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Pastimes : The new NFL -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Augustus Gloop who wrote (6806)	2/4/2004 8:25:19 PM
From: sandintoes	Respond to of 90734

Brady among Super Bowl elite Houston -- He did it again. This time, Adam Vinatieri teased the world by botching the shortest of field goals. Twice. Then came Vinatieri's 41-yarder on Sunday that soared through the uprights at Reliant Stadium during the final seconds of a Super Bowl thriller. It gave the New England Patriots a 32-29 victory over the Carolina Panthers. MVP stuff, right? Uh-uh. Maybe there IS something to these comparisons between Tom Brady and Joe Montana. That's two world championships for the New England Patriots quarterback and two more to go to match the former miracle worker of the San Francisco 49ers. Just like that, after Brady found ways to survive the relentless ways of Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme and the silliest of interceptions in the fourth quarter, he has two Pete Rozelle trophies as the ultimate star of this event. He also has a second Super Bowl victory in three seasons. As usual, Brady was the 26-year-old master of humility in the aftermath. "None of this would be possible without these guys," he said, referring to his teammates. That said, none of them finished the game with a passer rating of 110.5; Brady completed 32 of 48 passes for 354 yards and three touchdowns. Still, for the longest time, the MVP of this NFL throwback (as in throw this one way, way back) game was either Beyoncé, with her orchestra-aided gem of the Star Spangled Banner, or absolutely nobody. Dropped passes. Missed field goals. No points, with the Patriots and the Panthers returning to those days of leather helmets and bloody noses. They knocked the offense out of each other through most of the second quarter. Mike Vrabel, perhaps? The Patriots linebacker finished with six tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble. He also caught a touchdown pass. In fact, soon after both teams officially made this the longest stretch without a score during the 38-year history of Super Bowls, he stripped the ball from Delhomme with nearly five minutes left until halftime. The Patriots recovered at the Panthers' 20-yard line, and four plays later, New England rolled to a 7-0 lead. So maybe Delhomme might become the unlikely hero of the night. He responded to the Patriots' quick scoring drive by leading the Panthers 95 yards to tie the game. He eventually finished with a passer rating of 113.6 after completing 16 of 33 passes for 323 yards and three touchdowns. Most of them were clutch, but this was Brady's time to shine. After Delhomme began to connect with bombs near the end of the first half, Brady had the ultimate bomb. He hit Deion Branch for 52 yards during a 78-yard drive to the end zone. Speaking of Branch, he was another likely MVP candidate after 10 catches for 143 yards and an early touchdown. We're back to Brady, though. With the Patriots leading 21-16 and flirting with a blowout in the fourth quarter, he had a chance to do something wonderful for his team and for himself after leading the Patriots into the red zone in a hurry. Then, on second-and-goal from the Panthers' 10, Brady threw a pass into the hands of cornerback Reggie Howard. Not good. It became even worse when Delhomme jumped back into the MVP chase with one pass. One long pass. With Muhsin Muhammad streaking through the Patriots' zone defense, Delhomme dropped back from his 15-yard line and lofted that long pass into Muhammad's waiting arms. Soon, he was in the end zone, and despite the Panthers botching their second try of the game at a two-point conversion, they led 22-21. But Brady marched the Patriots from their 40-yard line to Vinatieri's field goal, and the MVP wasn't a mystery any more ajc.com