PRESSURE KICKER WITH EVERYTHING ON THE LINE AND BOTH TEAMS SPENT FROM BATTLE, PATRIOTS' VINATIERI HAS PROVEN TO BE THE ULTIMATE CLINCHER.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - All week, media attention for Super Bowl XXXIX has been focused on Terrell Owens' leg, Bill Belichick's brain, Freddie Mitchell's mouth, Tom Brady's heart and Donovan McNabb's feet.

On Sunday, it may come down to Adam Vinatieri's foot.

It usually does.

Vinatieri has kicked last-second, game-winning field goals in both of New England's Super Bowl victories in the past three years - 20-17 over St. Louis in 2002 and 32-29 over Carolina last year.

In his nine-year career, Vinatieri has kicked 17 game-winning field goals in the final minute of regulation or in overtime, including four in the playoffs.

Not that it gets old.

``I'm sure I'll be dreaming all these nights up until the Super Bowl,'' Vinatieri said. ``It will be running through my head a million times. I'm sure I won't get a lot of sleep.

``Some guys want to be able to have the ball in their hand or at their foot, and if your number is called, you have to take advantage of it.''

Vinatieri has taken advantage of his opportunities this season, no matter when they've come. He has made 31 of 33 field goals (the best percentage in the NFL) and led the league in scoring with 141 points. Those numbers earned him a second Pro Bowl berth.

For all he has done in New England, Vinatieri has expressed doubt that he will be back - his contract expires after this season - because of salary cap concerns.

If there is any question about his value, it was hammered home in the AFC playoffs when the Chargers and Jets lost after their kickers missed potential winning field goals.

The Patriots have no such concerns when Vinatieri trots onto the field at the end of a game.

``You sweat and bleed for 60 minutes, and here comes Robin Hood,'' Patriots punter and holder Josh Miller told the St. Petersburg Times. ``You might as well unbuckle your pads.''

The two Super Bowl kicks have prompted discussion of whether Vinatieri is worthy of the Hall of Fame. Jan Stenarud is the only kicker among the 225 inductees.

``Kickers have such an impact on the game,'' said Eagles kicker David Akers, himself a Pro Bowler. ``The games are now so close and the competition is so intense that teams have to find an edge somewhere. Adam is one of those guys who is changing the mold.''

Vinatieri says the key to his success is to stay mentally prepared so that when his opportunity arrives, he is focused only on mechanics. Not the crowd. Not the score. Not the circumstance.

In last year's Super Bowl, he missed from 31 and 36 yards before hitting the game-winner from 41.

``As a kicker, in general, you are like a relief pitcher or a golfer standing over a putt,'' Vinatieri said. ``You don't have a lot of opportunities necessarily. We are not on the field 40 or 50 plays a game. We're on the field three or four, maybe seven or eight if you score a lot.

``It's one of those things that you have to stay mentally focused throughout the course of the game and, hopefully, if your opportunity comes at the end, you can maintain the focus and maintain whatever you need to do to try to be successful at the end.''

Vinatieri's playoff record is extraordinary. In last year's AFC Championship Game, he kicked five field goals. In this year's title game, he kicked a Heinz Field record-tying 48-yarder in Pittsburgh to get New England off to a good start.

There also were his two clutch kicks against the Raiders in 2001, which began New England's run of eight consecutive playoff wins. In a snowstorm, he booted a 45-yarder that tied the score with 32 seconds left to force overtime. He made a 23-yarder to end it.

Vinatieri rates the game-tying kick against the Raiders as the best of his career. The Super Bowl kicks, from 48 yards against the Rams and against the Panthers, were made indoors. If he missed, the games would have gone into overtime.

``We are down three. I had to hit it to tie the game,'' Vinatieri said of the Raiders' playoff. ``It was snowing. And the field conditions - I don't know if I've ever kicked in conditions worse than that.''

Vinatieri's coolness may be equal parts nature and nurture. He's a cousin of daredevil motorcycle rider Evel Knievel, and if there's ice water in his veins, it may be the result of growing up in Yankton, S.D.

In high school, he also played quarterback and linebacker - skills he has put to use in the NFL. As a rookie in 1996, he caught Dallas kick returner Herschel Walker from behind to save a touchdown. This season, he threw a touchdown pass to Troy Brown on a fake field-goal attempt against St. Louis.

``The stereotypical kicker from 20 years ago is not that anymore,'' he said. ``You've got a lot of punters and kickers around the league who played other positions in high school and maybe in college.''

That said, the Patriots don't expect to need his arm to win Sunday. Nor his legs. In Super Bowls past, his foot has been just fine.

Billy Witz, [phone]

billy.witz(at)dailynews.com

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(2 -- 4) Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri's list of memorable kicks includes the ``best of his career,'' a game-tying 23-yarder in the 2001 playoffs against Oakland in the snow at Foxboro Stadium, far left. He nailed the game-winner last year against Carolina in the Super Bowl in Houston to win his second Vince Lombardi Trophy. His first came in 2002 after kicking the game-winner against St. Louis in New Orleans.

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