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FOXBORO - The Bill Belichick everyone knows and loves - or knows, at least - was back Sunday.

The Patriots' coach, known as a defensive mastermind and an individual who doesn't let another team get the game-planning drop on him for long, proved that the 38-13 loss to the Miami Dolphins two weeks ago was an anomaly, and that he and his defensive staff would not be caught asleep at the switch two games in a row.

For the San Francisco 49ers, Belichick unveiled what has been called the "speed package," a different grouping of one of the team's dime defensive packages.

The new look featured just one defensive lineman (Jarvis Green), four linebackers (Pierre Woods, Gary Guyton, Mike Vrabel, Adalius Thomas) and six defensive backs (Deltha O'Neal, Ellis Hobbs, Jonathan Wilhite, Brandon Meriweather, James Sanders and Rodney Harrison), a package that was designed to put more pressure from different sources upon Niners' quarterback J.T. O'Sullivan.

Speaking to reporters Monday via a conference call hookup from San Jose State University, the Patriots' temporary home during this two-game West Coast swing, Belichick said the new package was more of a tactic designed specifically for the 49ers than it was a bye-week re-evaluation of defensive philosophy. "We used some different combinations in our sub defenses, some four-man lines, three-man lines, two-man lines, and at times we had only one defensive lineman out there, either Jarvis or Mike Wright," he said. "But that was probably more of a game-planning thing than a bye-week thing. It was something strategically that we thought we would want to run this week against San Francisco.

"Those guys did a good job, although we had several players that really stepped up in those passing situations; a lot of those third downs were kind of in the two-minute (drill) or in the fourth quarter," he said. "Wilhite and (Terrence)

Wheatley, Gary Guyton, Pierre Woods, Jarvis we had a number of those guys come in and play well in passing situations where they could be productive for us."

Responding from an early deficit, Belichick said the different defensive packages helped the Patriots achieve their in-game goals leading to a 30-21 triumph.

"The bottom line was that we were able to do a combination of things," he said. "One, to get ahead in the game. Two, to do a decent job against the running game. And those two factors helped put it into a more of a passing game and more of a one-dimensional game so we were really only defending one thing, and that helped us in third down and those fourth-quarter, two-minute types of situations."

The Patriots also cured a few other ills Sunday.

They got the ball to Randy Moss early and often, at least in the first half, getting a 66-yard touchdown pass on the way to his five-catch, 111-yard day.

They also amassed 144 rushing yards on 43 carries, led by Sammy Morris' 63 yards on 16 carries. LaMont Jordan, who suffered an injury to his right leg in the second quarter and did not return, added 16 yards on five carries before his departure, and Kevin Faulk, normally a third-down back, scored twice in goal-line situations while contributing 32 yards on seven carries.

Belichick did not have an update on Jordan's condition, other than to say that "he looks like a pretty quick healer."

Nor was Belichick inclined to throw Laurence Maroney under the bus, even though the third-year running back from Minnesota contributed only 26 yards on 10 carries, was missing for large stretches of the game, and appeared to be dancing even more than usual in the backfield before attempting to hit his holes, possibly the product of his sore shoulder. Asked if he believed he's getting from Maroney what he should be getting this deep into his career, Belichick was diplomatic.

"I think Laurence has done a good job for us," he said. "I think he's a good back. He's played well and I think he'll continue to play well."

MARK FARINELLA may be reached at 508-236-0315 or via e-mail at mfarinel@thesunchronicle.com. Read Farinella's blog, "Blogging Fearlessly," at thesunchronicle.com/farinella.