EAGLES' JOY MIGHT NOT LAST.

Byline: BILLY WITZ

Pittsburgh is the City of Three Rivers, which means Steelers coach Bill Cowher has run out of waterways to jump into after losing an AFC title game at home for the fourth time, this one to New England, 41-27.

Perhaps this wouldn't be a problem if he were coaching the Vikings, who play in the Land of a Thousand Lakes.

Meanwhile, across the state in Philadelphia, where they know all about jumping from bridges, the locals were instead jumping for joy after the Eagles managed to beat back Atlanta 27-10 and the ghosts of three consecutive NFC title-game losses.

It was a day of mixed emotions in the Keystone State, and which emotion pretty much depended upon where you live - not so much east or west, but NFC or AFC.

Getting through the AFC is no easy trick, as the Steelers again found out, not when you must battle the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots or other formidable clubs such as the Jets, who pushed Pittsburgh into overtime last week.

Getting through the NFC is slightly more difficult than walking through a turnstile, which is what the Falcons' tackling often looked like Sunday.

The Eagles managed to win despite fooling nobody with a fake field goal, losing an interception on a holding call, keeping a Falcons scoring drive alive by roughing the ``passer,'' Michael Vick, and kicking a field goal after Falcons safety Bryan Scott dropped a floater from Donovan McNabb at the 10-yard line.

That play came midway through the third quarter, with the score 14-10, and was just the type of play that McNabb has made in NFC title games past.

If anybody saved the Eagles from choking again, it is not surprising to learn that Scott is from Warrington, Pa., just outside Philadelphia. It takes one to know one.

While McNabb made clutch plays with his arm and legs, and the Eagles' defense did an admirable job bottling up Vick, it's worth noting that the most memorable play of the game was a dropped ball.

Ah, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and we're talking Philadelphia here. If, juxtaposed against the AFC, this looked like the JVs, so be it. If the Colts and Chargers would have made for better theater, well, too bad.

There's no accounting for taste, which would at least explain cheesesteaks.

If the Eagles' victory left the city inebriated with victory, watching the Patriots dismantle Pittsburgh should have sobered it up.

These aren't the Patriots who won two of the past three Super Bowls on last-second field goals by Adam Vinatieri, who - just in case - showed he was in form by nailing a Heinz Field-record-tying 48-yarder.

In consecutive weeks, New England has taken the NFL's most prolific offense, Indianapolis, and held it to three points, and the NFL's most sturdy defense, Pittsburgh, and run up 41.

Now they'll face a team that is fourth in the league in penalties, has the 24th-ranked rushing offense and possesses a receiving corps that won't scare anyone but McNabb.

The Steelers arrived as the best team in the NFL during the regular season, their 15-1 record stamped by the legitimacy of midseason thumpings of the Patriots and Eagles.

In their 34-20 win over New England on Halloween, the Steelers jumped to an early lead, forced a fumble by Tom Brady and an interception that was returned by DeShea Townsend for a touchdown en route to a 21-3 lead.

On Sunday, the tables were turned. Ben Roethlisberger was picked off three times, including one that Rodney Harrison returned 87 yards for a touchdown to put the Patriots ahead 24-3 just before halftime.

In the October loss, the Patriots played without Corey Dillon and receiver Deion Branch. On Sunday, Branch caught four passes for 116 yards, including a 60-yard touchdown pass in which he beat Townsend, and Dillon carried 24 times for 73 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown run.

New England forced four turnovers, meaning they've forced 14 in the past three AFC Championship games. Not that Roethlisberger's struggles should have been a surprise. Quarterbacks who have faced New England twice in a season under Belichick are 0-14 in second meetings.

On the bright side, McNabb has not seen the Patriots this season. And there is always the possibility that Terrell Owens could return from his ankle injury.

Then again, in Philadelphia, they come to expect the worst. The city's last professional sports title came in 1983 when the 76ers won the title. Since then the Phillies have been to the World Series twice, the 76ers to the NBA Finals once and the Flyers to the Stanley Cup finals three times. Now the Eagles, who last won an NFL title in 1960, finally get their crack.

This matchup with New England might have been the game that almost happened in 2001 and, if you ask the Eagles, should have happened last year.

As Dillon crossed into the end zone late in the third quarter, some fan in Pittsburgh already figured that it was over, when out of the stands came one of the yellow Terrible Towels.

The Super Bowl is still two weeks away, but throwing in the towel may not be such a bad idea in the rest of Pennsylvania, too.