SUPER BOWL TRIUMPH IS THE THIRD OF A KIND SOLID TEAM PERFORMANCE GIVES N.E. ANOTHER TITLE NEW ENGLAND 24, PHILADELPHIA 21.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Winning Super Bowls is a habit for the New England Patriots. For the Philadelphia Eagles, it isn't.

Both teams showed why Sunday.

The Patriots played with poise when they needed to, taking advantage of four turnovers, including three interceptions of quarterback Donovan McNabb, to thwart the Eagles for a 24-21 victory in Super Bowl XXXIX in front of 78,125 at Alltel Stadium.

It was the second consecutive Super Bowl victory for New England and third in four years, a feat previously accomplished only by the Cowboys in 1993, 1994 and 1996.

The margin of victory was the same as the Patriots' other two Super Bowl wins, but this time they didn't need a last-second field goal to do it, and somebody other than quarterback Tom Brady won the MVP award.

Instead, it went to somebody who caught his passes, receiver Deion Branch, who tied a Super Bowl record with 11 receptions for 133 yards.

``It's a relief,'' Brady said of the victory, which concluded a week in which his grandmother died and his father was hospitalized. ``It has been a long year, but everyone is excited. It will start sinking in the next few days. Once we get that Super Bowl ring, that's when it's really going to sink in.''

The loss was the same old Philadelphia story for the Eagles.

Since the 76ers won the NBA title in 1983, the Phillies have lost twice in the World Series, the 76ers have lost once in the NBA Finals and the Flyers have lost three times in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Eagles haven't won a NFL championship since 1960.

What was gnawing at the Eagles were the mistakes.

``Look at the turnovers,'' Eagles center Hank Fraley said. ``You don't even have to watch the game. When one team has (four) turnovers and the other team has one, you can tell who won.''

Philadelphia outplayed New England much of the first half, but the score was tied 7-7 at halftime because of the Eagles' miscues.

McNabb, one play after receiving a reprieve when Eugene Wilson's interception in the end zone was wiped out by defensive holding, threw another badly underthrown ball that was picked off by Rodney Harrison.

Shortly after, the Eagles were driving in Patriots territory when tight end L.J. Smith lost a fumble at the 36. The other critical turnover came with 7:22 to play and the Eagles trailing 24-14. McNabb threw behind Smith, and linebacker Tedy Bruschi easily intercepted the ball at the Patriots 24.

Philadelphia managed to close within 24-21 when McNabb threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Greg Lewis with 1:48 left, but an onside kick was unsuccessful, and Harrison intercepted McNabb deep in Philadelphia's end in the final seconds.

``I look at the three interceptions,'' said McNabb, who threw for 357 yards and three touchdowns. ``As the quarterback, you want to make sure you take care of the ball. Turnovers kill you, and they hurt us today.''

The Eagles got a huge lift from the play of receiver Terrell Owens. How much they would get from their star receiver, who hadn't played in seven weeks while recovering from ankle surgery, was the question that dominated the week.

It turns out plenty. Owens caught nine passes for 122 yards, and his physical presence was a chore for New England.

``Before we came down here, I knew I was going to play all along,'' Owens said. ``The media made it a situation to where they thought I was grandstanding. In this situation, other people like Brett Favre, they would have called him a warrior. For me, they said I was selfish. If I'm selfish, I'm selfish because I want to help my team win.''

All the Patriots knew where Owens was - even those on offense. When receiver David Givens scored the Patriots' first touchdown, he set the ball down in the end zone, placed one foot on it and flapped his arms - a poke at one of Owens' celebrations. Mike Vrabel later flapped his wings when he scored.

``I just thought I'd do the dirty bird,'' Vrabel said. `I've seen T.O. do it a couple of times, and I thought I would try it out.''

The other bird whose beak they tweaked was receiver Freddie Mitchell, who ruffled some feathers when he said he didn't know the names of the young Patriots defensive backs other than the veteran Harrison, whom he promised to have something for on Sunday.

``You know, Freddie probably bit off a little more than he could chew,'' Harrison said of the former UCLA star, who caught one pass for 11 yards. ``But I bet he knows our numbers now, huh?''

The Eagles' defense, using its speed to shut down the edges and its blitzes to collapse the pocket, kept New England bottled up for the first 20 minutes. Then Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis began mixing in screen passes and draws to halfbacks Corey Dillon and Kevin Faulk.

``Against an aggressive defense, screens and draws are going to create some problems for you,'' Eagles safety Michael Lewis said.

A fumble by Brady at the Eagles 4-yard line snuffed one drive, but Brady tossed a 4-yard touchdown to Givens with 1:10 left in the half.

New England then opened the second half with a 69-yard drive, capped by Brady's 2-yard pass to Vrabel, the linebacker who caught a touchdown pass in the Super Bowl for the second consecutive year.

The Eagles, utilizing their halfback, Brian Westbrook, got even again when McNabb finished a 74-yard drive with a 10-yard scoring pass to Westbrook that split two defenders.

New England immediately answered, taking the lead for good 21-14 on Dillon's 2-yard run with 13:44 left in the fourth quarter. Adam Vinatieri's 22-yard field goal added breathing room with 8:43 to play.

``We have able to answer right back on teams,'' Patriots center Dan Koppen. ``We've been able to calm down, even things up and let our defense go back to work again. That's a big part of our success this year.''

It might even be called a habit.

Billy Witz, [phone]

billy.witz(at)dailynews.com

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3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) SUPER MEN

The New England Patriots win their third Super Bowl in four years

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

(2) Patriots safety Rodney Harrison celebrates after his interception sealed a Super Bowl win.

Brian Bahr/Getty Images

(3) Running back Corey Dillion scores a touchdown to give New England a 21-14 lead in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl.

David J. Phillip/Associated Press