Mike Vrabel won't say it, but his vision of what he wanted on the field for the New England Patriots is coming to life. (AP photo)

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Once upon a time, there was a newly hired NFL head coach who surveyed the landscape of his new team.

Many saw a need for a big splash on offense, let’s drive up the brinks truck for all the major offensive weapons they could get in free agency.

Nay nay, said the new coach, who got basically full authority from the owner who hired him to run the football operation. He saw a team that couldn’t stop the run and could barely stop the pass, that needed to shore up its defense first because you don’t win shootouts in his region in November, December and January.

And that defense would become one of the best in the league after eight weeks, the coach’s team enjoying a five-game winning streak and 6-2 record.

Of course, this is no fairy tale. The coach is Mike Vrabel and the team is the New England Patriots. They haven’t been in any shootouts, held the vaunted Buffalo Bills attack to 20 points. No one has scored more than 20 since Week 2 in Miami (27).

It’s working. Is this what Vrabel thought would happen?

“I don’t have expectations,” Vrabel said Monday. “We just have things that we want to try to focus on and improve on. I think that they believe in themselves, that they believe that they’re going to make some plays, that they’re not really panicking, signs of complimentary football and signs of preparation, then some things that we have to continue to correct.

“I think that that’s really good when you can find ways to win, end the game with the football in your hand and kneeling on it. Those are things that I think good teams find a way to do. We just have to play a little better and keep improving through this stretch here in the middle of the season, where guys are banged up and weeks kind of start to – the days, they kind of really just start to be similar.”

The Patriots (18.3) currently are second in the league in fewest points allowed per game, trailing only the L.A. Rams (16.7). Vrabel has built almost an entirely new defense. Odds are, unless you were building blocks like All-Pro corner Christian Gonzalez and defensive lineman Christian Barmore, you weren’t sticking around or being a key. Just ask the players shown the door, or the ones who are still here like defensive end Keion White, a seemingly healthy scratch Sunday with possible system issues. Sure the NFL has become a finesse league, but the best way to become a good team is to run the ball and stop the run.

“We have a room full of guys that view themselves as impact players, view themselves as game changing players, and that’s where it starts,” Patriot linebacker Robert Spillane said. “If you don’t believe that you’re going to be a game changing player, you never will be. We have a room full of guys that want to go out there and make plays, want to help this team win. We’re just going to continue to come together, mesh together, and try to be the best defense we can be.”

Spillane, who had a huge interception in Sunday’s win over the Browns, is one of those players signed during the March free agent frenzy when most of the dollars went to defense.

“I think he’s got good instincts,” Vrabel said of the former Raider. “I think that he stays square on contact. I think he plays with his hands, doesn’t get tied up on too many blocks, and can kind of see things and fit things, whether that’s a gap scheme, outside zone, inside zone, all the different run schemes. I think he sees them well.”

Seeing is believing.

Do you believe? Milton Williams, signed to a mega deal after winning a Super Bowl, is coming around. He was preaching by his locker Sunday that that more is needed.

“Just get on the ball, get their hands in the right spot,” Williams said of the front. “Resetting the line of scrimmage. Coach Vrabel is always preaching, ‘create a wall.’ Everybody get to the wall. Hopefully we can try to create some more turnovers….

“This (tackles for loss, turnovers) is something we have been preaching. Always try to create some good plays so we can get opportunities to go rush, protect the cover. We will get pressure, tight covers in the back end, and we will just use it to create turnovers.”

The disclaimer is who the Patriots have played – or rather the quarterbacks and offenses. The Browns offense is pitiful, and New England should have held them to just over 200 total yards. Tennessee, Carolina, the schedule is weak. But the one thing that makes you believe is the Buffalo game.

Who are these Patriots? It’s clear their coach, once one of the franchise’s star linebackers, would love to see them be a defense force.

“Wherever we are on the field, we’ve got to protect our identity, especially as a defense,” Patriot safety Jaylinn Hawkins said. “It doesn’t matter. You can put the ball down anywhere; we’ve got to out there and shut it down, try to get a takeaway, try to get a turnover. That’s the biggest thing. Protecting our identity is the biggest thing.”

Let’s check on that identity in two months. It will be interesting to see.

This week’s rankings:

AFC

1.Denver (6-2). 2. New England (6-2). 3. Buffalo (5-2). 4. Indianapolis (7-1). 5. Kansas City (5-3).

NFC

1.Philadelphia (6-2). 2. Detroit (-2). 3.Green Bay (5-1-1). 4. L.A. Rams (5-2). 5.Tampa Bay (6-2).