Calm, cool Brady delivers again

HOUSTON -- It wasn't as if a tattered script fell from the Reliant Stadium roof, a remnant from New Orleans two Super Bowls ago. But as the final moments played out here last night, Carolina receiver Ricky Proehl felt as if he had seen it all before, the ending playing out before his eyes once more.

"[Tom] Brady going down the field," said Proehl, who two years ago was a member of the St. Louis Rams club that was stunned by New England in the Super Bowl. "The same thing . . . and [Adam] Vinatieri kicked the field goal. When it was over, I had the sick feeling again."

Cool, calm, and seemingly inflappable, Brady further burnished his image as a clutch postseason performer, connecting on 32 of 48 passes, good for 354 yards and three touchdowns, and pacing the Patriots to a come-from-behind 32-29 Super Bowl victory over the defensively-tenacious Panthers.

The 26-year-old Brady, with only 68 seconds remaining in regulation, once again marched his squad downfield. Over the next 59 seconds, the Patriots chewed up 37 yards in five plays, bringing the ball to the Carolina 23. Over on the sideline, Proehl's stomach was beginning to flip.

"When we need 'em, they cash in," said Deion Branch, reflecting on whether Brady or Vinatieri was the calmest under pressure. "Both of 'em [are the same]. The coaches always say, `When your number's called, you've got to cash in.' "

Brady further cashed in after the win when he was named the MVP, winning a Cadillac XLR. He also was named the MVP two years ago.

Branch and Brady tried to connect to open the winning drive, but the result was the last of Brady's 16 incompletions. Then came a 13-yard pass to Troy Brown, followed by another to Brown for 20 more, which was nullified for offensive pass interference. Brown redeemed himself with a 13-yard catch on the next snap. The next two plays had Brady first hitting Daniel Graham for 4 more yards, and then a 17-yard hookup with Branch. The ball was at the Carolina 23, and Vinatieri was on his way in from the sideline.

"I was just trying to get it a little closer there to shorten the field goal," said Branch. "They had a short coverage there, because they figured out what we were doing. My thought there is, if I can score, I try to score, but I just want to get as close for Adam as I can."

Brady, his helmet off, watched from the sideline as Vinatieri ripped through the ball with his right foot. It couldn't have been more than 10 feet into flight when Vinatieri, who earlier missed a chip shot and had another attempt blocked, raised a clenched right fist. He knew where it was going, and he knew the Patriots were going home winners.

"Adam drilled it right down the middle to win it," said a beaming Brady, sounding more California mellow than East Coast jubilant at the postgame podium. "What a game. What a game. Fitting for a Super Bowl, I guess."

The Patriots had not trailed since last being in Houston Nov. 23. But neither Brady nor anyone else on the New England sideline so much as flinched under the pressure.

"We've been down before," he said. "We just don't lose composure."

If not for the winning drive, Brady risked his signature moment of the night being his pass, intended for Christian Fauria with 7:48 left in the fourth, that Reggie Howard picked off in the end zone and ran back to the 10. Four plays later, Jake Delhomme threw an 85-yard touchdown pass to Muhsin Muhammad, ultimately lifting the Panthers to the 22-21 lead.

Flustered? Who, Brady?

"That's what happens in the Super Bowl, you know?" said Brady. "They make great plays, too."

There is a confidence in the Patriots, said Brady, in which they believe they can "win anything."

"But to win this, the way we did it," he added. "It's just unbelievable the way we did it."

Making it all the more remarkable, he said, was that his offensive line kept him from getting sacked across the full 60 minutes.

"And that," he said, crediting the ferocious Carolina defense, "is the most heat I've had all year."

Brady began to run the numbers, as if still rolling through the playbook.

"A 60-minute game, to come down to the last 5 seconds?" he said. "It think it tells you about the optimism of the two teams."

Two Super Bowls. A pair of victories. Matching MVPs. The inevitable comparisons to former 49ers great Joe Montana. "I said all week, he's the benchmark for quarterbacks in the league," said Brady, gingerly sidestepping undesired pressure one last time. "This is only my fourth year, and in no way am I close to that. Hopefully, one day I'm on that level, but not yet."