REPATRIATION VINATIERI KICK ENDS BACK-AND-FORTH THRILLER NEW ENGLAND 32, CAROLINA 29.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

HOUSTON - Perhaps the New England Patriots spend hours in rehearsal.

Tom Brady must study his lines as the Most Valuable Player, flawlessly leading his team down the field in the final minute.

Adam Vinatieri must practice his role, coolly booting the game-winning kick.

The rest of the Patriots know their parts, too, celebrating as confetti rains down.

Practice or not, one thing's for sure about New England and this script. It's down Pat.

The Patriots won their second championship in three years and followed a thrillingly familiar formula, getting an MVP performance from Brady and a 41-yard field goal by Vinatieri with four seconds left to defeat Carolina, 32-29, in Super Bowl XXXVIII before 71,525 at Reliant Stadium.

``What a game,'' Brady said. ``What a game. Fitting for the Super Bowl, I guess.''

The plot line wasn't much different than their 17-14 win over St. Louis two years ago, but this one - in which both traded haymakers and the lead in the fourth quarter - got rave reviews from the Patriots.

``It feels 100 times better,'' offensive tackle Matt Light said.

Perhaps because the Patriots had to work so much harder for it. Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme was spectacular in the fourth quarter, rallying his team from an 11-point deficit by driving the Panthers to three touchdowns, the last on a pass to Ricky Proehl with 1:08 to play.

But Carolina kicker John Kasay hooked his kickoff out of bounds and New England had the ball at its own 40-yard line with three timeouts.

Brady passed the Patriots out of a first-and-20 hole when he found Deion Branch on a 17-yard pass to the Carolina 23 with eight seconds left.

That left it to Vinatieri, who missed a 31-yard field goal and had a 36-yarder blocked in the first half, but made his fourth game-winner in the playoffs.

``He's the Iceman,'' Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson said. ``He never misses when the game is on the line.''

The first 27 minutes didn't just seem like the most dreadful offensive football in Super Bowl history. It was.

The Patriots and Panthers played the first scoreless first quarter in 12 years and when the Patriots scored on Brady's 6-yard pass to Branch with 3:05 left in the second quarter, it broke the longest scoreless stretch to ever begin a Super Bowl.

Naturally, it took the defense to get it going.

When Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel forced a fumble from Delhomme, tackle Richard Seymour recovered the ball at the Carolina 20-yard line.

The Patriots looked ready to settle for another field goal attempt when Brady, his receivers covered, took off the up the middle for a 12-yard gain that he punctuated by theatrically pointing for a first down at the 5-yard line.

On the next play he hit Branch.

Then the points rained. Carolina, which had only one first down - and that by penalty - on its first six possessions, suddenly came to life and in a fortuitous place, up against its own goal line.

After a penalty on the kickoff put Carolina at its own 5-yard line, Ricky Proehl made a juggling catch of Delhomme's third-down pass that not only kept the possession alive but brought the Panthers to life.

Delhomme hit Muhsin Muhammad for 23 yards, found Proehl again for 15 more and on third-and-10, lofted a perfectly thrown pass that hit Steve Smith in stride for a 39-yard score with 1:07 left before halftime.

But New England quickly responded. Brady found Branch, who got behind Ricky Manning Jr. for a 52-yard bomb. Then, on third-and-1, Brady's play fake froze the linebackers and he hit David Givens, who beat Manning to the post for a 5-yard touchdown with 18 seconds left.

That was still enough time for the Panthers, who were set up at their 47-yard line when Kris Mangum scooped up New England's squib kick before it got very far down field. With the Patriots expecting a pass, Davis ran 21 yards on a draw to put Kasey in position for a 50-yard field goal on the final play of the half to make it 14-10.

Play settled down in the third quarter before it got wild in the fourth. Carolina, trailing 21-10, went to the hurry-up offense and DeShaun Foster, the former UCLA star, broke two tackles on a 33-yard scoring run that started the comeback.

In the end, though, it wasn't enough.

``It's probably one of the worst feelings in the world,'' Delhomme said. ``You can't explain what you feel right now. It's just since March 24 when we started and July 24th when we started the season and now it's over. It's been a great ride, understand that, but right now it's just hard.''

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) PATENTED ENDING

Brady marches, Vinatieri kicks and New England claims its second Super Bowl in three years

Associated Press

(2 -- color) Adam Vinatieri kicks the winning field goal as the Patriots claim their second Super Bowl title in three years.

(3) Former UCLA standout DeShaun Foster leaps into the end zone for a Panthers touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press