Patriots, Eagles Look Super

The Super Bowl matchup is as it should be: the best team in the AFC against the best team in the NFC. The problem for the Philadelphia Eagles is that the AFC club looks like it might be a team for the ages.

That, of course, would be the New England Patriots, who have won two of the last three NFL championships and are already heavily favored over the Eagles.

The Patriots claimed their spot in football's biggest game with a dominating 41-27 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, while the Eagles finally got over the hump after three straight NFC championship game disappointments, beating the Atlanta Falcons 27-10.

Patriots 41, Steelers 27

The Patriots turned Big Ben into Gentle Ben, and transformed the team with the NFL's best record into another overwhelmed opponent that couldn't match New England's big plays, intensity or leadership.

Pittsburgh and their 15-game winning streak weren't nearly good enough to beat the Patriots with the AFC championship on the line, not even in the stadium where New England was overwhelmed 2½ months before.

The Patriots' 41-27 rout Sunday night sends them to their third Super Bowl in four seasons and was just another in an ever-growing series of playoff performances that could soon stamp them as one of the best teams ever.

Tom Brady was too precise, too determined, and too experienced for Steelers rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger to match. Roethlisberger tried getting away with the same mistakes he made in a great-escape overtime win over the New York Jets the week before but didn't come close.

Not against this team, this quarterback, this coach, not even during this improbable Steelers season that saw them end the Patriots' record 21-game streak 34-20 on Oct. 31. That was a bad-as-it-sounds performance that has driven New England ever since.

It certainly motivated coach Bill Belichick, who blistered his team after what he felt was a poor practice last Wednesday.

"He let us know it," Brady said. "You would have thought we were 0-and-16 the way he spoke to us. It gets everyone in the right frame of mind. He's got great perspective and is a tremendous coach."

Belichick's 9-1 playoff record ties Vince Lombardi as the best in NFL playoff history and validates his quarterback's praise. Brady's 8-0 postseason record is even better, and he showed why he might soon be this generation's Bradshaw or Montana.

While Roethlisberger threw three interceptions, Brady tossed two scoring passes and no interceptions during a nearly flawless night.

One week it's Peyton Manning, the next it's Big Ben. No matter the opposing quarterback, or the challenge, Brady always seems to have an answer.

"He is a great leader. He is everything that defines what a leader is," offensive lineman Matt Light said of Brady. "He motivates this team and he motivates everybody."

"We demand a lot from our players," Belichick said. "I'm happy they have this kind of achievement to show for it."

All the Steelers have to show for the greatest regular season (15-1) in the franchise's 73-season history is their fourth loss in five AFC title games under coach Bill Cowher since the 1994 season. It also was the second AFC championship game loss to New England at home in four seasons.

"I really felt like it was our time to win," linebacker Joey Porter said. "That's the first time I can say we were outplayed by a team. We had everything we needed. It was kind of the reverse of what we did to them the first time."

Eagles 27, Falcons 10

Fireworks soared above the roof of "The Linc." A blizzard of glitter swirled in the bitterly cold breeze. Fans toasted their team and each other with beers and hugs.

It was a Super-sized celebration four years in the making. And quite a relief, too.

Yo, Philly, how's this sound?

Your Eagles are going to the Super Bowl.

Donovan McNabb & Co. overcame the burden of three straight losses in the NFC championship game and warmed a frozen city's heart, stuffing Michael Vick and the Atlanta Falcons 27-10 on Sunday.

McNabb isn't satisfied yet.

"There's no relief for me," he said. "We'll have relief after the Super Bowl. We set a goal of winning the Super Bowl, not just the NFC. So that's where I'm going. We're excited, but we're not done."

The Eagles already have soothed a city's fragile psyche, burying the disappointment of the last three years and pulling within one victory of Philly's first major pro championship since the 76ers won the NBA title in 1983.

Twenty-four years ago, the Eagles made it to their first — and, until Sunday, only — Super Bowl with a team coached by Dick Vermeil and led by Ron Jaworski. They fell flat in the title game, losing to the Raiders 27-10.

"We want to go to Jacksonville and get some closure and finish this up," receiver Freddie Mitchell said.

The fourth consecutive appearance in the NFC title game proved to be the charm for the Eagles, even though they didn't have top receiver Terrell Owens — reduced to the role of MVC (Most Valuable Cheerleader) on the sideline.

Nothing was going to stand in the way of this team, which entered the season with a Super Bowl or Bust mentality and met those enormous expectations.

McNabb threw a pair of touchdown passes to Chad Lewis, including the clinching score with 3:21 remaining. That turned the final minutes into a delirious coronation, the 67,717 fans saluting a team that fulfilled its destiny.

"Super Bowl! Super Bowl!" they chanted when play was halted for the two-minute warning.

The significance of the day was evident on the field — the Eagles pranced and posed after every big play — and in the stands, where most of the fans never bothered to sit down on a 17-degree day.

"This team has great personality," coach Andy Reid said. "Everybody here in Philadelphia loves 'em."

McNabb completed 17-of-26 passes for 180 yards, a workmanlike performance that solidified his position as one of the game's best quarterbacks. He also ran 10 times for 32 yards.

Vick's debut on the Super Bowl stage will have to wait. He completed just 11-of-24 for 136 yards, while the Eagles stifling defense kept him from pulling off one of his signature runs.

He ran it just four times for 26 yards, but gave up even more yards on the sacks. Derrick Burgess dropped the elusive quarterback twice, and Jevon Kearse kept Vick hemmed up on the other side. The Eagles didn't blitz much — a change in philosophy — but they made sure Vick didn't get a chance to warm up.

"I didn't get outside the pocket," Vick said. "I think that was their first priority."

Owens, who didn't play because of a severe ankle injury, had a prominent role nonetheless. He drew plenty of attention with his sideline antics, flapping his arms and waving a towel to urge on a crowd that didn't need any encouragement.

And he may just recover in time for the Super Bowl.

"I have a feeling he will," Reid said.

Bitter conditions didn't diminish the mood of the fans, nearly all of whom bundled up in something green. They began gathering in the parking lots — where snow had been plowed into piles higher than their vehicles — just after sunrise to get an early start on the expected celebration.

Leading up to the kickoff, there was another Philly moment.

The "Rocky" theme blared from the speakers, sending the crowd into a towel-waving frenzy. The video board showed clips from the movie interspersed with highlights from the Eagles' season.

Now, they've got a chance to show the biggest highlight of all — a Super Bowl championship.