FOXBORO - Kelley Washington called it "brainwashing."

Heath Evans suggested it was more of a "my way or the highway" sort of thing.

Whatever Bill Belichick uses to keep his New England Patriots singing one unified song throughout a season for the ages, it's working. You'd think that they're preparing for their third preseason game of the year instead of a game in which they can break their own record for consecutive regular-season victories (18) and become the first NFL team to complete a 16-0 regular season.

But don't be fooled. Belichick uses the fear factor as much as anything else to keep the Patriots in line.

"A lot of times, people think it's lip service," said Evans, the Patriots' fullback. "But we're forced to be focused here. If you're not, you're not here. So our focus is on the New York Giants."

Entering Saturday night's game at Giants Stadium (8:15 p.m.; NFL Network), members of the national media or reporters from other cities who are jumping on the Perfect Season Bandwagon often can't believe that the Patriots are so successful at shutting out all consideration of their potential place in history. But Belichick does have dictatorial rule over his minions, and that makes it easier for him to demand focus and concentration from them. "It's driven in, 24-7," Evans said. "Whether it's in the film room or on the practice field, it's force-feeding you to be disciplined in your train of thought, and to be disciplined in how you approach a game. You're constantly quizzed to see if you're taking those measures.

"We're coached with a very aggressive attitude here, and for us to lose focus and look forward to a bye week or anything else is hard to do around here," he added. "It's a whole lot different from where I've been … I don't know if it is from anywhere else, but Coach Belichick has a knack for every week, getting us singularly focused on the team that we're playing, and pointing out every single area of where they can beat you."

Washington, the free-agent receiver from Cincinnati who has become a special-teams standout here, said that part of the Patriots' acceptance of their coach's mantra stems from a realistic notion that all facets of their game must be prepared to step up and lead.

"We know we're not going to throw for 400 yards in every game," he said, "so it's just a matter of getting in the right position and executing and making plays."

"It's about consistency, from top to bottom," added Evans.

Taking it easy

As opposed to the three straight full-pads practices last week in bad weather, Belichick appears to be giving his team a little more of a break entering Saturday night's game.

The Patriots went the walk-through route Wednesday inside the Dana-Farber Field House, with players wearing no pads and shorts or sweatpants, even leaving their practice jerseys in the locker room.

As a result, the team was not required to submit an injury and participation report since they did not stage a normal practice session. Frequent fliers

The last hole in the Patriots' schedule was settled this weekend when Pittsburgh clinched the AFC North title. As a result, the Steelers will be coming to Foxboro next fall along with Denver, Arizona, Kansas City, St. Louis and the usual cast of AFC East characters (Buffalo, New York Jets, Miami).

On the road, the Patriots will make the grand tour of the West Coast, playing San Diego, San Francisco, Oakland and Seattle. They may also be tabbed to christen the new Lucas Oil Stadium when they visit Indianapolis in addition to their AFC East trips.

There are still rumors afoot that the Patriots may be asked to surrender their home game against Denver to play in Edmonton, Alberta (unlikely to meet with favor at 1 Patriot Place), or to play the Bills at the Rogers Centre in Toronto as part of that team's increasing presence in Canada. But none of that will be settled until the schedule comes out in April.

Must-See TV

The NFL pulled an about-face Wednesday and offered the Patriots-Giants game to over-the-air broadcast partners CBS and NBC, meaning that it could be seen locally on Channels 4, 7, 10 and 12 as well as Channel 5 (WCVB-TV) in Boston, which originally had exclusivity for the NFL Network broadcast in the Boston-Manchester, N.H., market.

Patriots' spokesman Stacey James said he did not know as of Wednesday evening if WCVB would maintain exclusivity within the immediate market area, or if local TV viewers would be able to switch through five over-the-air channels without missing a single word of Bryant Gumbel's and Cris Collinsworth's commentary.

WWOR in Secaucus, N.J., and WMUR in Manchester were also scheduled to be exclusive outlets for the NFL broadcast in their markets, but may also have to compete with local CBS and NBC affiliates Saturday night for the attention of their football-viewing audience.