Only San Francisco’s Jerry Rice and Cincinnati’s Dan Ross had caught that many in a title game, and nobody has caught 21 in consecutive Super Bowls. “I just try to cash in when I can,” Branch said.
Though Brady made a strong case for his third MVP, nobody was arguing that Branch deserved to be the first receiver to win the award since Rice in Super Bowl XXIII and only the fourth overall. “What can you say?” said Eagles cornerback Lito Sheppard. “The guy stepped up and tied the record.”
It was Branch, as much as anyone, who got the Patriots here, burning the Steelers for the first and last touchdowns on a frigid night in Pittsburgh in the AFC Championship game. And while he didn’t cross the goal line here, he kept his teammates chugging along with key catches on every scoring drive. “I was looking to find him today,” said Brady. “He was getting open and doing some great things out there.”
On the first scoring drive that tied the game at 7-7 late in the second quarter, he caught a 7-yarder to give New England a first down on the Philadelphia 23. On the opening drive of the second half, which Weis and coach Bill Belichick scripted during the long intermission, Branch caught four passes - for 8, 27, 15 and 21 yards - to set up Mike Vrabel’s juggle job for the touchdown that put the Patriots ahead, 14-7.
”He made some nice catches in decent coverage,” said Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson. “The ball was right on target. Those were good throws.”
But the best of them was the 19-yarder on an in-cut on second and 13 which, combined with a roughing-the-passer call, brought the ball from midfield to the Philadelphia 16. “That was the catch of the game,” declared Weis.
