Works of fiction

PITTSBURGH – If this team were a work of fiction, it would be the most overindulgent, far-fetched manuscript ever created. But at least it would fit.

In the world of pretend, the New England Patriots would make perfect sense. Along with Perry Mason never losing a case and James Bond never dying, Bill Belichick's team easily squashes everyone everywhere. But to explain the Patriots in reality has become futile and an exhaustion of the human vocabulary. As Jack Nicklaus once said of Tiger Woods when he was at his peak – "Think of all the words for great. String them together."

Inevitably, they will form a line straight to Foxboro.

A week ago, the Patriots embarrassed those who believed they were vulnerable to Indianapolis' potent finesse offense. Surely, nobody thought they could deliver a facsimile against the NFL's No. 1 defense and the best power running game in football. But when the Patriots walked out of Heinz Field as the AFC champions with a 41-27 win over the Steelers, the rest of the world was left to wonder if there really was any suspense in the first place. Indeed, doubting this team has become a practice in stupidity – like watching "The Wizard of Oz" 99 times but thinking the ending might change on the 100th viewing.

"Who puts [the Steelers] on that pedestal? Who makes them untouchable?" linebacker Willie McGinest asked. "We don't look at that stuff. We don't rate them. We don't vote for who's the best team in the NFL."

After this win, it might not matter. In truth, New England might have held that title from Day 1.

Undeniably, the Patriots have been a team which never has deviated from its methodology. Instead, it was the football world around the Patriots that changed – becoming enamored with other teams and assuming the Vince Lombardi Trophy was destined for a new locale.

Such assumptions should long be dead after Sunday, which certainly was the optimal day for New England to stumble. After all, the Patriots returned to the stadium where their NFL-record 21-game winning streak ended on Oct. 31, when Pittsburgh crushed them 34-20 thanks to 221 rushing yards and Ben Roethlisberger's two touchdown passes. And while running back Corey Dillon and wide receiver Deion Branch didn't play that day, the Patriots were without two Pro Bowlers for the rematch in defensive back Ty Law and defensive end Richard Seymour.

Yet New England also harbored a secret belief about that Halloween debacle. When the Patriots looked back at the tape, they saw a defense going through adjustments and an offensive chemistry in flux without Branch.

"As far as the way we played that week, Pittsburgh had peaked," Patriots defensive end Jarvis Green said. "We hadn't peaked. We were still trying to get our mistakes together. The first game, that wasn't us out there.

"I didn't lose any sleep off of that."

This time around, New England dominated for 3½ quarters, limited the Pittsburgh running game at critical moments and pestered Roethlisberger into three costly interceptions. One was returned for a touchdown by safety Rodney Harrison, and another by Eugene Wilson destroyed the Steelers' momentum in the fourth quarter.

When it was all over, the win had a familiar texture. At every moment the Patriots needed a play, they made it. At every moment they needed a player to rise from the team silhouette, someone did – whether it was Branch, who caught four passes for 116 yards, or Wilson, who intercepted two passes. Just like in fantasy land, the pieces came together perfectly, even when it seemed unlikely.

Should the Patriots beat Philadelphia and capture their third Super Bowl in four years, this modern-day dynasty should be ultimately known for the ability to defy conventional wisdom by following Belichick's pragmatic one-game-at-a-time approach, not to mention its knack for self-motivation, which has become razor sharp in recent weeks. That much was witnessed this week when oddsmakers favored New England by three points, yet somehow the Patriots continued to feel as if nobody believed they could win.

"That [point spread] was a setup," McGinest insisted. "When you look at the shows and all the so-called experts, nobody gave us a chance."

That belief – certainly distorted at this stage – might be absolute proof that even these Patriots don't have a full grasp on their uniqueness. They don't understand why they are almost too good to be real. Yet here they are, headed to the Super Bowl with a roster that loses key players and doesn't miss a beat and with a head coach who seems mundane and methodical yet remains perfectly tuned to his players. It's a total collection that has made weather, style of play and location irrelevant at a time when such things destroy lesser opponents.

"To tell you the truth, the persona and the winning is just the way it is," defensive end Ty Warren said. "I don't know why it's that way. It's foreign to me just like it's foreign to everyone else. I can't explain it, I don't try to explain it and I definitely don't question it."

After the last two weeks of watching the Patriots turn fantasy into reality, it's hard to believe there is anyone left who would.