It was in November, after the Patriots had just snapped a slump of five losses in seven games, that New England's Pete Carroll flashed back to his previous stint as NFL head coach. Carroll awoke in the middle of the night and remembered how his 1994 New York Jets started 6-5 before blowing a lead to the Dolphins, losing their last five games and firing him after just one season. While insisting "that's never going to happen again," Carroll admits he wasn't so certain when the Patriots dropped to 6-5 and then nearly squandered a 27-3 lead before beating Miami 27-24. "I wasn't sure if we'd ever win again," he said Sunday, a day after the defending AFC champions finished their season with a 7-6 playoff loss to Pittsburgh. "But I'm proud that we did stay the course." The Patriots won four of their last five regular-season games, the only blemish a 24-21 overtime loss to the Steelers. New England finished by beating Miami in consecutive weeks to win the AFC East and advance to the second round. For Carroll, there is vindication in showing he deserved more of a chance than he got with the Jets. "I knew I could coach in this league," he said. "I came out of the season feeling a lot stronger about my ability." And even though they didn't make it as far as last year, the players showed they can win without former coach Bill Parcells. "We won 11 games. That's a successful season by a lot of people's standards, but not by the standards of this team," fullback Sam Gash said. Gash is one of 15 Patriots without contracts for 1998, and he says he doesn't want to come back if it means being used as sparingly as he was this season. RB Curtis Martin and OL Bruce Armstrong are the other big names with a chance at free agency. Carroll said he wants to keep the team together but wouldn't go as far when discussing his coaching staff. Offensive coordinator Larry Kennan, whose unit scored one touchdown in two playoff games, is thought to be on the hot seat.