FOXBOROUGH – For four weeks, the drum has beaten loudly for the potent New England Patriots offense.Sunday, it was the defense’s turn to take a bow. Buoyed by first-half interceptions – one in the end zone by linebacker Junior Seau, and the other an acrobatic pick that saw Seau lift his arms in celebration – the Patriots defeated the Cleveland Browns, 34-17, in a game that undoubtedly put people who chose to watch it on their living room couches fast asleep in the second half.”It’s good to win a game,” said Patriots coach Bill Belichick, “but that wasn’t our best game out there. We made enough plays to win, but we left a lot of them out there, too.”It wasn’t as if the Brown shut down the Patriots offense ? not when the Patriots ran for 147 yards (102 by Sammy Morris), and not when quarterback Tom Brady threw for three more touchdowns to tie the NFL record (with Steve Young) of throwing three or more TD passes for five straight weeks to begin the season.But the Browns still held the Patriots to some three-and-outs, and gave them problems in the red zone.The Browns also moved the ball, ending up with 353 total yards. But any chance they had of going toe-to-toe with the Pats ended in the first half with the interceptions.New England took the opening kick and marched downfield. The Pats had to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski, and it was an indication of how erratic they’d be inside the 20 (they only operated at 25 percent efficiency down there).The Browns, despite losing running back Jamal Lewis on their first play (after an 11-yard run), still took it downfield, going from their own 34 down to the Patriots’ 1 in eight plays.But on a third-and-1 from the one, quarterback Derek Anderson’s errant pass was tipped by Asante Samuel into the hands of Seau, and the Pats dodged a bullet.”Junior brings a lot of energy to the game,” Belichick said. “He’s one of the most energetic people I know. I’m awfully glad we have him, that’s for sure.”Samuel provided the next pick, intercepting Anderson at the Cleveland 40 and taking it back six yards.The Patriots didn’t waste any time. On the first play after the interception, Brady found Donte Stallworth about 15 yards downfield. Stallworth put on a couple of moves, and ended up running into the end zone for his first touchdown as a Patriot, and the score was 10-0.Another Gostkowski field goal – this one from 25 yards out – made the score 13-0, but the Browns, starting from their own 10, looked as if they’d start marching up the field again.”They move the ball,” Belichick said. “We knew that, and they gave us problems at times.”But they didn’t provide any problems Seau couldn’t solve. On a first down from the Cleveland 41, Anderson floated a pass over the middle that Seau picked off. The 18-year veteran ran it back for 23 yards, lofting his hands over his head – while he still had the ball.”I’m sure,” Seau said, “that I’ll be reprimanded for that.”When asked what he was thinking, he said, “I wasn’t. That’s not part of the equation when I’m out there.”The Patriots converted on that turnover, too, with Brady hitting Benjamin Watson with a seven-yarder that made the score 20-0.The Browns finally got on the board with 7:37 left in the third quarter on a 42-yard field goal by Phil Dawson, and they actually looked as if they might make the game interesting even for those who didn’t bet against the spread (16 1/2) when Anderson hit Tim Carter with a scoring strike with only 44 seconds gone in the fourth quarter.But the Patriots came back with their only sustained offensive drive of the half in response, going 71 yards in nine plays, with Brady hitting Watson again to make it 27-10.”That was a big drive,” Belichick said.Cleveland kept hanging around, though, scoring again on an Anderson-to-Kellen Winslow pass, but the Patriots put the final punctuation on the day when Randall Gay stripped Winslow and ran it in for the score.