Even in this era of salary caps and free agency, you can have a dynasty. The New England Patriots proved it on Sunday, as they defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 24-21 to win their third Super Bowl in four years.
Wide receiver Deion Branch was named the winner of the Pete Rozelle Award as the game's Most Valuable Player. Branch tied a Super Bowl record by catching 11 passes in the game. He was also a key contributor on all four of New England's scoring drives.
The game went down to the final minute as the Patriots were clinging to a three point lead when the Eagles got the ball back at their own 4 yard line with no timeouts remaining. Donovan McNabb was unable to move the Eagles into field goal range and his last second desperation pass was intercepted by Rodney Harrison.
The win gives Patriots coach Bill Belichick his ninth straight post-season win. That ties the record of the immortal Vince Lombardi with nine consecutive post-season victories. Belichick is also 10-1 as a coach in the playoffs, bettering Lombardi's career record of 9-1. The Patriots head coach was honored by the comparison to the former Packers coach.
'It's very flattering to have my name mentioned with his,' Belichick said after the game. 'I don't really think I'm deserving of that. I think it's really stretching it a bit.'
Belichick also joined San Francisco's Bill Walsh and Redskins coach Joe Gibbs as the only coaches to capture three Super Bowl titles. Only Chuck Noll of Pittsburgh has won four.
Tom Brady also won his third Super Bowl title although for the first time in his career, he was not named MVP of the game. Brady finished with 22 completions in 33 attempts for 236 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. He is now 9-0 in the playoffs as a starting quarterback.
The Eagles are now 0-2 in Super Bowls as a franchise. They lost Super Bowl XV to the Oakland Raiders in 1981 27-10. Philadelphia has not won an NFL title since 1960 when Hall of Fame quarterback Norm Van Brocklin led the Eagles to a 17-13 win over the Packers at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.
The Patriots are now 3-2 in Super Bowl play. Their two defeats came at the hands of the Chicago Bears in 1986 and the Green Bay Packers in 1997.
Meanwhile, the city of Boston can celebrate a near perfect year. The Red Sox won the World Series and the Patriots won the Super Bowl. And hey, we already know the Bruins won't lose in the playoffs this year.
