February 20, 2025 • 40 mins
The Patriots’ path to history ran through two familiar foes: the high-powered Indianapolis Colts and the hard-hitting Pittsburgh Steelers. In a masterclass of playoff football, New England's defense stifled Peyton Manning yet again, while Tom Brady and company dismantled the Steelers at Heinz Field—avenging their only regular-season loss. With their third straight AFC title secured, the Patriots were just one win away from solidifying their place among the NFL’s greatest dynasties.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
What do you remember about the two thousand and four Patriots?
Speaker 2 (00:02):
And the Patriots are world champions?
Speaker 1 (00:05):
I am After winning two championships in three seasons, The
Patriots third Super Bowl win in two thousand and four
cemented their place as the NFL's dynasty of the new millennium.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Back to back world championships three out of four.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Now twenty years later, we're going back for our third
and final chapter to recapture how the greatest Patriots team
of the two thousands came together and reigned supreme. Yes
it's as This is a Patriots super Bowl sound odyssey.
Yes it's a Dynasty. Episode three, The Road through the AFC.
After completing a fourteen and two regular season, the Patriots
took their bye week to rest up for another playoff runs.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
The opportunities don't come along very often, almost like what's
the price you would pay for the success? I mean,
what would you give up to win this game? I mean,
would you give up the week of not doing anything
but preparing for football?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
You know I would, and I do.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
In the meantime, offensive coordinator Charlie Weiss accepted an offer
to become the next head coach of Notre Dames.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
As the new head coaches at Notre Dame Charlie Weist,
returning to their alma.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Maters Well defensive coordinator Romeo Crenell was in line to
take over the Cleveland Browns.
Speaker 5 (01:05):
They newly let Romeo Crenell.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Cleveland Brown change was inevitable, setting up one final run
for an elite coaching staff that was ready to close
out their patriots' careers the right way. Matt Patricia, offensive assistant.
Speaker 6 (01:17):
Honestly, Charlie was you know, he's probably the best play
caller I've ever been around. The way his brain worked
and the way he could recall information. We would sit
up during games and you know, I had the sheet
upstairs and we'd be on the headsets and he would
just be like, all right, Matt, just read me the
plays and read me the defense because I would break
the game. You know, we'd have all the information. I'd
break the defense down. As as we go through the game.
(01:38):
He's like, just read me the coverages and I'd be like,
all right, play one. We ran you know whatever, Ride
one thirty four Bogus and they played cover four and
he'd be like, got it next, and I would just
read through, like twelve plays and he'd be like, good,
got it, no problem, go make the adjustments, go out
and call, then exit, and it was like he didn't
even blink. It was almost like a photographic memory.
Speaker 7 (01:57):
It was. It was really amazing.
Speaker 6 (02:00):
To watch him call the game and adjust during the game.
Speaker 8 (02:03):
A familiar foe awaited the Patriots after their bye week
as the Indianapolis Colts returned to Foxborough for the third
time in two seasons.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
From inside the Comcast SportsCenter at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough,
this is Gil Santos along with Gino Capelletti and the
AFC Semifinals the Divisional round as the Indianapolis Colts, in
their high powered offense with Peyton Manning, come into Foxborough
to try to do something a Colts team has not
done since nineteen ninety five, and that is win a
(02:32):
game in Foxboro.
Speaker 8 (02:34):
Peyton Manning had set an NFL record with forty nine
touchdowns as the Colts boasted the number one scoring offense
in the league, and they just blasted the Denver Broncos
forty nine to twenty four in the Wildcard round.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
The Colts come in with the Nations media pretty much
thinking that they're going to win the ballgame based on
the last game that they saw, and that was last
Sunday when the Colts obliterated Denver by a score of
forty nine to twenty four. Whether or not that happens
this afternoon remains to be seen. But they've still got
to go through the World Champions to get it done.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
It was to be the next chapter in the biggest
NFL rivalry of the early two thousands. Scott Pioli, Patriots
director of player personnel.
Speaker 9 (03:12):
Here's what I do remember.
Speaker 10 (03:13):
Remember.
Speaker 11 (03:14):
I remember the feeling before the game because I knew
how ready our team was. I knew, you know, Bill
and Romeo, and.
Speaker 12 (03:23):
The plan was we were going to try to meet
these guys.
Speaker 11 (03:27):
Up and the field.
Speaker 5 (03:30):
The weather worked in our favor, right.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
And the weather is perfect for New England football fans
because it's twenty six degrees, the wind chill is fifteen
and it's snowing. It started snowing about an hour ago.
Speaker 11 (03:41):
Their team was built for the RCA Dome, which I
think is that's what it was still called time. We
were built to grind, to have a punch in the mouth.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
I mean, the.
Speaker 11 (03:51):
Colts were a tough team, right, They were physically It's
not that they weren't physically tough, but they were built
stylistically different, and we were going to approach it differently
and heard before the game thinking, wow, you know, we've really.
Speaker 7 (04:06):
This is this is in our favor.
Speaker 13 (04:07):
And I think what I also remember was feeling so
confident because we had.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Corey Matt Patricia offensive assistant.
Speaker 6 (04:17):
Yeah, well, you know, Scott probably wasn't in gear pads
or Cohen plays or any of that stuff, so I
know he felt good.
Speaker 5 (04:22):
Up in the wing.
Speaker 6 (04:24):
I know was the coaching staff. We're like, okay, we
got about freey, we gotta like handle the edges.
Speaker 9 (04:28):
Like.
Speaker 6 (04:29):
There was a lot of stuff we had to do
that week. So it was a little a little bit
more uh.
Speaker 9 (04:32):
You know, unnerving than that Tory Dyllon University of Wanting.
And you know what I'm from. I'm from Seattle, Man.
I'm used to those snowy, cold, muddy games. So I
knew it was I knew it was gonna be. You know,
we we've got to do some running.
Speaker 14 (04:48):
Cold, blustery, windy, snowy day in Foxborough. What's new January.
Speaker 9 (04:55):
Gonna be on the ground this game. We're gonna do
a lot of running. So dude, it was after the
first initial hit, man, I just settled in and started
doing a job. Man.
Speaker 14 (05:05):
Football players have to make adjustments all the time. They
have to make different kinds of adjustins and schemes and
techniques and strategy, and they have to do it personally.
So if they have to do it weatherwise, they will
do it weatherwise.
Speaker 5 (05:21):
I've in fears running backs coach.
Speaker 15 (05:23):
The only way to beat Peyton man was keep his
ass on the sideline. If you keep him over there
on the sideline, you got a hell of attendance. And
when you can pound the ball like that and you
can control the plot and you can give our defense
the rest and he's over there watching us, you got
a hell of a chance. And that's the way we
sort of went into it. And Corey knew his job.
He knew his responsibility was to pound the ball, pound
(05:45):
the ball, and then we were sprinkling the other guys,
you know, Kevin and those guys, and you know Flashy here,
Flashy there, and he was so freaking good at it.
I mean, he was a freaking monster.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Nick Fitzi Stevens Patriots fan and personality.
Speaker 10 (06:00):
We had to beat Peyton last year in the AFC Championship,
we had to kick off against Peyton to start the
season to defend it and try to go back to back.
Now the Pats have to face him in the divisional
round as well. I'm not sure if I have any
more emotional reserve prepared just in case Peyton Manning finally
comes to Gillette and beats Belichick and Brady. Luckily enough
(06:22):
for us, Peyton Manning cold weather, the Foxborough faithful, being
loud and proud and obnoxious. Af he never really stood
a chance.
Speaker 15 (06:30):
So Leland doesn't care about our history. All they care
about it because they've been very good at home all
year long, and they've kind of.
Speaker 14 (06:36):
Had our number.
Speaker 15 (06:37):
Obviously we'd like to change it, but it's going to
be tough.
Speaker 9 (06:39):
Eon Brant Louisville.
Speaker 16 (06:41):
You know, like I said, everything, even playing the coast
in the regular season. Now, is this either amplified a
hundred times?
Speaker 10 (06:47):
You know?
Speaker 16 (06:47):
Here it is Tom Brady versus Peyton Manning. It was
never the patron versus the cops.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Now, Hello friends, Jim Nansen, Welcome again to the NFL
on CBS. So many irresistible matchups here, Beginning with the quarterbacks.
Speaker 16 (06:59):
It was always versus Peyton, and we and we relished
in that moment. We relished in that moment.
Speaker 9 (07:05):
We loved it.
Speaker 16 (07:06):
I trust me, I did because the only thing I
wanted to happen was that make sure Tom Brady at
the end of the day will be the guy who
they're going to talk about. And I guess how, somehow, some way,
we win and they're still trying to figure out, Oh, Peyton, man.
Speaker 7 (07:19):
It's still the greatest.
Speaker 16 (07:20):
Well, at what point is it about the wins? Are
we worrying about stats? Because we don't focus on the
stats and I know Peyton doesn't either, And Peyton's is
a great friend of mine. I love Peyton, but he
knows it was all about us going out winning this game,
making sure that Tom get his just due. And somehow,
somebody they still, somehow, it's always still Peyton is still
(07:42):
the greatest. Like how I mean we beat him at
least five times.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
The coach have had their problems winning against the Patriots
over the years, Geno, the Patriots have beaten the coach
more than any other team in the National Football League
forty five times.
Speaker 5 (07:55):
Jim Niggy, Executive director of the Senior Board.
Speaker 17 (07:58):
Yeah, it was it was an awesome rivalry is really
because of those those two guys. I think the uniqueness
of that rivalry was there. Stylistically, those teams were so different.
You know, the Colts were built one way and uh
and they were great at it. You know you had
Dallas Clark and Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne and you
know all those guys. I mean great, they they could,
(08:18):
they could throw it around, but they weren't you know,
in my opinion, they weren't really built for those Foxborough games.
You know when we when we had to go out
there and play and play in the RCA Dome, that
was a whole different ball game because they were so
good indoors. But you know, you get you get, you
get that team outdoors in January in Foxborough, that's a
that's a whole different story.
Speaker 7 (08:36):
But I want to make.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
Sure they have Holton Field at advantage next season. If
they got to play Tom Brady and the Patriots. I
want to say that it doesn't snow inside the RCA Doome.
It's not seventy two and perfect like it is in Indianapolis.
Speaker 17 (08:49):
Awesome rivalry, some great games, some all time games. I
look back on those times I mean, that's that's uh,
that Brady Manning thing and the Patriots Colts thing, and
that's for that era of the n that was as
good as he got.
Speaker 14 (09:01):
This big playoff game that I gotta believe the whole
country has been waiting to see because of the high powered,
explosive offense of the Indianapolis Colts and the Peyton Manning
and the outstanding receivers he has.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Right now, Matt Patricia, offensive assistant.
Speaker 6 (09:18):
Here, I am again same place as I started this season.
I am now in the first playoff game, and I'm
standing next to Peyton and he's throwing and I remember
again it started to snow weather.
Speaker 14 (09:30):
It was coming in and a little bit on the
rainy and snowyst side at this point in a pretty
good little win coming from our left to right.
Speaker 6 (09:37):
You know, started the snow in pregame and I remember
him kind of like looking up and the snow is
coming down and he's just kind of looking and that's
when I was like, oh, we got it, Like we're
going to be all right here. So you know, that
was definitely real. Our guys give them credit. I mean,
they just played awesome.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
And so the Colts and they're high powered offense will
start at their own twenty seven yard line. Farre hash
Mark trying to go from right to left. It'll be
interesting to see what the Patriots try to do defensive left.
Speaker 8 (10:08):
The game is a stalemate through the first quarter, with
the two teams trading five punts, neither able to cross
the fifty yard line.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
Bill Belichick scoreless game. Put the points upon the fort
right wrong. Notre Dame's Charlie White sends in the play,
they're gonna go for it.
Speaker 10 (10:22):
It's port the gold.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
Dylan make it look easy touchdown. But wait a second,
Paul Stark on the offensive line, No, we would have
to settle to that field goal.
Speaker 8 (10:31):
Three up in the year if the Patriots opened the
scoring with a field goal after the Colts defense held
on with a stop inside their own five yard line.
They nearly got the ball right back on Indy's first
play of the next drive, with Mike Grabeles sacking Manning
and forcing a fumble.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
On first and ten James. The lone running back Dallas
Clark is tight to the right first and ten Peyton
Manning and the Colts that they were own thirty four
hand off to No. One play action fake back to
throw the rush, he gets hip Obama's love to Tomac
grounds and bailion pick touch by the Colts back at
their own twenty.
Speaker 5 (11:00):
One yard line.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
The Patriots causing the fumball on a tremendous rush on
Peyton Manning Mike Rabel getting up slowly. Yeah, but what
a rush by the Patriots.
Speaker 8 (11:10):
Cultu re covered it, but it was enough to force
their offense into a fourth straight punt to start the game.
Dylan and the Pats offense started to find their stride,
with the big back ripping off the forty two yard
run that set up another Vinitary field goal.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Dylan remains the lone running back put a man on
the right wing for the Patriots. Brady on second down
in Tenna, hand off to Dylan trying to go wide
to the rights across the forty five to fifty forty.
Speaker 7 (11:33):
Five thirty forty five thirty Hi Tive had twenty.
Speaker 11 (11:36):
Five twenty fifteen and tie about of the fifteen.
Speaker 7 (11:39):
Yard line, Pory Dylan pusting.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Him up the right side, Colls four forty four yards
Hannah Patriots poor person.
Speaker 8 (11:47):
Down down six to zero. The Colts started to find
the stride of their own with their best drive of
the day.
Speaker 14 (11:51):
So the Patriots gonna have to contend with this offense
that seems to be picking up a little steve.
Speaker 7 (11:57):
As the game mount.
Speaker 8 (11:58):
They made it all the way down to the Patriots
thirty nine yard line when Teddy Bruski ripped the ball
from running back Dominic Roads Arms, killing the Colts drive
and showing the championship.
Speaker 5 (12:06):
Medal that the Patriots possessed.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
On second down and seventeen from wide left in motion
light comes Wayne Back to throw his manning fires to
the right, caught and immediately dragged down it for forty
one was Dominic Rhodes tackle by Teddy Broski and Truitt's
halt football. Yeah, Bruski ripped it out of his hands.
The Patriots to tackle Patriots takeovers. Teddy Broski made the
(12:29):
tackle on the completion that the Dominic Roads and Brusk
ripped it right out of his hands, and the Patriots
haveblet football at their own forty one they blunt the
Indianapolis drive.
Speaker 8 (12:39):
Cameras caught Bruski on the sidelines with the ball, screaming
they ain't got it.
Speaker 18 (12:43):
What was looking for it? Yeah, that's really what it meant.
It wasn't about the ball of them not having the ball.
It was just like they don't understand what They don't
understand what we are, you know, they don't understand what
we go through, and they can't. They just don't get us,
(13:03):
you know. It's just just a different mentality of the
Colt mentality, the white uniforms playing on astro turf whatever,
now playing on a field turf, you know, in a dome,
you know, things like that. We really thought they were
soft at the time, you know, and just to prove
that again was something we wanted to do.
Speaker 8 (13:19):
The Patriots couldn't capitalize on the takeaway and then watch
the Colts execute their first scoring drive of the day
with just two seconds left before halftime. Mike vander Jack
cut the lead to six to three, but the Patriots
defense held firm at their own five yard line.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
The kick is good for vander Jack from twenty three
yards away, and that will be the final play of
the first half. From inside the Comcast Sports Center booth
at Gillette Stadium. The score at the half the defending
world champion New England Patriots six, the Indianapolis Colts three.
Speaker 8 (13:47):
In the second half, New England unleashed their record setting
back and a perfect example of why.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Corey Dillon was brought in ready to hand off to
Dylan turning, why did the light touch it up to?
Speaker 9 (13:56):
You?
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Perched down across the court and five yard line and
driven down at the forty two yard line, but a
first down for Corey Dillon able to make the tackle
for Indianapolis Josh Williams. Dylan, of course, had a forty
four yard run or forty two yard run in the
first half. That one was a nine yard carry for
a first down, and Cory now has eighty yards rushing
(14:16):
in his first ever NFL playoff game.
Speaker 8 (14:19):
Early in the third quarter, Brady and the Pats executed
an epic fifteen play eighty seven yard drive.
Speaker 14 (14:23):
Well, the Patriots had one pass to Christian Fourier, but
what a big pass it was, because it gave him
the first down when they were back at their own
twelve yard line and got them going. Ever since then,
it's been run, run, run.
Speaker 8 (14:36):
Brady hit Gibvens for a five yard touchdown to extend
the lead to thirteen to three.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Brady back to throw, looks looks now, He's gonna run
with it and goes to the left.
Speaker 14 (14:44):
Cut down touch down with David Gibbons bike play.
Speaker 7 (14:49):
By Tom Brady. You gotta know that.
Speaker 14 (14:51):
When he starts looking, he could see the field as
well as anyone, and he bolted out of the pocket.
He started going up for or towards a line of scrimmage, looking.
Speaker 7 (15:02):
Like he might run the football, but no, he sees everything.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
That's going on in that secondary phone.
Speaker 14 (15:08):
David Gibbons with a little short ten yard pass and
the touchdown at the Patriots so dearly needed to give
them the separation that they needed from this Colt team.
Speaker 8 (15:19):
After a five and out by the Colts, the Pats
offense duplicated their dominance with another long drive, this one
lasting fourteen plays and eating up over seven minutes of
game clock, taking the game into the fourth quarter with
a one yard touchdown sneak by Breeding.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
It is a first and goal to go at the
Colt One Brady quarterback sneak.
Speaker 14 (15:35):
And he is down and.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Let's see gonna unpile waiting touchdown touchdown Tom Brady quarterback
snake huts down.
Speaker 8 (15:48):
With just over seven minutes left, Rodney Harrison forced another
Colt's fumble that the Patriots recovered.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
How Stoke's in the left slot. Wayne is wide, Harrison
to the fire side right. Harrison doesn't know what the
play is. He's got James in the backfield. Here was
right out of a shotgun manning second and ten direction map.
Here's the rush fires at his complete Dwayne, He's across
for twenty five thirty and the pumble on the play
covered by the petre ch I believe it's Teddy Bruce
King Plumberwick coup Rag had the thirty three yard lide
(16:18):
and whoa what the performance by the world champions.
Speaker 8 (16:22):
The offense handed the ball off to Corey Dillon four
straight times on the drive that didn't end in points,
but ate up another four minutes of clock.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
Scott Pioli, Patriots director of player personnel.
Speaker 13 (16:32):
I remember the second half feeling like their offense never
got on the field.
Speaker 11 (16:36):
And with each first down if we got, I.
Speaker 13 (16:39):
Was like, okay, Now, Sometimes, you know, the theory was
with teams like quick stripe teams like the Colts and
the Chargers and some of those other teams that really
big quarterbacks and the Steelers. You know, sometimes your.
Speaker 12 (16:54):
Best defense is your offense and keeping the other offense
off the field and I know from a time.
Speaker 13 (17:01):
Standpoint, you know, we absolutely dominated that game in time
of possession man with two.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Fifty nine to go and the Patriots on top twenty
to three. Hey, brilliant defensive effort by the Patriots this afternoon.
A punishing ground game where the Patriots this afternoon Corey
Dillon up close to what one hundred and forty yards rushing.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
In the game.
Speaker 8 (17:23):
The final Colt's drive was shut down with the Patriots
third takeaway of the game, an interception by Rodney Harrison
with twelve seconds left to put a final exclamation point
on a suffocating win over INDI's high flying offense.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
And it is a first down for Indianapolis with twenty
two seconds and the clock ticking, Manning trying to get
his team into the end zone, the Patriots trying to
prevent it. With a twenty to three league, they would
love to be able to hold Manning for no touchdowns.
Direct snap to Nanty Punkcakes fires to the right and
it is at our cuft on the end zone. Can
run out of there to the left side by Rodney Harrison.
Speaker 14 (17:56):
That puts the cap on it.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
We're born seconds to no. Rodney Harrison inner sets in
the end zone. Hamla Patriots have hell a mighty offensive
Indianapolis coach three point three point.
Speaker 8 (18:12):
The Patriots were headed back to the AFC Championship after
a twenty to three win.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Paul Perillo, Patriots Football Weekly.
Speaker 19 (18:19):
Dylan well over one hundred yards that day. Just controlled
the clock, controlled the ball, you know. I want to say,
that's kind of where the start of the clock killing
Corey Dylan, you know, sort of emanated from a dominant
performance the game the year before, in the three AFC
Championship game, I want to say was more competitive. Now,
(18:40):
it may not have been that much different on the scoreboard,
but I think it was more competitive. I don't think
that the Colts really ever had a sniff in that
divisional round game at all.
Speaker 7 (18:48):
Four.
Speaker 19 (18:48):
The Patriots defense was just they were so good, Mike,
on both sides of the ball that you almost were
surprised when the other team got two first downs, you know,
in a row. And you know, Manning, for as much
respect as I had for Manning, he had no he
had no answers against the Patriots defense.
Speaker 7 (19:06):
With the conditions the way they were in Indy.
Speaker 19 (19:09):
He could move the ball and put points on the board,
but not in not in the colds, not when the
Patriots had like that twelfth Man of the weather.
Speaker 8 (19:16):
After the game, linebacker Teddy Bruski reminded every one of
the offseason rule changes implemented by the NFL many drew
a direct correlation to the Patriots physical playoff win over
the Colts in two thousand and three.
Speaker 7 (19:26):
We haven't play.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
That's what we do.
Speaker 9 (19:28):
We don't talk. We played.
Speaker 18 (19:29):
You come to Foxboro, it's gonna be going, it's gonna.
Speaker 7 (19:32):
Be cold, Come on in here.
Speaker 9 (19:34):
You want to send all you want. We want to
change the rules and chase them.
Speaker 7 (19:37):
We still played, then we win, that's.
Speaker 18 (19:38):
We Teddy Bruski, Arizona. Yeah, it never comes out until
after the game for me, you know, and a lot
of our players, because we keep it all inside and
we try to handle ourselves with class during the week
as best we can, you know, in terms of what
we say in the media. But yeah, it's changing rules.
Bill Pollion not liking the way we play. We played
to aggressive. It doesn't like old school football, all of
(20:00):
this stuff, and you know, we had all that inside.
Bill was a great did a great job of, like
you know, feeding us bits of motivation about things that
were said and all of that stuff, because we really
we we motivated ourselves every single week in terms of
like we had something to prove, because that was always
the best motivation and I always we always kept this
(20:21):
forever in terms of myself, Harrison, Brady McGinnis, those type
of guys that there was always something to prove. Twenty
one wins in a row, you still got something to prove.
Speaker 8 (20:38):
New England was onto the a FC Championship with the
perfect team standing in the way. It was a return
to the place where.
Speaker 5 (20:44):
The Patriots record setting twenty.
Speaker 8 (20:45):
One game win streak had been broken to face rookie
quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and the one loss Steelers.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
No one else believes in you. You really have to
believe in yourself. I think from my standpoint, I'm always
trying to prove to myself that I'm capable of leading
a team to a win. In this case, to be
the best team of football on the road and the
most important game of the year.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
It's the Patriots and the Steelers for a trip to
the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Nick Fitzi Stephens, Patriots fan and personality.
Speaker 10 (21:09):
The Patriots owed Pittsburgh won after the Steelers broke the
twenty one game winning streak back in the fall, and
that game a four o'clock kickoff on CBS. I remember
it well. It was a totally lopsided affair. The Steelers
ate the Pats lunch and handed them their empty bag
and said take your winning streak and get out of here.
Yin's ain't gonna like this one today. And it was
(21:30):
a humble pie game for sure. But the crazy thing
is the Patriots only lost two games that year. You
would think a fourteen and two team would be hosting
an AFC championship, and no, they had to go back
to Steeltown. They had to go to the place where
they thought they were the gold standard of the NFL
as a new gold standard was rising, and they had
to go through Pittsburgh. It was so perfectly poetic. The
(21:52):
one team that knocked off the winning streak. You know,
they're fifteen to one, Y're fourteen and two. You got
to go through Pittsburgh, and having watched the Red Sox
just have to go through New York to get to
their championship.
Speaker 5 (22:03):
This was perfect our versus power.
Speaker 16 (22:06):
Tom Brady, youngest QB to ever win a Super Bowl,
Roethlisberger trying to be the first rookie QB to ever
start a Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
Matt Patricia, offensive assistant.
Speaker 6 (22:15):
The thing about the Pittsburgh game that no one under,
no one realizes. And again, so we're getting ready to
go play Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh and our guys were pretty
dialed in because obviously that's where we broke the streak
and the streak lost. So our guys were ready. We
just had a It was the practice was intense. You
could feel everything ratcheting up as we were getting closer
(22:36):
in the AFC Championship game. Now, we've been in some cold,
cold games, but this was one of the coldest. I remember.
Speaker 7 (22:41):
This was one of the coldest games I can.
Speaker 9 (22:43):
You know, it was late, it was night.
Speaker 6 (22:44):
Or the wind was coming off and all of it.
But there was a huge storm coming through the northeast,
and I remember the league. What happened was we actually
had to leave early and go to the game early
because the league was worried we weren't going to be
able to make it, you know, to the game because
of the weather and planes and everything. So we wind
up all a sudden, it's like, hey, we gotta go
we gotta go now, like we gotta go like tomorrow
(23:06):
or whatever it was. So you had to pack everything,
get ready to go where we saw the day of practice,
and I just remember being snowed in in like this hotel,
which was not a like glamorous hotel, and we're in
these tiny ballrooms trying to walk through practices and all
the rest of it. And it actually probably worked in
our favorite it.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Is called at twelve degrees, but when Jill makes it
feel about zero four kickoff, and it's certainly not gonna
get any warmer as the evening goes along, so it's
going to be a pretty cold night for the players
and the fans here in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 8 (23:35):
I'm like the first matchup Patriots would have key playmakers
Corey Dillon and Dion branch Back in the mix.
Speaker 9 (23:41):
Corey Dillon, University of Watching. I think I missed at
Pittsburgh game two with a ham Street in the regular season,
so I didn't play that game as well, and they
rumped us pretty good up there. And I know I
got some friends out here, Joey Porter and on, and
they was talking, you know what, they were talking cav
(24:04):
and and you know what, our attitude was like, man, listen,
let's beat them down. Let's beat them down. Let's go
out there and jump on them early and let them
know we're back. We're we fully loaded, everybody, everybody's up,
We're not at a disadvantage, and let's go show on
what we got.
Speaker 16 (24:24):
Dean branch Lewisville, my father and my uncle is the
two biggest Pittsburgh fans.
Speaker 9 (24:29):
Ever, you know.
Speaker 16 (24:30):
So it really started with those two guys. Their biggest thing, Hey,
we want you to win, I mean want you to
have a good game, but lose. And I'm like, okay
that that doesn't lash. If we lose, then you don't
go to the super Bowl. And both of these jokers like.
Speaker 9 (24:47):
That'd be cool. I'm fine with.
Speaker 16 (24:50):
And they are the biggest super Bowl, the stealer fans ever,
those two guys.
Speaker 7 (24:55):
But it really.
Speaker 16 (24:56):
Started at home with that trash talking.
Speaker 14 (24:58):
And I gotta tell ya, this place a great venue
for football. I've never seen so many of the yellow
Terrible towels that I have seen here tonight. I know
they were very popular during the Terry Bradshaw Frank o'harris
era when they were winning those super Bowls back in
the early seventies, but they had him been But I
(25:19):
have never seen as many as I have seen you
here tonight.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Nick Fitzi Stevens, Patriots fan and personality.
Speaker 10 (25:26):
To just add to the drama, there comes the story
of Brady being in bed the night before with one
hundred and three degree fever, an ivy hooked up in
a hotel room with the flu the night that Tom
Brady had the flu, and then the next night came
out and kicked the Steelers ass in the AFC Championship.
Became the new reminder for everyone, Hey, I don't care
(25:49):
how crappy you feel. Brady had one hundred and three
degree fever the night before and then came out and
dropped that bomb in branches bucket and beat the Steelers.
You're showing up to work today, you are gonna.
Speaker 9 (26:00):
Do your job.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
I actually had that flew pretty bad in the night
before the game, and I was like in slow motion,
so I wasn't sure how it was gonna play.
Speaker 9 (26:09):
Deon Brandt Lewisville.
Speaker 16 (26:10):
Tom was sort of sick that game as well, if
I can remember correctly, he had a coal So we
was always talking about the Michael Jordan game sixty Utah.
Speaker 14 (26:20):
So this is tom things.
Speaker 16 (26:22):
Tom Brady is sick, and I'm pretty sure they'll come
up with something with that as well.
Speaker 18 (26:26):
Teddy Bruski Arizona. It was gonna be tough. I think
this was this was the same team that ended the streak,
you know, and this was a really good team, and
Roethlisberger was young, and their defense was great, and you know,
they could almost match our mentality. We're not playing the
Colts here, Okay, this team would you know, talk trash
in your face and you know it was they'd get
(26:46):
right in your face. And we respected that.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
We felt, like we did against the Coles, will get killed.
Speaker 5 (26:50):
Pittsburgh is not the Colts.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Things that we did against the Colts, if we tried
to do them against.
Speaker 19 (26:54):
The Steelers, they'd be fifty five of nothing.
Speaker 5 (26:57):
I have in fears running backs coach.
Speaker 15 (26:59):
It was a certain calmness about the team. That's why
I remember, no, because I spend most of the time
in the locker room. I have the at that time,
I was a guy getting them out. I gave them
the time to head to the field, the different groups
all right, time for the receivers that go out there
and sitting in the locker room doing that whole pregame time.
You can just sort of feel. It wasn't crazy energy.
(27:21):
It was just sort of feel the calmness, and there
was a confidence, you know what I mean. It was
just a just a confidence.
Speaker 9 (27:29):
It was.
Speaker 15 (27:29):
It was kind of cool.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
Scott Poli, Patriots director of player Personnel.
Speaker 11 (27:34):
You know, there's just a sense of like, we're a
good football team. We're prepared and we're healthy.
Speaker 13 (27:39):
If we just do what we're supposed to do, which
is no stupid penalties, no bad timing penalties, don't turn
them all over, we should be okay.
Speaker 12 (27:49):
And so I also had a sense of calm before
the game, but like in every game where I did
some sense of found as soon as the balls kicked,
I feel like you're going to throw up in my
mouth for three hours.
Speaker 9 (28:00):
You know.
Speaker 11 (28:01):
That's that's just what this game does to you.
Speaker 14 (28:04):
We're looking forward to a very physical game, as we've
mentioned throughout the early study stages of the broadcast here
and certainly have no reason to doubt that. But now
just look at those towels. I've never seen anything like it.
Once again, just a great venue. It's AFC Championship football,
(28:26):
and you couldn't have two tougher, more physical teams coming
out toward.
Speaker 8 (28:30):
Patriots wasted little time jumping on the Steelers, with Eugene
Wilson picking.
Speaker 5 (28:33):
Off Roethlisberger just three plays into the game.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Three receivers to the near side right now in motion
from right to left, back to the right comes Hindward.
Roethlisberger takes the direction, Map stands and fires up the
deal that is in our company. I intercepted it was
tipped by Sante Samuel and picked off by Eugene Wilson.
Speaker 5 (28:52):
He caught it just before.
Speaker 8 (28:53):
It hit the ground and then around to Dion Branch
picked up fourteen yards, enough for an opening field goal
that gave New England the three zero league.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Brady on first in ten at the Pittsburgh forty eight
in motion right the left comes Daniel Graham. Now sets
up on the left to give us to Corey. Dylan
counts an a round of deon Branch going to the
right the forty five forty inside the thirty five yard
line to about the thirty four. Maybe the thirty three
goes Dion Branch. They faked my handoff to Dylan coming
off left tackle and gave it the Dion Branch on
(29:22):
the end around and he picks up a first down.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
Matt Patricia, offensive assistant, And this.
Speaker 6 (29:27):
Is one of those ones where you know, Charlie, very famously,
very confident, would get up and he'd go through the
openers like I mentioned with everybody, and he literally he'd
got the board and I'd write him on the board
from and he'd be like, all right, play one, Okay,
look this play. We're gonna get this. This is a touchdown.
All right, second play right here, this plays pert, this
is another touchdown.
Speaker 9 (29:46):
You know.
Speaker 6 (29:46):
He'd be like four plays in, we got like twenty
eight points on the board already, you know, and it
was just like that's how it would go. But then
sometimes he'd be right, you know, he'd be like big
plate of Dion to start the game.
Speaker 8 (29:55):
The Steelers look to respond on their next drive, moving
across midfield on a sixteen yard reception by p Oxico
Buris and.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Coming out of their in motion to the right comes
Plexico Burris direct snap to Wathnersberger fires complete the Burris.
He's across the forty five to midfield to the Patriots
forty eight yard line before Eugene Wilson brings him down. Burris,
a terrific target at six foot five, two hundred and
twenty six pounds, very big wide receiver, makes the first
down reception in a sixteen yard play.
Speaker 8 (30:22):
The Patriots defense stiffened, setting up a fourth and one
at New England's thirty nine, but the Steelers felt confident
they could pick up with their own tank of a
running back Jerome Bettis.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Fourth down in less than the yard, and Roland's Roethlisberger
is staying in there.
Speaker 14 (30:38):
So you've got to feel like they're gonna gamble.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
It's an early gamble for Pittsburgh. The Patriots lead it
three to nothing.
Speaker 5 (30:45):
Bettis was not only stopped but also fumble.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Double tight ends Pier the full back. Better's the tailback
in the eye, quieter in motion, right, give to Bettis
to the left. Oh docp stop short of the first down.
The balls on the ground and the Patriots habit. The
Patriots have recovered the fumbo by Bettis at the Patriot
forty yard line, so they gambled and launched the gamble.
(31:09):
Mike Brabel recovered the fumbo. Pittsburgh went on fourth in
less than a yard. They stacked up Bettis and he
coughed it up.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Paul Parrillo, Patriots Football Weekly.
Speaker 19 (31:19):
Yeah, there was a fourth and one that Pittsburgh went
for in the first half of that game. Ted Johnson,
huge play on Jerome Bettis. That was my nod in
that game. I felt like the Patriots had sort of
declared the game that they were going to be able
to score points and Pittsburgh was going to need to
keep up, and I think that's why they went for
the fourth down and.
Speaker 7 (31:40):
Again Teddy Jay just comes up.
Speaker 19 (31:42):
That was you know, he was sort of one of
those old school insidelnebackers. Thumper loved to take on the
guards and be physical. He filled that gap. Jerome Bettis
was not an easy guy to stop for no game
they were able to do that. And then the big
plays Brady. You know, just a virtual so performance by Brady.
(32:02):
You know, Deon Branch you mentioned was injured in the
first game. I don't think I had remembered that that
he missed that game.
Speaker 7 (32:08):
Huge game for Dion Branch.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
Dion Branch the only Patriots receiver with two career one
hundred yard receiving games.
Speaker 8 (32:15):
In the postseason, Brady would make the Steelers immediately pay,
launching a picture perfect sixty yard bomb to Branch for
the game's first touchdown.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
Patriots first and ten at their own forty leading prive
to nothing. Dylan alone running back why to the near side,
left his Branch, Gibbons in the left slot, two tight
ends to the right in motion out of the left
to the right goes gibbing Us Brady calling signals, Brady
play action, fake back to throw time, time, Time shoots
it long and d Dion Branch He's got it. Hen
(32:42):
he's gone touchdown. Tom Brady watches a sixty yard bomb
to Dion Branch, hit him in stride at the ten.
Hen he just tippy towed into the end zone.
Speaker 5 (32:53):
Just like that. It was ten zero Pats deon Branch Louisville.
Speaker 16 (32:57):
Throughout that game, we knew it would be a tough game,
hostle environment. We understand and know that Pittsburgh is a
very tough team, especially in the playoffs and at home,
and we needed we had to play our best game.
And real talk, Matt, that was probably by far one
of our advanced games throughout my whole entire career, including
some of the Super Bowl performances. I felt like that
(33:19):
game right there, everybody everybody was super dedicated and just
bought into this whole game plan. We were super locked
in and knowing that our captain was down, everybody had
to pick their games in. Everybody on the team had
to pick their game up, and we did that. We
did it for the team, we did it for the organization,
the city, and primarily for Tom Brady.
Speaker 9 (33:40):
Man.
Speaker 8 (33:41):
The Steelers manage a field goal before the first quarter
was up, but New England was slowly gathering momentum on
both sides of the ball. Brady hit Branch for another
big game, this one forty five yards.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
Braddy play action fake back to throw step shop fill
the pocket, shoots a downfield they had tucked great Fleet
being catch up the twenty five yard line by patre Dion.
Speaker 8 (34:00):
Branch helps set up another touchdown that made it seventeen
to three.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
Branch fire side left, Gibbons near side right, second and
five with the Pittsburgh nine, Brady falling signals gone. Running
back is Dylan spot pass right completely Gibbons down inside
the ten of the five, and then touchdown David Gibbons.
Speaker 8 (34:18):
Then on Pittsburgh's next possession, it got even worse for
the young Roethlisberger as Rodney Harrison picked up the defense's
second interception of the game and returned at eighty seven
yards for a touchdown.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
Second down and seven for the Steelers. Prydor goes in
motion to the right now stops Blocklessberger's back to throw
the rush fires. It is interccepted Peck Dauphin heavy nabled
up sideline Ladys Patriot defensive back at the forty yard
line of the forty five. It's Rodney Harrison. He's to
the twenty fifteen ten five touchdown. Rodney Harrison.
Speaker 8 (34:50):
Pats took a twenty four to three leads to the
locker room at halftime and will continue to match a
desperate Pittsburgh team throughout the second half.
Speaker 14 (34:56):
Tom Brady seven of eleven, two touchdown. He has a
rating of one hundred and forty five point eight, and
I don't know that you can go much higher than that.
On the other hand, Ben Roethlisberger has completed five passes
out of ten and he has two interceptions, and he
has a rating of thirty six point two. Just to
(35:18):
give you an idea of the disparity between these two
quarterbacks at this point.
Speaker 8 (35:23):
The third quarter, bettest touchdown was offset by a twenty
five yard touchdown run by Corey Dillon.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
Pass the fallback Dylan the tailback in the eye two
tight ends to the right side with Graham on the
wing near side left Branch hamd off to Dylan trying
to turn it to the right. He's inside the fifteen
to the ten to the five and down an end touchdown,
standing up twenty five yards.
Speaker 8 (35:43):
Corey Dllon Steelers just couldn't close the gap as the
Patriots closed their fifth AFC championship with the twenty three
yard end around to Branch same play Charlie Weiss call
to start the game.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
Third and nine of the Pittsburgh twenty three in motion
right to left goes Graham Dylan. It's an end around
coming to the other side. It's Dion branch.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
At the twenty.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
He's at the fifteen to the right side of the.
Speaker 7 (36:03):
Ten for the five and n touchdown.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
Dion branch On an end a round on third down,
races twenty three yards for a touchdown. Put it in
the bank. It's gaining interest. The Patriots are going back
to the Super Bowl for the second year.
Speaker 7 (36:18):
In a row.
Speaker 8 (36:18):
For the second time in four seasons, the Patriots were
Conference champs on Pittsburgh's home field. I see the Steelers
forty one to twenty seven and punching a ticket back
to their third Super Bowl in four seasons.
Speaker 9 (36:28):
Forty dying University of Wine. My first initial feeling is
they used to kick my butt when I played for Cincinnati,
so now hey, payback, payback. I got you, I got you.
So that was my That was my first thought. Second
thought is, man, we just whopped you on the biggest
stage in the AFC Championship Game. After all that was said,
(36:55):
all that was done in the regular season, all the talking.
We kind of killed that noise too, and we're off
to the super Bowl. It gets no better than that.
It gets no better in going up to Hinesfield, beating
them on their own turn and earning at birth, at
birth to the super Bowl super Bowl thirty nine.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
I don't think you ever take this for granted. I
don't think you ever. I don't think we started this
season saying, all right, guys, you know, we're just gonna
kind of walk to the to the AFC Championship Game
and beat a great team to go to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
I mean, it was It's been a lot of really
hard work Paul Parrillo Patriots Football Weekly.
Speaker 19 (37:34):
The one I always like to talk about this is
when it's sort of Rodney Harrison William mc ginnis that
you know, these two guys were special, Like, no, they
were not only special players, but they had a special
way about them in the locker of sort of dictating
the message every week, and they somehow convinced everybody that
(37:55):
no one thought they could win.
Speaker 7 (37:56):
You mentioned fourteen and two on the road to play a.
Speaker 19 (37:58):
Fifteen to one team at home, and the last time
that they played in that stadium.
Speaker 7 (38:04):
The Steelers really took it to the Patriots.
Speaker 19 (38:06):
That game was not close, and the Patriots were favored
on the road in the AFC Championship game against a
fifteen to one team, Yet Willie mcgainness and Rodney Harrison.
Speaker 7 (38:18):
Convinced assault no one thought we could do this. No
one thought we could win.
Speaker 19 (38:23):
And I said to Willy after the game, I was like,
you know, Willie, you guys were favored by three of
this game.
Speaker 7 (38:29):
You remember that, right, And he goes, yeah, but you
guys didn't really think we could win.
Speaker 19 (38:32):
And I was like, Okay, I really honestly don't think
there were very many of us that didn't feel the
Patriots are going to win that game.
Speaker 18 (38:38):
Teddy Bruskie, Arizona. I think he was the best non
super Bowl victory I ever had, you know, in terms
of going up against a team in their stadium, they
had the home field and just still going in there
and getting things done when a lot of people didn't
think we could because I remember how they just beat
us up. I think it was close to two touchdowns
(39:00):
on Halloween. I think it was too so to go
in there and do that and know how he got
beat before. It just felt so great. I mean I
was crying, hugging guys that we got it down and
we were going to another super Bowl when he had
a chance to go back to back.
Speaker 5 (39:21):
Next time.
Speaker 1 (39:22):
The Patriots faced the Eagles in super Bowl thirty nine
and secure their place among the NFL's greatest dynasties. Join
us for the series finale of the Patriots Super Bowl
Sound Odyssey. Yes it's a dynasty.
What do you remember about the two thousand and four Patriots?
Speaker 2 (00:02):
And the Patriots are world champions?
Speaker 1 (00:05):
I am After winning two championships in three seasons, The
Patriots third Super Bowl win in two thousand and four
cemented their place as the NFL's dynasty of the new millennium.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Back to back world championships three out of four.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Now twenty years later, we're going back for our third
and final chapter to recapture how the greatest Patriots team
of the two thousands came together and reigned supreme. Yes
it's as This is a Patriots super Bowl sound odyssey.
Yes it's a Dynasty. Episode three, The Road through the AFC.
After completing a fourteen and two regular season, the Patriots
took their bye week to rest up for another playoff runs.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
The opportunities don't come along very often, almost like what's
the price you would pay for the success? I mean,
what would you give up to win this game? I mean,
would you give up the week of not doing anything
but preparing for football?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
You know I would, and I do.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
In the meantime, offensive coordinator Charlie Weiss accepted an offer
to become the next head coach of Notre Dames.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
As the new head coaches at Notre Dame Charlie Weist,
returning to their alma.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Maters Well defensive coordinator Romeo Crenell was in line to
take over the Cleveland Browns.
Speaker 5 (01:05):
They newly let Romeo Crenell.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Cleveland Brown change was inevitable, setting up one final run
for an elite coaching staff that was ready to close
out their patriots' careers the right way. Matt Patricia, offensive assistant.
Speaker 6 (01:17):
Honestly, Charlie was you know, he's probably the best play
caller I've ever been around. The way his brain worked
and the way he could recall information. We would sit
up during games and you know, I had the sheet
upstairs and we'd be on the headsets and he would
just be like, all right, Matt, just read me the
plays and read me the defense because I would break
the game. You know, we'd have all the information. I'd
break the defense down. As as we go through the game.
(01:38):
He's like, just read me the coverages and I'd be like,
all right, play one. We ran you know whatever, Ride
one thirty four Bogus and they played cover four and
he'd be like, got it next, and I would just
read through, like twelve plays and he'd be like, good,
got it, no problem, go make the adjustments, go out
and call, then exit, and it was like he didn't
even blink. It was almost like a photographic memory.
Speaker 7 (01:57):
It was. It was really amazing.
Speaker 6 (02:00):
To watch him call the game and adjust during the game.
Speaker 8 (02:03):
A familiar foe awaited the Patriots after their bye week
as the Indianapolis Colts returned to Foxborough for the third
time in two seasons.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
From inside the Comcast SportsCenter at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough,
this is Gil Santos along with Gino Capelletti and the
AFC Semifinals the Divisional round as the Indianapolis Colts, in
their high powered offense with Peyton Manning, come into Foxborough
to try to do something a Colts team has not
done since nineteen ninety five, and that is win a
(02:32):
game in Foxboro.
Speaker 8 (02:34):
Peyton Manning had set an NFL record with forty nine
touchdowns as the Colts boasted the number one scoring offense
in the league, and they just blasted the Denver Broncos
forty nine to twenty four in the Wildcard round.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
The Colts come in with the Nations media pretty much
thinking that they're going to win the ballgame based on
the last game that they saw, and that was last
Sunday when the Colts obliterated Denver by a score of
forty nine to twenty four. Whether or not that happens
this afternoon remains to be seen. But they've still got
to go through the World Champions to get it done.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
It was to be the next chapter in the biggest
NFL rivalry of the early two thousands. Scott Pioli, Patriots
director of player personnel.
Speaker 9 (03:12):
Here's what I do remember.
Speaker 10 (03:13):
Remember.
Speaker 11 (03:14):
I remember the feeling before the game because I knew
how ready our team was. I knew, you know, Bill
and Romeo, and.
Speaker 12 (03:23):
The plan was we were going to try to meet
these guys.
Speaker 11 (03:27):
Up and the field.
Speaker 5 (03:30):
The weather worked in our favor, right.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
And the weather is perfect for New England football fans
because it's twenty six degrees, the wind chill is fifteen
and it's snowing. It started snowing about an hour ago.
Speaker 11 (03:41):
Their team was built for the RCA Dome, which I
think is that's what it was still called time. We
were built to grind, to have a punch in the mouth.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
I mean, the.
Speaker 11 (03:51):
Colts were a tough team, right, They were physically It's
not that they weren't physically tough, but they were built
stylistically different, and we were going to approach it differently
and heard before the game thinking, wow, you know, we've really.
Speaker 7 (04:06):
This is this is in our favor.
Speaker 13 (04:07):
And I think what I also remember was feeling so
confident because we had.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Corey Matt Patricia offensive assistant.
Speaker 6 (04:17):
Yeah, well, you know, Scott probably wasn't in gear pads
or Cohen plays or any of that stuff, so I
know he felt good.
Speaker 5 (04:22):
Up in the wing.
Speaker 6 (04:24):
I know was the coaching staff. We're like, okay, we
got about freey, we gotta like handle the edges.
Speaker 9 (04:28):
Like.
Speaker 6 (04:29):
There was a lot of stuff we had to do
that week. So it was a little a little bit
more uh.
Speaker 9 (04:32):
You know, unnerving than that Tory Dyllon University of Wanting.
And you know what I'm from. I'm from Seattle, Man.
I'm used to those snowy, cold, muddy games. So I
knew it was I knew it was gonna be. You know,
we we've got to do some running.
Speaker 14 (04:48):
Cold, blustery, windy, snowy day in Foxborough. What's new January.
Speaker 9 (04:55):
Gonna be on the ground this game. We're gonna do
a lot of running. So dude, it was after the
first initial hit, man, I just settled in and started
doing a job. Man.
Speaker 14 (05:05):
Football players have to make adjustments all the time. They
have to make different kinds of adjustins and schemes and
techniques and strategy, and they have to do it personally.
So if they have to do it weatherwise, they will
do it weatherwise.
Speaker 5 (05:21):
I've in fears running backs coach.
Speaker 15 (05:23):
The only way to beat Peyton man was keep his
ass on the sideline. If you keep him over there
on the sideline, you got a hell of attendance. And
when you can pound the ball like that and you
can control the plot and you can give our defense
the rest and he's over there watching us, you got
a hell of a chance. And that's the way we
sort of went into it. And Corey knew his job.
He knew his responsibility was to pound the ball, pound
(05:45):
the ball, and then we were sprinkling the other guys,
you know, Kevin and those guys, and you know Flashy here,
Flashy there, and he was so freaking good at it.
I mean, he was a freaking monster.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Nick Fitzi Stevens Patriots fan and personality.
Speaker 10 (06:00):
We had to beat Peyton last year in the AFC Championship,
we had to kick off against Peyton to start the
season to defend it and try to go back to back.
Now the Pats have to face him in the divisional
round as well. I'm not sure if I have any
more emotional reserve prepared just in case Peyton Manning finally
comes to Gillette and beats Belichick and Brady. Luckily enough
(06:22):
for us, Peyton Manning cold weather, the Foxborough faithful, being
loud and proud and obnoxious. Af he never really stood
a chance.
Speaker 15 (06:30):
So Leland doesn't care about our history. All they care
about it because they've been very good at home all
year long, and they've kind of.
Speaker 14 (06:36):
Had our number.
Speaker 15 (06:37):
Obviously we'd like to change it, but it's going to
be tough.
Speaker 9 (06:39):
Eon Brant Louisville.
Speaker 16 (06:41):
You know, like I said, everything, even playing the coast
in the regular season. Now, is this either amplified a
hundred times?
Speaker 10 (06:47):
You know?
Speaker 16 (06:47):
Here it is Tom Brady versus Peyton Manning. It was
never the patron versus the cops.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Now, Hello friends, Jim Nansen, Welcome again to the NFL
on CBS. So many irresistible matchups here, Beginning with the quarterbacks.
Speaker 16 (06:59):
It was always versus Peyton, and we and we relished
in that moment. We relished in that moment.
Speaker 9 (07:05):
We loved it.
Speaker 16 (07:06):
I trust me, I did because the only thing I
wanted to happen was that make sure Tom Brady at
the end of the day will be the guy who
they're going to talk about. And I guess how, somehow, some way,
we win and they're still trying to figure out, Oh, Peyton, man.
Speaker 7 (07:19):
It's still the greatest.
Speaker 16 (07:20):
Well, at what point is it about the wins? Are
we worrying about stats? Because we don't focus on the
stats and I know Peyton doesn't either, And Peyton's is
a great friend of mine. I love Peyton, but he
knows it was all about us going out winning this game,
making sure that Tom get his just due. And somehow,
somebody they still, somehow, it's always still Peyton is still
(07:42):
the greatest. Like how I mean we beat him at
least five times.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
The coach have had their problems winning against the Patriots
over the years, Geno, the Patriots have beaten the coach
more than any other team in the National Football League
forty five times.
Speaker 5 (07:55):
Jim Niggy, Executive director of the Senior Board.
Speaker 17 (07:58):
Yeah, it was it was an awesome rivalry is really
because of those those two guys. I think the uniqueness
of that rivalry was there. Stylistically, those teams were so different.
You know, the Colts were built one way and uh
and they were great at it. You know you had
Dallas Clark and Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne and you
know all those guys. I mean great, they they could,
(08:18):
they could throw it around, but they weren't you know,
in my opinion, they weren't really built for those Foxborough games.
You know when we when we had to go out
there and play and play in the RCA Dome, that
was a whole different ball game because they were so
good indoors. But you know, you get you get, you
get that team outdoors in January in Foxborough, that's a
that's a whole different story.
Speaker 7 (08:36):
But I want to make.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
Sure they have Holton Field at advantage next season. If
they got to play Tom Brady and the Patriots. I
want to say that it doesn't snow inside the RCA Doome.
It's not seventy two and perfect like it is in Indianapolis.
Speaker 17 (08:49):
Awesome rivalry, some great games, some all time games. I
look back on those times I mean, that's that's uh,
that Brady Manning thing and the Patriots Colts thing, and
that's for that era of the n that was as
good as he got.
Speaker 14 (09:01):
This big playoff game that I gotta believe the whole
country has been waiting to see because of the high powered,
explosive offense of the Indianapolis Colts and the Peyton Manning
and the outstanding receivers he has.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Right now, Matt Patricia, offensive assistant.
Speaker 6 (09:18):
Here, I am again same place as I started this season.
I am now in the first playoff game, and I'm
standing next to Peyton and he's throwing and I remember
again it started to snow weather.
Speaker 14 (09:30):
It was coming in and a little bit on the
rainy and snowyst side at this point in a pretty
good little win coming from our left to right.
Speaker 6 (09:37):
You know, started the snow in pregame and I remember
him kind of like looking up and the snow is
coming down and he's just kind of looking and that's
when I was like, oh, we got it, Like we're
going to be all right here. So you know, that
was definitely real. Our guys give them credit. I mean,
they just played awesome.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
And so the Colts and they're high powered offense will
start at their own twenty seven yard line. Farre hash
Mark trying to go from right to left. It'll be
interesting to see what the Patriots try to do defensive left.
Speaker 8 (10:08):
The game is a stalemate through the first quarter, with
the two teams trading five punts, neither able to cross
the fifty yard line.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
Bill Belichick scoreless game. Put the points upon the fort
right wrong. Notre Dame's Charlie White sends in the play,
they're gonna go for it.
Speaker 10 (10:22):
It's port the gold.
Speaker 4 (10:24):
Dylan make it look easy touchdown. But wait a second,
Paul Stark on the offensive line, No, we would have
to settle to that field goal.
Speaker 8 (10:31):
Three up in the year if the Patriots opened the
scoring with a field goal after the Colts defense held
on with a stop inside their own five yard line.
They nearly got the ball right back on Indy's first
play of the next drive, with Mike Grabeles sacking Manning
and forcing a fumble.
Speaker 2 (10:44):
On first and ten James. The lone running back Dallas
Clark is tight to the right first and ten Peyton
Manning and the Colts that they were own thirty four
hand off to No. One play action fake back to
throw the rush, he gets hip Obama's love to Tomac
grounds and bailion pick touch by the Colts back at
their own twenty.
Speaker 5 (11:00):
One yard line.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
The Patriots causing the fumball on a tremendous rush on
Peyton Manning Mike Rabel getting up slowly. Yeah, but what
a rush by the Patriots.
Speaker 8 (11:10):
Cultu re covered it, but it was enough to force
their offense into a fourth straight punt to start the game.
Dylan and the Pats offense started to find their stride,
with the big back ripping off the forty two yard
run that set up another Vinitary field goal.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Dylan remains the lone running back put a man on
the right wing for the Patriots. Brady on second down
in Tenna, hand off to Dylan trying to go wide
to the rights across the forty five to fifty forty.
Speaker 7 (11:33):
Five thirty forty five thirty Hi Tive had twenty.
Speaker 11 (11:36):
Five twenty fifteen and tie about of the fifteen.
Speaker 7 (11:39):
Yard line, Pory Dylan pusting.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Him up the right side, Colls four forty four yards
Hannah Patriots poor person.
Speaker 8 (11:47):
Down down six to zero. The Colts started to find
the stride of their own with their best drive of
the day.
Speaker 14 (11:51):
So the Patriots gonna have to contend with this offense
that seems to be picking up a little steve.
Speaker 7 (11:57):
As the game mount.
Speaker 8 (11:58):
They made it all the way down to the Patriots
thirty nine yard line when Teddy Bruski ripped the ball
from running back Dominic Roads Arms, killing the Colts drive
and showing the championship.
Speaker 5 (12:06):
Medal that the Patriots possessed.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
On second down and seventeen from wide left in motion
light comes Wayne Back to throw his manning fires to
the right, caught and immediately dragged down it for forty
one was Dominic Rhodes tackle by Teddy Broski and Truitt's
halt football. Yeah, Bruski ripped it out of his hands.
The Patriots to tackle Patriots takeovers. Teddy Broski made the
(12:29):
tackle on the completion that the Dominic Roads and Brusk
ripped it right out of his hands, and the Patriots
haveblet football at their own forty one they blunt the
Indianapolis drive.
Speaker 8 (12:39):
Cameras caught Bruski on the sidelines with the ball, screaming
they ain't got it.
Speaker 18 (12:43):
What was looking for it? Yeah, that's really what it meant.
It wasn't about the ball of them not having the ball.
It was just like they don't understand what They don't
understand what we are, you know, they don't understand what
we go through, and they can't. They just don't get us,
(13:03):
you know. It's just just a different mentality of the
Colt mentality, the white uniforms playing on astro turf whatever,
now playing on a field turf, you know, in a dome,
you know, things like that. We really thought they were
soft at the time, you know, and just to prove
that again was something we wanted to do.
Speaker 8 (13:19):
The Patriots couldn't capitalize on the takeaway and then watch
the Colts execute their first scoring drive of the day
with just two seconds left before halftime. Mike vander Jack
cut the lead to six to three, but the Patriots
defense held firm at their own five yard line.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
The kick is good for vander Jack from twenty three
yards away, and that will be the final play of
the first half. From inside the Comcast Sports Center booth
at Gillette Stadium. The score at the half the defending
world champion New England Patriots six, the Indianapolis Colts three.
Speaker 8 (13:47):
In the second half, New England unleashed their record setting
back and a perfect example of why.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
Corey Dillon was brought in ready to hand off to
Dylan turning, why did the light touch it up to?
Speaker 9 (13:56):
You?
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Perched down across the court and five yard line and
driven down at the forty two yard line, but a
first down for Corey Dillon able to make the tackle
for Indianapolis Josh Williams. Dylan, of course, had a forty
four yard run or forty two yard run in the
first half. That one was a nine yard carry for
a first down, and Cory now has eighty yards rushing
(14:16):
in his first ever NFL playoff game.
Speaker 8 (14:19):
Early in the third quarter, Brady and the Pats executed
an epic fifteen play eighty seven yard drive.
Speaker 14 (14:23):
Well, the Patriots had one pass to Christian Fourier, but
what a big pass it was, because it gave him
the first down when they were back at their own
twelve yard line and got them going. Ever since then,
it's been run, run, run.
Speaker 8 (14:36):
Brady hit Gibvens for a five yard touchdown to extend
the lead to thirteen to three.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
Brady back to throw, looks looks now, He's gonna run
with it and goes to the left.
Speaker 14 (14:44):
Cut down touch down with David Gibbons bike play.
Speaker 7 (14:49):
By Tom Brady. You gotta know that.
Speaker 14 (14:51):
When he starts looking, he could see the field as
well as anyone, and he bolted out of the pocket.
He started going up for or towards a line of scrimmage, looking.
Speaker 7 (15:02):
Like he might run the football, but no, he sees everything.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
That's going on in that secondary phone.
Speaker 14 (15:08):
David Gibbons with a little short ten yard pass and
the touchdown at the Patriots so dearly needed to give
them the separation that they needed from this Colt team.
Speaker 8 (15:19):
After a five and out by the Colts, the Pats
offense duplicated their dominance with another long drive, this one
lasting fourteen plays and eating up over seven minutes of
game clock, taking the game into the fourth quarter with
a one yard touchdown sneak by Breeding.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
It is a first and goal to go at the
Colt One Brady quarterback sneak.
Speaker 14 (15:35):
And he is down and.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Let's see gonna unpile waiting touchdown touchdown Tom Brady quarterback
snake huts down.
Speaker 8 (15:48):
With just over seven minutes left, Rodney Harrison forced another
Colt's fumble that the Patriots recovered.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
How Stoke's in the left slot. Wayne is wide, Harrison
to the fire side right. Harrison doesn't know what the
play is. He's got James in the backfield. Here was
right out of a shotgun manning second and ten direction map.
Here's the rush fires at his complete Dwayne, He's across
for twenty five thirty and the pumble on the play
covered by the petre ch I believe it's Teddy Bruce
King Plumberwick coup Rag had the thirty three yard lide
(16:18):
and whoa what the performance by the world champions.
Speaker 8 (16:22):
The offense handed the ball off to Corey Dillon four
straight times on the drive that didn't end in points,
but ate up another four minutes of clock.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
Scott Pioli, Patriots director of player personnel.
Speaker 13 (16:32):
I remember the second half feeling like their offense never
got on the field.
Speaker 11 (16:36):
And with each first down if we got, I.
Speaker 13 (16:39):
Was like, okay, Now, Sometimes, you know, the theory was
with teams like quick stripe teams like the Colts and
the Chargers and some of those other teams that really
big quarterbacks and the Steelers. You know, sometimes your.
Speaker 12 (16:54):
Best defense is your offense and keeping the other offense
off the field and I know from a time.
Speaker 13 (17:01):
Standpoint, you know, we absolutely dominated that game in time
of possession man with two.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Fifty nine to go and the Patriots on top twenty
to three. Hey, brilliant defensive effort by the Patriots this afternoon.
A punishing ground game where the Patriots this afternoon Corey
Dillon up close to what one hundred and forty yards rushing.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
In the game.
Speaker 8 (17:23):
The final Colt's drive was shut down with the Patriots
third takeaway of the game, an interception by Rodney Harrison
with twelve seconds left to put a final exclamation point
on a suffocating win over INDI's high flying offense.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
And it is a first down for Indianapolis with twenty
two seconds and the clock ticking, Manning trying to get
his team into the end zone, the Patriots trying to
prevent it. With a twenty to three league, they would
love to be able to hold Manning for no touchdowns.
Direct snap to Nanty Punkcakes fires to the right and
it is at our cuft on the end zone. Can
run out of there to the left side by Rodney Harrison.
Speaker 14 (17:56):
That puts the cap on it.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
We're born seconds to no. Rodney Harrison inner sets in
the end zone. Hamla Patriots have hell a mighty offensive
Indianapolis coach three point three point.
Speaker 8 (18:12):
The Patriots were headed back to the AFC Championship after
a twenty to three win.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Paul Perillo, Patriots Football Weekly.
Speaker 19 (18:19):
Dylan well over one hundred yards that day. Just controlled
the clock, controlled the ball, you know. I want to say,
that's kind of where the start of the clock killing
Corey Dylan, you know, sort of emanated from a dominant
performance the game the year before, in the three AFC
Championship game, I want to say was more competitive. Now,
(18:40):
it may not have been that much different on the scoreboard,
but I think it was more competitive. I don't think
that the Colts really ever had a sniff in that
divisional round game at all.
Speaker 7 (18:48):
Four.
Speaker 19 (18:48):
The Patriots defense was just they were so good, Mike,
on both sides of the ball that you almost were
surprised when the other team got two first downs, you know,
in a row. And you know, Manning, for as much
respect as I had for Manning, he had no he
had no answers against the Patriots defense.
Speaker 7 (19:06):
With the conditions the way they were in Indy.
Speaker 19 (19:09):
He could move the ball and put points on the board,
but not in not in the colds, not when the
Patriots had like that twelfth Man of the weather.
Speaker 8 (19:16):
After the game, linebacker Teddy Bruski reminded every one of
the offseason rule changes implemented by the NFL many drew
a direct correlation to the Patriots physical playoff win over
the Colts in two thousand and three.
Speaker 7 (19:26):
We haven't play.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
That's what we do.
Speaker 9 (19:28):
We don't talk. We played.
Speaker 18 (19:29):
You come to Foxboro, it's gonna be going, it's gonna.
Speaker 7 (19:32):
Be cold, Come on in here.
Speaker 9 (19:34):
You want to send all you want. We want to
change the rules and chase them.
Speaker 7 (19:37):
We still played, then we win, that's.
Speaker 18 (19:38):
We Teddy Bruski, Arizona. Yeah, it never comes out until
after the game for me, you know, and a lot
of our players, because we keep it all inside and
we try to handle ourselves with class during the week
as best we can, you know, in terms of what
we say in the media. But yeah, it's changing rules.
Bill Pollion not liking the way we play. We played
to aggressive. It doesn't like old school football, all of
(20:00):
this stuff, and you know, we had all that inside.
Bill was a great did a great job of, like
you know, feeding us bits of motivation about things that
were said and all of that stuff, because we really
we we motivated ourselves every single week in terms of
like we had something to prove, because that was always
the best motivation and I always we always kept this
(20:21):
forever in terms of myself, Harrison, Brady McGinnis, those type
of guys that there was always something to prove. Twenty
one wins in a row, you still got something to prove.
Speaker 8 (20:38):
New England was onto the a FC Championship with the
perfect team standing in the way. It was a return
to the place where.
Speaker 5 (20:44):
The Patriots record setting twenty.
Speaker 8 (20:45):
One game win streak had been broken to face rookie
quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and the one loss Steelers.
Speaker 3 (20:50):
No one else believes in you. You really have to
believe in yourself. I think from my standpoint, I'm always
trying to prove to myself that I'm capable of leading
a team to a win. In this case, to be
the best team of football on the road and the
most important game of the year.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
It's the Patriots and the Steelers for a trip to
the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Nick Fitzi Stephens, Patriots fan and personality.
Speaker 10 (21:09):
The Patriots owed Pittsburgh won after the Steelers broke the
twenty one game winning streak back in the fall, and
that game a four o'clock kickoff on CBS. I remember
it well. It was a totally lopsided affair. The Steelers
ate the Pats lunch and handed them their empty bag
and said take your winning streak and get out of here.
Yin's ain't gonna like this one today. And it was
(21:30):
a humble pie game for sure. But the crazy thing
is the Patriots only lost two games that year. You
would think a fourteen and two team would be hosting
an AFC championship, and no, they had to go back
to Steeltown. They had to go to the place where
they thought they were the gold standard of the NFL
as a new gold standard was rising, and they had
to go through Pittsburgh. It was so perfectly poetic. The
(21:52):
one team that knocked off the winning streak. You know,
they're fifteen to one, Y're fourteen and two. You got
to go through Pittsburgh, and having watched the Red Sox
just have to go through New York to get to
their championship.
Speaker 5 (22:03):
This was perfect our versus power.
Speaker 16 (22:06):
Tom Brady, youngest QB to ever win a Super Bowl,
Roethlisberger trying to be the first rookie QB to ever
start a Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
Matt Patricia, offensive assistant.
Speaker 6 (22:15):
The thing about the Pittsburgh game that no one under,
no one realizes. And again, so we're getting ready to
go play Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh and our guys were pretty
dialed in because obviously that's where we broke the streak
and the streak lost. So our guys were ready. We
just had a It was the practice was intense. You
could feel everything ratcheting up as we were getting closer
(22:36):
in the AFC Championship game. Now, we've been in some cold,
cold games, but this was one of the coldest. I remember.
Speaker 7 (22:41):
This was one of the coldest games I can.
Speaker 9 (22:43):
You know, it was late, it was night.
Speaker 6 (22:44):
Or the wind was coming off and all of it.
But there was a huge storm coming through the northeast,
and I remember the league. What happened was we actually
had to leave early and go to the game early
because the league was worried we weren't going to be
able to make it, you know, to the game because
of the weather and planes and everything. So we wind
up all a sudden, it's like, hey, we gotta go
we gotta go now, like we gotta go like tomorrow
(23:06):
or whatever it was. So you had to pack everything,
get ready to go where we saw the day of practice,
and I just remember being snowed in in like this hotel,
which was not a like glamorous hotel, and we're in
these tiny ballrooms trying to walk through practices and all
the rest of it. And it actually probably worked in
our favorite it.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
Is called at twelve degrees, but when Jill makes it
feel about zero four kickoff, and it's certainly not gonna
get any warmer as the evening goes along, so it's
going to be a pretty cold night for the players
and the fans here in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 8 (23:35):
I'm like the first matchup Patriots would have key playmakers
Corey Dillon and Dion branch Back in the mix.
Speaker 9 (23:41):
Corey Dillon, University of Watching. I think I missed at
Pittsburgh game two with a ham Street in the regular season,
so I didn't play that game as well, and they
rumped us pretty good up there. And I know I
got some friends out here, Joey Porter and on, and
they was talking, you know what, they were talking cav
(24:04):
and and you know what, our attitude was like, man, listen,
let's beat them down. Let's beat them down. Let's go
out there and jump on them early and let them
know we're back. We're we fully loaded, everybody, everybody's up,
We're not at a disadvantage, and let's go show on
what we got.
Speaker 16 (24:24):
Dean branch Lewisville, my father and my uncle is the
two biggest Pittsburgh fans.
Speaker 9 (24:29):
Ever, you know.
Speaker 16 (24:30):
So it really started with those two guys. Their biggest thing, Hey,
we want you to win, I mean want you to
have a good game, but lose. And I'm like, okay
that that doesn't lash. If we lose, then you don't
go to the super Bowl. And both of these jokers like.
Speaker 9 (24:47):
That'd be cool. I'm fine with.
Speaker 16 (24:50):
And they are the biggest super Bowl, the stealer fans ever,
those two guys.
Speaker 7 (24:55):
But it really.
Speaker 16 (24:56):
Started at home with that trash talking.
Speaker 14 (24:58):
And I gotta tell ya, this place a great venue
for football. I've never seen so many of the yellow
Terrible towels that I have seen here tonight. I know
they were very popular during the Terry Bradshaw Frank o'harris
era when they were winning those super Bowls back in
the early seventies, but they had him been But I
(25:19):
have never seen as many as I have seen you
here tonight.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Nick Fitzi Stevens, Patriots fan and personality.
Speaker 10 (25:26):
To just add to the drama, there comes the story
of Brady being in bed the night before with one
hundred and three degree fever, an ivy hooked up in
a hotel room with the flu the night that Tom
Brady had the flu, and then the next night came
out and kicked the Steelers ass in the AFC Championship.
Became the new reminder for everyone, Hey, I don't care
(25:49):
how crappy you feel. Brady had one hundred and three
degree fever the night before and then came out and
dropped that bomb in branches bucket and beat the Steelers.
You're showing up to work today, you are gonna.
Speaker 9 (26:00):
Do your job.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
I actually had that flew pretty bad in the night
before the game, and I was like in slow motion,
so I wasn't sure how it was gonna play.
Speaker 9 (26:09):
Deon Brandt Lewisville.
Speaker 16 (26:10):
Tom was sort of sick that game as well, if
I can remember correctly, he had a coal So we
was always talking about the Michael Jordan game sixty Utah.
Speaker 14 (26:20):
So this is tom things.
Speaker 16 (26:22):
Tom Brady is sick, and I'm pretty sure they'll come
up with something with that as well.
Speaker 18 (26:26):
Teddy Bruski Arizona. It was gonna be tough. I think
this was this was the same team that ended the streak,
you know, and this was a really good team, and
Roethlisberger was young, and their defense was great, and you know,
they could almost match our mentality. We're not playing the
Colts here, Okay, this team would you know, talk trash
in your face and you know it was they'd get
(26:46):
right in your face. And we respected that.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
We felt, like we did against the Coles, will get killed.
Speaker 5 (26:50):
Pittsburgh is not the Colts.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Things that we did against the Colts, if we tried
to do them against.
Speaker 19 (26:54):
The Steelers, they'd be fifty five of nothing.
Speaker 5 (26:57):
I have in fears running backs coach.
Speaker 15 (26:59):
It was a certain calmness about the team. That's why
I remember, no, because I spend most of the time
in the locker room. I have the at that time,
I was a guy getting them out. I gave them
the time to head to the field, the different groups
all right, time for the receivers that go out there
and sitting in the locker room doing that whole pregame time.
You can just sort of feel. It wasn't crazy energy.
(27:21):
It was just sort of feel the calmness, and there
was a confidence, you know what I mean. It was
just a just a confidence.
Speaker 9 (27:29):
It was.
Speaker 15 (27:29):
It was kind of cool.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
Scott Poli, Patriots director of player Personnel.
Speaker 11 (27:34):
You know, there's just a sense of like, we're a
good football team. We're prepared and we're healthy.
Speaker 13 (27:39):
If we just do what we're supposed to do, which
is no stupid penalties, no bad timing penalties, don't turn
them all over, we should be okay.
Speaker 12 (27:49):
And so I also had a sense of calm before
the game, but like in every game where I did
some sense of found as soon as the balls kicked,
I feel like you're going to throw up in my
mouth for three hours.
Speaker 9 (28:00):
You know.
Speaker 11 (28:01):
That's that's just what this game does to you.
Speaker 14 (28:04):
We're looking forward to a very physical game, as we've
mentioned throughout the early study stages of the broadcast here
and certainly have no reason to doubt that. But now
just look at those towels. I've never seen anything like it.
Once again, just a great venue. It's AFC Championship football,
(28:26):
and you couldn't have two tougher, more physical teams coming
out toward.
Speaker 8 (28:30):
Patriots wasted little time jumping on the Steelers, with Eugene
Wilson picking.
Speaker 5 (28:33):
Off Roethlisberger just three plays into the game.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Three receivers to the near side right now in motion
from right to left, back to the right comes Hindward.
Roethlisberger takes the direction, Map stands and fires up the
deal that is in our company. I intercepted it was
tipped by Sante Samuel and picked off by Eugene Wilson.
Speaker 5 (28:52):
He caught it just before.
Speaker 8 (28:53):
It hit the ground and then around to Dion Branch
picked up fourteen yards, enough for an opening field goal
that gave New England the three zero league.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Brady on first in ten at the Pittsburgh forty eight
in motion right the left comes Daniel Graham. Now sets
up on the left to give us to Corey. Dylan
counts an a round of deon Branch going to the
right the forty five forty inside the thirty five yard
line to about the thirty four. Maybe the thirty three
goes Dion Branch. They faked my handoff to Dylan coming
off left tackle and gave it the Dion Branch on
(29:22):
the end around and he picks up a first down.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
Matt Patricia, offensive assistant, And this.
Speaker 6 (29:27):
Is one of those ones where you know, Charlie, very famously,
very confident, would get up and he'd go through the
openers like I mentioned with everybody, and he literally he'd
got the board and I'd write him on the board
from and he'd be like, all right, play one, Okay,
look this play. We're gonna get this. This is a touchdown.
All right, second play right here, this plays pert, this
is another touchdown.
Speaker 9 (29:46):
You know.
Speaker 6 (29:46):
He'd be like four plays in, we got like twenty
eight points on the board already, you know, and it
was just like that's how it would go. But then
sometimes he'd be right, you know, he'd be like big
plate of Dion to start the game.
Speaker 8 (29:55):
The Steelers look to respond on their next drive, moving
across midfield on a sixteen yard reception by p Oxico
Buris and.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Coming out of their in motion to the right comes
Plexico Burris direct snap to Wathnersberger fires complete the Burris.
He's across the forty five to midfield to the Patriots
forty eight yard line before Eugene Wilson brings him down. Burris,
a terrific target at six foot five, two hundred and
twenty six pounds, very big wide receiver, makes the first
down reception in a sixteen yard play.
Speaker 8 (30:22):
The Patriots defense stiffened, setting up a fourth and one
at New England's thirty nine, but the Steelers felt confident
they could pick up with their own tank of a
running back Jerome Bettis.
Speaker 2 (30:31):
Fourth down in less than the yard, and Roland's Roethlisberger
is staying in there.
Speaker 14 (30:38):
So you've got to feel like they're gonna gamble.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
It's an early gamble for Pittsburgh. The Patriots lead it
three to nothing.
Speaker 5 (30:45):
Bettis was not only stopped but also fumble.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
Double tight ends Pier the full back. Better's the tailback
in the eye, quieter in motion, right, give to Bettis
to the left. Oh docp stop short of the first down.
The balls on the ground and the Patriots habit. The
Patriots have recovered the fumbo by Bettis at the Patriot
forty yard line, so they gambled and launched the gamble.
(31:09):
Mike Brabel recovered the fumbo. Pittsburgh went on fourth in
less than a yard. They stacked up Bettis and he
coughed it up.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Paul Parrillo, Patriots Football Weekly.
Speaker 19 (31:19):
Yeah, there was a fourth and one that Pittsburgh went
for in the first half of that game. Ted Johnson,
huge play on Jerome Bettis. That was my nod in
that game. I felt like the Patriots had sort of
declared the game that they were going to be able
to score points and Pittsburgh was going to need to
keep up, and I think that's why they went for
the fourth down and.
Speaker 7 (31:40):
Again Teddy Jay just comes up.
Speaker 19 (31:42):
That was you know, he was sort of one of
those old school insidelnebackers. Thumper loved to take on the
guards and be physical. He filled that gap. Jerome Bettis
was not an easy guy to stop for no game
they were able to do that. And then the big
plays Brady. You know, just a virtual so performance by Brady.
(32:02):
You know, Deon Branch you mentioned was injured in the
first game. I don't think I had remembered that that
he missed that game.
Speaker 7 (32:08):
Huge game for Dion Branch.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
Dion Branch the only Patriots receiver with two career one
hundred yard receiving games.
Speaker 8 (32:15):
In the postseason, Brady would make the Steelers immediately pay,
launching a picture perfect sixty yard bomb to Branch for
the game's first touchdown.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
Patriots first and ten at their own forty leading prive
to nothing. Dylan alone running back why to the near side,
left his Branch, Gibbons in the left slot, two tight
ends to the right in motion out of the left
to the right goes gibbing Us Brady calling signals, Brady
play action, fake back to throw time, time, Time shoots
it long and d Dion Branch He's got it. Hen
(32:42):
he's gone touchdown. Tom Brady watches a sixty yard bomb
to Dion Branch, hit him in stride at the ten.
Hen he just tippy towed into the end zone.
Speaker 5 (32:53):
Just like that. It was ten zero Pats deon Branch Louisville.
Speaker 16 (32:57):
Throughout that game, we knew it would be a tough game,
hostle environment. We understand and know that Pittsburgh is a
very tough team, especially in the playoffs and at home,
and we needed we had to play our best game.
And real talk, Matt, that was probably by far one
of our advanced games throughout my whole entire career, including
some of the Super Bowl performances. I felt like that
(33:19):
game right there, everybody everybody was super dedicated and just
bought into this whole game plan. We were super locked
in and knowing that our captain was down, everybody had
to pick their games in. Everybody on the team had
to pick their game up, and we did that. We
did it for the team, we did it for the organization,
the city, and primarily for Tom Brady.
Speaker 9 (33:40):
Man.
Speaker 8 (33:41):
The Steelers manage a field goal before the first quarter
was up, but New England was slowly gathering momentum on
both sides of the ball. Brady hit Branch for another
big game, this one forty five yards.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
Braddy play action fake back to throw step shop fill
the pocket, shoots a downfield they had tucked great Fleet
being catch up the twenty five yard line by patre Dion.
Speaker 8 (34:00):
Branch helps set up another touchdown that made it seventeen
to three.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
Branch fire side left, Gibbons near side right, second and
five with the Pittsburgh nine, Brady falling signals gone. Running
back is Dylan spot pass right completely Gibbons down inside
the ten of the five, and then touchdown David Gibbons.
Speaker 8 (34:18):
Then on Pittsburgh's next possession, it got even worse for
the young Roethlisberger as Rodney Harrison picked up the defense's
second interception of the game and returned at eighty seven
yards for a touchdown.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
Second down and seven for the Steelers. Prydor goes in
motion to the right now stops Blocklessberger's back to throw
the rush fires. It is interccepted Peck Dauphin heavy nabled
up sideline Ladys Patriot defensive back at the forty yard
line of the forty five. It's Rodney Harrison. He's to
the twenty fifteen ten five touchdown. Rodney Harrison.
Speaker 8 (34:50):
Pats took a twenty four to three leads to the
locker room at halftime and will continue to match a
desperate Pittsburgh team throughout the second half.
Speaker 14 (34:56):
Tom Brady seven of eleven, two touchdown. He has a
rating of one hundred and forty five point eight, and
I don't know that you can go much higher than that.
On the other hand, Ben Roethlisberger has completed five passes
out of ten and he has two interceptions, and he
has a rating of thirty six point two. Just to
(35:18):
give you an idea of the disparity between these two
quarterbacks at this point.
Speaker 8 (35:23):
The third quarter, bettest touchdown was offset by a twenty
five yard touchdown run by Corey Dillon.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
Pass the fallback Dylan the tailback in the eye two
tight ends to the right side with Graham on the
wing near side left Branch hamd off to Dylan trying
to turn it to the right. He's inside the fifteen
to the ten to the five and down an end touchdown,
standing up twenty five yards.
Speaker 8 (35:43):
Corey Dllon Steelers just couldn't close the gap as the
Patriots closed their fifth AFC championship with the twenty three
yard end around to Branch same play Charlie Weiss call
to start the game.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
Third and nine of the Pittsburgh twenty three in motion
right to left goes Graham Dylan. It's an end around
coming to the other side. It's Dion branch.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
At the twenty.
Speaker 2 (36:01):
He's at the fifteen to the right side of the.
Speaker 7 (36:03):
Ten for the five and n touchdown.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
Dion branch On an end a round on third down,
races twenty three yards for a touchdown. Put it in
the bank. It's gaining interest. The Patriots are going back
to the Super Bowl for the second year.
Speaker 7 (36:18):
In a row.
Speaker 8 (36:18):
For the second time in four seasons, the Patriots were
Conference champs on Pittsburgh's home field. I see the Steelers
forty one to twenty seven and punching a ticket back
to their third Super Bowl in four seasons.
Speaker 9 (36:28):
Forty dying University of Wine. My first initial feeling is
they used to kick my butt when I played for Cincinnati,
so now hey, payback, payback. I got you, I got you.
So that was my That was my first thought. Second
thought is, man, we just whopped you on the biggest
stage in the AFC Championship Game. After all that was said,
(36:55):
all that was done in the regular season, all the talking.
We kind of killed that noise too, and we're off
to the super Bowl. It gets no better than that.
It gets no better in going up to Hinesfield, beating
them on their own turn and earning at birth, at
birth to the super Bowl super Bowl thirty nine.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
I don't think you ever take this for granted. I
don't think you ever. I don't think we started this
season saying, all right, guys, you know, we're just gonna
kind of walk to the to the AFC Championship Game
and beat a great team to go to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
I mean, it was It's been a lot of really
hard work Paul Parrillo Patriots Football Weekly.
Speaker 19 (37:34):
The one I always like to talk about this is
when it's sort of Rodney Harrison William mc ginnis that
you know, these two guys were special, Like, no, they
were not only special players, but they had a special
way about them in the locker of sort of dictating
the message every week, and they somehow convinced everybody that
(37:55):
no one thought they could win.
Speaker 7 (37:56):
You mentioned fourteen and two on the road to play a.
Speaker 19 (37:58):
Fifteen to one team at home, and the last time
that they played in that stadium.
Speaker 7 (38:04):
The Steelers really took it to the Patriots.
Speaker 19 (38:06):
That game was not close, and the Patriots were favored
on the road in the AFC Championship game against a
fifteen to one team, Yet Willie mcgainness and Rodney Harrison.
Speaker 7 (38:18):
Convinced assault no one thought we could do this. No
one thought we could win.
Speaker 19 (38:23):
And I said to Willy after the game, I was like,
you know, Willie, you guys were favored by three of
this game.
Speaker 7 (38:29):
You remember that, right, And he goes, yeah, but you
guys didn't really think we could win.
Speaker 19 (38:32):
And I was like, Okay, I really honestly don't think
there were very many of us that didn't feel the
Patriots are going to win that game.
Speaker 18 (38:38):
Teddy Bruskie, Arizona. I think he was the best non
super Bowl victory I ever had, you know, in terms
of going up against a team in their stadium, they
had the home field and just still going in there
and getting things done when a lot of people didn't
think we could because I remember how they just beat
us up. I think it was close to two touchdowns
(39:00):
on Halloween. I think it was too so to go
in there and do that and know how he got
beat before. It just felt so great. I mean I
was crying, hugging guys that we got it down and
we were going to another super Bowl when he had
a chance to go back to back.
Speaker 5 (39:21):
Next time.
Speaker 1 (39:22):
The Patriots faced the Eagles in super Bowl thirty nine
and secure their place among the NFL's greatest dynasties. Join
us for the series finale of the Patriots Super Bowl
Sound Odyssey. Yes it's a dynasty.
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