''I know people see the Patriots in the Super Bowl now and think it's commonplace," said New England linebacker Tedy Bruschi. ''But we really cherish this. Still. It doesn't happen a lot and you realize that when it does happen, it's very, very special."
''This is what we've dreamt about," said Patriots owner Bob Kraft.
While their families and friends huddled in front of televisions inside snow-encased homes back in New England, the Patriots took the fight to the Steelers on their home turf. New England thoroughly demoralized Pittsburgh in the first two quarters and you could hear a dollop of ketchup drop when Patriots safety Rodney Harrison returned an interception 87 yards for a touchdown just before intermission. New England intercepted ballyhooed rookie Ben Roethlisberger three times and recovered a fumble while committing zero turnovers.
The 16-2 Patriots performed a similar surgical dissection (20-3) of the flavor-of-the-month Indianapolis Colts in Foxborough one week earlier, and the national pundits are finally coming around. The Patriots have been established as 6-point favorites to win a second consecutive Super Bowl and their third since 2002. The Steelers put up a better fight late in the game, cutting the lead to 31-20, but the outcome was never in doubt as New England's wonderboy quarterback, Tom Brady, improved his lifetime playoff record to 8-0. Belichick is 9-1 as a playoff coach, which matches the mark of the legendary Vince Lombardi. Pretty good company.
"I don't think I'm deserving of that," said Belichick. "That's stretching it a little bit, but I'm fortunate to be coaching this team."
The Steelers had won 15 straight games, including a 34-20 rout of New England at Heinz Oct. 31. The Halloween horror show snapped the Patriots' 21-game winning streak.
"That's what makes this one of the more gratifying games of my career," said Bruschi. "It's not often you get a second chance like this. They manhandled us, and to come back from that like this is pretty special."
