New England Patriots: Bill Belichick's '1 Game At A Time' Method Working Wonders

"One game at a time."

These were the words scrawled on Adam Schefter's training camp tour bus by Wes Welker. Of course, this was in response to Rex Ryan's boisterous "Soon to be champs!" approach to the same thing.

But this is nothing new. Bill Belichick has preached this philosophy since he took the job, and it has helped the Patriots win three Super Bowls since his arrival.

And yet it seems this year, more than any other, that methodology is necessary. And it's working.

Is it just me, or does every game feel like the biggest game of the year for the Patriots in 2010?

Every single game has felt like the Super Bowl. Maybe that's because the Patriots have approached every single game like the Super Bowl. Meticulous, calculated, and fully prepared.

The opening game against the high-hopes Bengals was the subject of wonder, with the high-octane Bengals offense threatening to shred a young, injury-depleted Patriots defense.

In Week 2, it was the travel to New Meadowlands Stadium to face the swagger-licious Jets and all the talking they'd done during Hard Knocks.

Week 4 brought us another road test against another AFC East rival, the Dolphins. That was the game where the Patriots had to prove their worth on the road. And they did. Convincingly.

Week 6 was the much-anticipated rematch with the Ravens after the 33-14 drubbing in the playoffs. It was also the worrisome post-Moss, return-of-Branch game when all eyes were on the new-look offense.

Even against a struggling San Diego Chargers team in Week 7, the implications were huge with another road game and another tough pass attack against New England's porous pass defense.

The ballyhooed return of the aforementioned Moss as a member of the Vikings was the subject of much media scrutiny headed into their Week 8 contest, but proved to be a non-factor except in getting Moss cut from his new team.

After a beating at the hands of the Browns, the Week 10 match-up on the road against the Steelers was looked at as a key game in keeping the Patriots afloat. They needed a win to prevent a two-game slide going into yet another big-hype game against the Colts. Both were signature Patriots wins.

Thought the Detroit Lions game would be overlooked? Not after what happened against the Browns, especially not on a short week. Everyone and their brother was calling this another trap game; on the road, against a tough Lions team that was playing hard every week and coming just short of wins against some great teams.

And then, of course, was the epic Monday night showdown. If you didn't think this was going to be the game of the year before you even turned off the TV on Thanksgiving, you hadn't been watching much football this season.

Every week provides a new set of challenges, and every team demands the full attention of the Patriots.

Through it all, it's been Patriots football through and through.

The wins haven't always been pretty, or even convincing, but Bill Belichick clearly has this team aware of the sentiments he made known last year: "Stats are for losers. The final score is for winners."

Forget a 16-game season, this team is playing 16 one-game seasons. With concentration like that, it's hard to imagine what it will take to get this team off track.

A Chicago Bears team that's playing some of its best football right now? A defense that ranks in or near the top of the league in just about every category that matters?

Looks like we're in for yet another big game.

And that's not it for the Patriots, either. They host the Green Bay Packers the very next week, and finish off the regular season with two divisional games.

For four more games of the regular season, and however many games are needed in the playoffs, the Patriots just have to do what they've done all season to this point: take it "one game at a time."