning streak that gave them a 10-2 record and a chance to clinch an AFC East title, the New England Patriots have established themselves as one of the best teams in the NFL.

Just don’t call them dominant.

“I think that’s a joke,” coach Bill Belichick said Monday after a reporter used the D-word to describe a team that has gone to the wire in four of its last six games. “The ball’s inside the 1 yard-line on the last play of the game? Who’s dominating whom?”

Indianapolis and New England were leading their divisions before the Patriots beat the Colts 38-34 on Sunday, opening a three touchdown lead and then holding on when Willie McGinest and Ted Washington stopped Edgerrin James on fourth-and-goal from the 1 yard-line in the final seconds.

That gave New England the best start in the history of its franchise and the second-best record in the league. The Patriots can clinch the division title by beating Miami on Sunday, and they have the inside track on one of the AFC’s two first-round byes in the playoffs; Kansas City (11-1) leads the AFC West.

“We’re playing Miami, that’s it,” Belichick said. “We’re playing Miami. Everything else will take care of itself, whatever it is.”

Things have been taking care of themselves for New England almost all season.

Stumbling out of the gate with a 31-0 loss to Buffalo and new ex-teammate Lawyer Milloy in Week 1, the Patriots started 2-2 but haven’t lost since September.

“It made us look in the mirror,” McGinest said of the opener. “We definitely knew that wasn’t us.”

So, what are they?

Not a dominating team, but one that seems to scratch out wins in the final moments – much like they did in their Super Bowl season two years ago.

Since splitting their first four games, the Patriots have won twice in overtime, once by a field goal and twice by four points. A 38-30 victory over Tennessee was in doubt until the final minutes; they beat Dallas 12-0 in a hard-fought scrum.

“I would love to win every game 30-0 or 40-0. It’s easier,” McGinest said. “But it’s gratifying when you can pull it out and you can hang in there. It shows a lot of character about guys around you and on that team, to never quit.”

Sunday was just another example.

The Patriots took a 31-10 lead midway through the third quarter and watched the Colts score three touchdowns in six minutes to tie it. New England took the lead again when Bethel Johnson, who returned a kickoff 92 yards for a TD to end the first half, ran one back for 67 yards to the Colts’ 31.

Three plays later, Tom Brady hit Deion Branch for a 13-yard touchdown pass to make it 38-31. The Colts got a field goal, and they had marched to the Patriots’ 9 with 1:09 left when McGinest was slow to get up after allegedly catching his shoe on the turf and twisting his knee. The Colts claimed he was stalling for extra time, and sure enough, he came back in three plays later.

By that time, Indianapolis was on the 1 with 18 seconds left. They threw an incomplete pass into the end zone, and then lined up in a passing formation for fourth down.

McGinest was playing the run, but drifted out as if he was going to cover a receiver. When Manning tapped his side, McGinest saw that as an indication that the play would be a run.

“I was coming the whole time. I was just disguising.” he said. “It’s like a chess game. … If you give him a false look or something and then you jump back into something at the last second, you can get him. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. You never know what he has called though. This time it worked.”

McGinest went straight for the backfield and grabbed James, untouched.

Game over.

“That was their bad,” McGinest said. “That was a mistake.”

AP-ES-12-01-03 1934EST