Game Summary
The New England Patriots were hoping to become just the second team to win the Super Bowl three times in four years. The Philadelphia Eagles were hoping to win for the first time. They'd finally made it after having lost in the NFC championship game the previous three years. The Eagles had appeared in the Super Bowl only once before, a 27-10 loss to the Oakland Raiders in the XVth edition, and they had last won the NFL championship in 1960.
In a contest between two of the league's best defenses, the game was scoreless after the first quarter. The Eagles had the only scoring threat in the period, but it ended when Donovan McNabb was intercepted by Rodney Harrison on a first-down play from the New England 19. Their next possession ended with a fumble at the Patriots' 38.
The next time the Eagles got the ball, though, they embarked on an 81-yard drive that culminated in a 6-yard touchdown pass from McNabb to L. J. Smith with 9:55 remaining in the first half.
That was the first time an opponent had taken the lead over New England during the playoffs. The Patriots responded with a drive of their own, but it ended with a botched handoff at Philadelphia's 13. A short punt quickly set them up again, though, and Tom Brady threw a 4-yard TD to David Givens, tying the score at 7 apiece with 1:10 left.
New England's next possession started with the second-half kickoff and ended with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Mike Vrabel, a linebacker playing tight end in the Patriots' goal-line offense. Vrabel had also caught a TD pass in Super Bowl XXXVIII. The star of the drive was wide receiver Deion Branch, who caught four passes for 71 yards to set up the score.
The Eagles came back to tie it up again with a 10-play, 74-yard drive. McNabb was at his best on this drive, completing 7 of 8 passes, including the 10-yard toss to Brian Westbrook that got the touchdown.
The score was still 14-14 at the end of the third quarter. It was the first time in Super Bowl history that the teams were tied after three periods.
The tie didn't last long, though. With only 1:11 gone in the fourth, Corey Dillon scored on a 2-yard plunge to put the Patriots ahead for good. Philadelphia then punted the ball back after failing to get a first down and New England quickly moved into field goal range for Adam Vinatieri, who hit from 22 yards to make it 24-14. The big play on the drive was a 19-yard completion to Branch. A 15-yard roughing the passer penalty on the same play moved the ball to the Philadelphia 16.
With only 8:40 left in the game, the Eagles really needed a quick score. McNabb threw a big 36-yard completion to Terrell Owen, moving the ball to New England's 36, but his next throw was intercepted by linebacker Tedy Bruschi.
The Eagles got the ball right back. After using 11 plays and nearly four minutes to move just 49 yards, McNabb threw a 30-yard touchdown strike down the middle to Greg Lewis. That made it 24-21 with only 1:48 left.
The onside kick attempt was grabbed by the Patriots, who chewed up just over a minute with three plays and a punt that was downed at Philadelphia's 4. With no timeouts and only 46 seconds left, it didn't look good for the Eagles. It looked even worse after they used 24 seconds on a 1-yard completion. Two plays later, Rodney Harrison got his second interception and the Patriots were again Super Bowl champions.
The win was New England's ninth straight playoff victory and coach Bill Belichick's 10th in 11 playoff games, surpassing Vince Lombardi's 9-1 record.
Branch, who caught 11 passes for 133 yards, was named the game's MVP.