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Pats win second Super Bowl in three years, 32-29
Javier Rodriguez
NFL Guru
Well, the Patriots did it again. Another last-minute kick by Adam Vinatieri put them over the top to win their second Super Bowl in three years. “If you’ve got to have one kick with everything on the line, he’s the one you want kicking it,” said New England coach Bill Belichick. “It was an awesome kick. It was a great kick. That’s the game. That’s what Adam’s here for.”
Belichick, son of 1941 Reserve graduate Stephen Belichick, solidified his status as one of the top coaches of this generation, Akron native Mike Vrabel added two sacks, a forced fumble, and a TD reception, and quarterback Tom Brady earned his second Super Bowl MVP award, making him only the fourth player to do so.
“To win this the way we did is incredible, unbelievable,” said Brady. “A great all-around game.”
That is an understatement. It was one of the best Super Bowls in memory, and some are calling it the best ever. At first, it appeared as though the game would live up to its billing as a defensive struggle – the first 26:50 of the game was scoreless. The Pats threatened twice, but Vinatieri’s 31-yard attempt sailed wide right, and his 36-yarder was blocked. The floodgates opened just before the half, however, and the last 3:10 saw 24 points scored.
The turning point came with 5:22 left and Carolina facing a third-and-12 on their own 25. Panthers QB Jake Delhomme dropped back to pass, but was stripped by Vrabel just before he got the ball off. Patriots DT Richard Seymour fell on the fumble, and New England took over on the 20 yard line. Four plays later, Brady found Deion Branch under the goal post on a beautiful play-action pass for the game’s first points.
The Panthers battled back with an impressive 8-play, 95-yard drive that consumed just under two minutes. Delhomme hooked up with Steve Smith on a 39-yard touchdown strike to tie the game with 1:07 left in the half. Unfortunately, Brady needed only six plays in 49 seconds to find David Givens for his second 5-yard touchdown pass, making the score 14-7.
With just 18 seconds left, Vinatieri squibbed the ensuing kickoff, but Kris Mangum alertly picked it up and returned it near midfield. The Panthers surprised the defense by handing the ball off to Stephen Davis, the playoffs’ leading rusher, who scrambled for 21 yards and called a timeout with four seconds left. John Kasay booted a 50-yarder through the uprights as time expired to put the halftime tally at New England 14, Carolina 10.
Then, during halftime, Janet Jackson’s boob popped out and a streaker ran onto the field wearing only a referee’s hat and socks, and a silver g-string. Fortunately, he was leveled by an elbow from New England’s Matt Chatham. Way too much skin in what is supposed to be a family event.
The third quarter was much like the first, as neither team added any points. But the Pats struck with 14:53 remaining in the game on a 2-yard TD run by Smith. After the Panthers responded with an 81-yard drive that culminated in a brilliant 33-yard run by DeShaun Foster, coach John Fox made the controversial decision to try for the two-point conversion. The pass failed, leaving the score at 16-21. Fox would not comment on the decision.
It looked like it was going to be a moot point after the Patriots drove 64 yards to the Panthers’ 9 on the next possession. But then Brady made what may have been his only mistake of the game, lobbing an off-balance pass into the end zone. Carolina CB Reggie Howard picked it off just inside the goal line and returned it to the 10. Just two plays later, Delhomme found a wide-open Mushin Muhammad for an 85-yard TD, the longest in Super Bowl history. Now ahead by one point, the Panthers again tried for two, this time failing to convert on an unimaginative fade to the corner of the end zone with 7:06 to play.
New England, of course, was not done yet. This time, Brady found Vrabel, the linebacker, in the middle of the end zone for Vrabel’s second career TD reception and Brady’s third TD pass of the game. “Tom just put it in there,” Vrabel said. “I just thought, ’Don’t drop it, treat it like it’s your kid.’”
For the PAT, the Patriots ran another brilliant goal-line play, this time using a direct snap to RB Kevin Faulk, who waltzed in to score his first points of the year, and put the Pats up by seven with less than three minutes to play. “I have seen New England run that play on third and short like ten times,” claimed Syracuse analyst Tim Rychel. “It’s too bad the Panthers weren’t ready. Things like that two point play are why [Pats’ offensive coordinator] Charlie Weis should be a head coach in the league, even though he is overweight.” Weis is speculated to have been turned down for head coaching vacancies because of his size. He underwent a gastric bypass before the season in an attempt to lose weight, but so far has had little success.
In a situation that was growing eerily similar to the end of the first half, the Panthers again got the ball back with just under three minutes to play. Instead of Steve Smith, this time Delhomme’s target was Ricky Proehl. For the second time in three years, Proehl caught a game-tying TD pass in the Super Bowl against the Patriots. His 12-yard grab and the John Kasay extra point knotted the score at 29.
But just like the end of the first half, when 1:08 remained, and just like Super Bowl XXXVI, when 1:30 remained, New England would have enough time to try to move the ball before the clock expired. This time, however, it would be easier. Kasay’s kickoff went out of bounds, giving the Pats the ball at their own 40. “That was the biggest play of the game, right there,” said Rychel. “That kickoff out of bounds killed their chances.”
Brady completed four passes to move the ball to the Carolina 23, and Vinatieri drilled his 41-yard attempt with just four seconds left to play. When Rod “He Hate Me” Smart was unable to return the kickoff for a score, the Patriots clinched their second title.
As of Monday, however, the Browns were once again tied for first place in the AFC North.
Bits and Pieces
·The answer to last week’s trivia question: The other eight QBs to start and win two or more Super Bowls are Bart Starr, Bob Griese, Roger Staubach, Jim Plunkett, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana, Troy Aikman, and John Elway.
·Delhomme and Brady each threw for over 300 yards and 3 TDs, the first time that has happened in a Super Bowl.
·Brady is 6-0 as a playoff starter. Only Aikman has won more playoff games to start his career (7).
·The Patriots did not allow a single sack in the playoffs.
·When the Panthers took a 22-21 lead in the fourth quarter, it marked the first time the Patriots had trailed in a game in 438 minutes. The last time they played from behind was November 23, when they trailed 13-20 in Houston, a game they would eventually win in overtime.
·Today’s trivia: Can you name the other three players who were twice Super Bowl MVPs?
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