New Orleans ? The only thing standing between the St. Louis Rams and yet another Super Bowl blowout could be a 49-year-old coach with a reserved demeanor and a knowledge of defense that’s in his genes.

In other words, a Super Bowl between the Rams and Bill Belichick, with the coach maneuvering his New England Patriots like pawns into spots where they can shut down the NFL’s best offense. If that happens, the Pats might just pull off one of the biggest Super Bowl upsets since Joe Namath “guaranteed” the New York Jets would beat Baltimore 33 years ago.

St. Louis quarterback Kurt Warner receives some ribbing about the stubble on his chin from former Pittsburgh QB Terry Bradshaw. The Rams were preparing for today's Super Bowl against New England in the Superdome in New Orleans.

And if that happens, it would be an appropriate end to a somewhat disorderly Super Bowl.

The game was moved back a week, from Jan. 27, because of the terrorist attacks and now is designated a National Security Special Event, with local police, Secret Service and national guardsmen at every turn.

It’s almost fitting that this particular title game features one of the NFL’s pre-eminent defensive gurus.

“You have to prepare for anything when you face one of Bill’s teams,” says St. Louis coach Mike Martz, who seems to have spent the week preparing his team as much for what Belichick might throw at it than for what any individual New England player might do to it.

Listen to Rams quarterback Kurt Warner’s recap of St. Louis’ 24-17 win over New England on Nov. 18:

“We saw a 3-4 look. We saw a 4-3 look. We saw a 3-3 look, We saw a lot of different looks,” Warner said. “I expect the same thing Sunday.”

A variety of looks is a specialty of Belichick’s, the son of an assistant coach at Navy. He was diagramming defenses before he was in his teens.

He was an NFL assistant at 23, defensive coordinator of the New York Giants at 33, and a head coach at Cleveland at 37, after he helped the Giants win their second Super Bowl. Until this season, however, he was a mediocre head coach in six seasons 42-56, including a 5-11 stint with New England a year ago.

He started 0-2 this year, lost quarterback Drew Bledsoe in game two but finished 11-5, winning the AFC East and two playoff games.

Still, today’s game, like many Super Bowls, seems to be a blowout waiting to happen.

On one side are the Rams, seeking their second NFL title in three seasons and favored by more than two touchdowns to do just that.

	Who: New England (13-5) vs. St. Louis (16-2).When: 5 p.m. today.Where: Louisiana Superdome, New OrleansTelevision: Channel 4.

Their 14-2 regular-season record was the NFL’s best; they led the league in offense; they were third in defense; they allowed 198 points fewer than last season; and they outscored their opponents by more than two touchdowns per game.

Warner was the league MVP, his 4,830 passing yards the second best (behind Dan Marino) by any quarterback in any season. And running back Marshall Faulk, who had his fourth straight 2,000-yard season of combined yardage, was offensive player of the year.

On the other side are the Patriots, picked in the preseason as no better than fourth in the AFC East.

When Bledsoe got hurt, up stepped Tom Brady, a fourth-stringer as a rookie last season. The Patriots won 11 of their last 14 regular-season games to win the division; rallied from 10 points down in the final quarter to beat Oakland 16-13 in overtime in a snowstorm; then upset Pittsburgh 24-17 in the AFC championship game, scoring two of their three touchdowns on special teams.

Suddenly, Belichick was a star in his own right, out from under the shadow of Bill Parcells, whom he served as defensive coordinator with the Giants, Patriots and Jets. Even his dour personality mellowed or, more accurately, he demonstrated he had a personality after coming across for years as a film room habitue who spoke only in Xs and Os.

“Everything is new from week to week,” said linebacker Bryan Cox, one of a group of veterans on the Patriots who played for Belichick in previous stops. “What we play this week may not be what we play next week. There are 16 different philosophies based on the 16 different teams we play.”

Will that be good enough to beat the 17th, the Rams?

The Patriots came close Nov. 18. The game turned on a fumble by Antowain Smith as New England seemed ready to take a 10-point lead late in the first half. Still, the Pats showed enough to impress Martz, who told his players afterward: “You just beat a Super Bowl-caliber team.”

Super Bowl-caliber or not, the Patriots simply don’t match up with the Rams on paper nobody does in the watered-down NFL of the free-agent, salary-cap era.

After winning the Super Bowl two years ago, the Rams faltered last season, primarily because their defense gave up 471 points, or nearly 30 a game. The result was a series of scores like 41-38 and 38-35. The Rams finished the season 10-6 and were eliminated by New Orleans in the first round of the playoffs.

Martz fired most of his defensive staff, brought in Lovie Smith from Tampa Bay to run the defense, and began the season with eight new defensive starters led by Aeneas Williams, obtained in a trade after a career as a Pro Bowl cornerback on bad teams in Arizona. With Smith and Williams leading the way and holdover defensive end Grant Wistrom enjoying his best season, the defense came together early and went from 23rd in the league in yards allowed to third.

The only negative stat for the Rams this season was turnovers they led the league with 44 and had a minus-10 turnover differential.

That, however, is one of the few statistics that works in New England’s favor the Patriots were plus-9 in that category.

Other than that, New England has nothing close to the explosiveness of Warner-Faulk, plus Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt and speedy receivers who make the Rams’ offense look like a track team. They averaged 31 points a game this season and even put up 29 against a good Philadelphia defense in winning the NFC title.

New England’s most dangerous offensive player is wide receiver Troy Brown, who also plays on special teams and had a 55-yard punt return for a touchdown in the AFC title game.

Brady sprained his ankle in that game and Bledsoe, seeing his first action in four months, led the Patriots to their only offensive touchdown. But Brady is healthy again and Belichick ended the only suspense of the week by announcing that Brady will start today.

The Patriots have been to two Super Bowls, both in New Orleans, losing 46-10 to Chicago in 1986 and 35-21 to Green Bay in 1997.

Most people expect it to be more of the same the point spread has been fluctuating at 14 or so all week.

“We’ve been called underdog all year,” Brown said. “We don’t even listen to it anymore.”

Warner pays no attention to point spreads.

“I’d like to win by 30 points. I’d like to win by 20 points, But I’d be perfectly happy if we win by one,” he said. “That’s the only thing I care about. A one-point win.”

Against a Bill Belichick defense, it could come down to that.