Brady leads the Patriots back to the Super Bowl

09:07 AM EST on Monday, January 24, 2005

BY TOM E. CURRAN
Journal Sports Writer

PITTSBURGH -- The stands were empty at Heinz Field when Tom Brady emerged from the Patriots locker room holding a football 150 minutes before the AFC Championship.

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Patriots heading back to the Super Bowl

Wearing shorts, a sweatshirt with shorn sleeves and a stocking cap in 11-degree weather, Brady was the first player on the field. He couldn't wait to work on avenging his game gone bad on Halloween against the Steelers, couldn't wait to get back to the Super Bowl where he's made his legend.

Done and done.

Brady and his offense ripped the hearts from the gritty Steelers yesterday and the New England defense made Pittsburgh look pedestrian in a commanding 41-27 win. Nearly six hours after he'd strolled the field, Brady put the final exclamation point on New England's day violently spiking the football after Deion Branch's 23-yard touchdown run with 2:23 remaining.

The Patriots are going to Jacksonville to play in their third Super Bowl in four seasons. This time, they get the Eagles, who are already cast as having the best seat in the house to watch history. Brady is now 8-0 in the playoffs, head coach Bill Belichick is 9-1 and New England will try to become just the second team to win three in four.

"We're not finished," Rodney Harrison said as the AFC Championship trophy was presented.

No they're not. And that's because they paid the top-seeded Steelers back with interest after Pittsburgh snapped the Pats 21-game winning streak in October and sent them back to Foxboro embarrassed and 34-20 losers. New England spent the week telling anyone who'd listen the Steelers were the best team in football. Which, of course, made it all the more rewarding for them to dismantle them.

Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach

The Patriots' David Givens gives wide reciever Deion Branch a bear hug as the two celebrate Branch's first-quarter touchdown last night against the Steelers.

"We knew we had something to prove," said wide receiver David Givens. "We didn't play up to our ability last time and this time we put everything together."

"We played much more competitively than the last time we were out here which wouldn't have taken much," Belichick intoned.

New England got the jump when safety Eugene Wilson picked off rookie Ben Roethlisberger's first pass of the day and the Pats got a 48-yard Adam Vinatieri field goal four plays later.

The Steelers moved into Patriots territory on their second possession, but the second indicator this game was going to be different came when the Pats stopped human battering ram Jerome Bettis on fourth-and-1 at the Pats 39, forcing a fumble. The third indicator came on the next play as Brady went up top, hitting Deion Branch on a post route with a perfectly thrown pass to make it 10-0.

"They made it awfully tough on us here last time," Brady said after the game.

This time, he personally made it tough on Pittsburgh. A poor Josh Miller punt led to a 43-yard Steelers field goal, but then Brady went deep again for Branch and hit him for 45 yards to the Steelers 14.

At the Steelers 9 two plays later, Brady (14 for 21 for 207 yards and two TDs) put up his hand to stop David Givens who was coming in motion and sent him back to a stationary spot on the right of the offense. Brady then got back under center, took the snap and winged a dart to Givens who made his isolated defender Willie Williams fall and slipped in untouched for a 9-yard score to make it 17-3 midway through the third.

"He made some key throws," Pittsburgh linebacker Clark Haggans said of Brady. "He got on top of us quick with those two strikes, going down the middle of the field for 50 yards -- those are big gains. And you have to make those plays in big games."

With Bettis struggling to squeeze through the Patriots stout run defense spearheaded by linebacker Ted Johnson, the Steelers brought in Duce Staley. He made an impact on the running game and helped loosen up the Pats defense enough to get Pittsburgh down to New England's 19. Then Roethlisberger stepped in it. On second-and-6, he looked for tight end Jeramy Tuman, floated a soft pass toward him that Harrison stepped in front of and picked off. Roethlisberger was the only Steeler with a shot to stop Harrison and Mike Vrabel wiped him out at the Steelers 35 and Harrison -- literally -- walked in for the score to make it 24-3.

"When you can make big plays in big games, it helps your offense, it helps your defense, it helps out everyone," said Patriots center Dan Koppen.

Every big play yesterday seemed to go to New England. When the Steelers appeared poised to make things interesting with an early second-half touchdown burst by Bettis, the Pats had a rejoinder ready.

Taking over at their 31, Brady hit Branch for 7 on third down. Then, facing third-and-17, Kevin Faulk got held on a screen pass by Pittsburgh's Aaron Smith giving New England a first down. On the next play, Brady hit Givens for 18 and Pittsburgh got whistled for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Officials ruled that Givens fumbled on the play and the Steelers recovered but that was reversed. On the next play Corey Dillon went 25 yards for a touchdown. Three massive hits delivered in three straight plays and it was 31-10.

Pittsburgh did get it to 31-20 but the Pats got a key conversion on third-and-5 early in the fourth and went on to get a 31-yard field goal from Vinatieri.

The game was iced when Roethlisberger got picked for the third time by Wilson with 7:36 left.