Vinatieri's kick lifts Patriots to Super Bowl title
Feb. 3, 2002
By Pete Prisco
SportsLine.com Senior Writer
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NEW ORLEANS -- St. Louis Rams running back Marshall Faulk didn't need to go to one of those voodoo shops in his hometown of New Orleans last week to come up with the right prediction for the near future.
Faulk told everyone the only the team that could beat the Rams was the Rams themselves.
The Patriots complete a dream season with a world title.(AP)
Move over Miss Cleo. Sunday, that prediction came true. And it led to the most dramatic Super Bowl in history as Adam Vinatieri nailed a 48-yard field goal on the final play to give the New England Patriots an amazing 20-17 victory.
Much like they did in their two regular-season losses, the Rams' high-scoring attack was shut down by an inability to hold onto the ball.
"We shocked the world!" Patriots safety Lawyer Milloy said.
The Patriots, who came into the game as 14-point underdogs, shocked the Rams by forcing three turnovers, turning them all into points, and then getting the winning kick after seeing the Rams rally to tie the game with two fourth-quarter touchdowns.
In the battle of wits matching Rams coach Mike Martz, the offensive wizard, against Patriots coach Bill Belichick, the clear winner was Belichick.
The Patriots defense made big play after big play to limit the Rams' offense, which had been the highest-scoring unit in the league coming into the game. They did so with solid coverage and good pressure up front.
"No one gave us a chance to win this game," said running back Antowain Smith, who gained 92 yards in 18 carries.
That limited the Rams to three points in the first three quarters before the Rams came alive with the two fourth-quarter scores, the last a 26-yard touchdown pass from Warner to Ricky Proehl with 1:30 left.
Despite not having a timeout, Belichick opted to try and get into field-goal range, and Tom Brady was successful in doing so. He moved the Patriots 53 yards in nine plays to the winning kick by Vinatieri.
The biggest play of the game was made by New England cornerback Ty Law, who returned an interception 47 yards in the first quarter to give the Pats a 7-3 lead. That set the tone.
"They say it's the best track team in the National Football League, but I never saw anybody win a 100-yard dash with someone standing in front of them," said Ty Law.
St. Louis never appeared to get into a groove on offense after that.
The Rams controlled the ball in the first half, but once again, as had been the case in their two losses during the regular season, turnovers killed them.
The Rams turned the ball over twice in the first half, both leading to scores. The first was the Law interception, the second was a fumble recovery by Terrell Buckley, setting up a David Patten 8-yard touchdown catch with 31 seconds left in the half.
St. Louis was held to three points in the half, those coming on a 50-yard field goal by Jeff Wilkins. They got only three despite gaining 184 yards in the half to 117 for the Patriots.
St. Louis' vaunted passing attack seemed out of synch. The receivers struggled to get open, which led to Kurt Warner often holding the ball and getting hit.
The Patriots employed a lot of man coverage in the secondary, and they did so with a strategy.
Coach Bill Belichick assigned Otis Smith on Torry Holt, Ty Law on Isaac Bruce and Terrell Buckley on Ax-Zahir Hakim. That forced the Rams to attempt two short screen passes in hopes they could spring a big play, but both times the Patriots were ready for them.
When the St. Louis receivers did make plays, they were blasted by the defensive backs of the Patriots. One of those hits jarred the ball loose from Ricky Proehl, which set up the Patton touchdown.
The Rams didn't get the ball inside the New England 35 and looked frustrated for much of the half. The Patriots were able to contain the pass offense mainly by rushing four and using multiple players in the secondary.
St. Louis owned the first quarter, getting 89 yards of offense to 50 for the Patriots, which was a win for New England considering they had the ball for just 5::09 of the quarter.
The Patriots got the game's first break of the game when Law returned a Warner pass 47 yards for a touchdown and a 7-3 New England lead. On the play, Warner was pressured by a blitzing Mike Vrable, who hit him as he attempted to throw. The ball floated and was behind Isaac Bruce and fell softly into the hands of Law who raced untouched into the end zone for the touchdown. Despite being dominated in the stats, the Rams suddenly were behind 7-3.
Another St. Louis turnover late in the first half lead to seven more points by the Patriots and a 14-3 lead. After gathering in a pass, Prohel was hit by Antwan Harris, jarring the ball loose and New England's Terrell Buckley recovered and returned it to the St. Louis 40.
From there, the Patriots moved to the touchdown, with the score coming on the 8-yard pass from Brady to David Patten in the back of the end zone. Patten made an acrobatic catch, and after a review by the replay official, the touchdown stood and New England had a 14-3 lead.
The three points by the Rams was their lowest-scoring half since they scored three in a 16-3 loss to the Carolina Panthers during the 2000 season.
Warner was 12 of 20 for 136 yards in the half and his passer rating was a pedestrian 59.6 Brady, who played despite a sore left ankle that required a pain-killing injection before the game, hit on seven of his 11 passes for 67 yards.
St. Louis controlled the ball in the first half, but, as in two regular-season losses, turnovers made the difference
The Rams came into the game talking about how the only team that could beat them was themselves.
They lived up to that.
They fell behind 14-3 in the first half because of two turnovers. Both led to scores and a stunning halftime score.
One was an interception returned 47-yards for a touchdown by New England's Ty Law. The other Pats touchdown came when David Patten caught an 8-yard touchdown pass with left 31 seconds left. That was set up by a recovery of a Ricky Proehl fumble by Terrell Buckley.
St. Louis was held to three points in the half, with those coming on a 50-yard field goal by Jeff Wilkins. They got only three despite gaining 184 yards in the half to 117 for the Patriots.
In the second half, another turnover led to three more points when Otis Smith picked off a badly thrown pass by Warner to set up a 37-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri, giving the Patriots a shocking 17-3 lead after three quarters.
The Rams, who had the highest-scoring offense in the league, struggled to get anything really going in the passing game. And when they did, they turned it over after it appeared they finally got the offense rolling.
The Patriots shut the passing game down by employing a lot of man coverage in the secondary, and they did so with a strategy. Coach Bill Belichick assigned Otis Smith to Torry Holt, Law to Isaac Bruce and Terrell Buckley to Ax-Zahir Hakim.
Those three limited the big plays, and Law did an outstanding job in the first half, limiting Bruce to two catches for 14 yards, then adding his interception return for a touchdown.
When the St. Louis receivers did make plays, they were blasted by the defensive backs of the Patriots. One of those hits jarred the ball loose from Proehl, setting up the Patten touchdown.
The Rams looked frustrated for much of the half. The Patriots were able to contain the pass offense mainly by rushing four and using multiple players in the secondary.
St. Louis owned the first quarter, getting 89 yards of offense to 50 for the Patriots, which was a victory for New England, considering they had the ball for just 5::09 of the quarter.
The Patriots got the game's first break of the game when Law returned a Warner pass 47 yards for a touchdown and a 7-3 New England lead. On the play, Warner was pressured by a blitzing Mike Vrable, who hit him as he attempted to throw. The ball floated and was behind Isaac Bruce and fell softly into the hands of Law, who raced untouched into the end zone for the touchdown. Despite being dominated in the stats, the Rams suddenly were behind 7-3.
Another St. Louis turnover late in the first half lead to seven more points by the Patriots and a 14-3 lead. After gathering in a pass, Prohel was hit by Antwan Harris, jarring the ball loose and Buckley recovered and returned it to the St. Louis 40.
From there, the Patriots moved to the touchdown, with the score coming on the 8-yard pass from Brady to Patten in the back of the end zone. Patten made an acrobatic catch, and after a review by the replay official, the touchdown stood, and New England had a 14-3 lead.
The three points by the Rams was their lowest-scoring half since they scored three in a 16-3 loss to the Carolina Panthers during the 2000 season.
Warner was 12-of-20 for 136 yards in the half and his passer rating was a pedestrian 59.6 Brady, who played despite a sore left ankle that required a pain-killing injection before the game, hit on seven of his 11 passes for 67 yards.
The Associated Press contributed to this story
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