Lamar Hunt Trophy Returns to Foxboro

The Patriots beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 41-27 to advance to Super Bowl XXXIX against the Philadelphia Eagles. A week after holding the world's greatest offense to 3 points, the Pat's offense lit up the Steelers top ranked defense for 41 points. Nick Cafardo has the AFC Championship game story.

The Steelers had decided to go for it on fourth and 1 at the Patriots' 39-yard line. It wasn't the biggest or the most important play because it came so early, but it seemed to crystalize what the Patriots, who were about to win their third AFC Championship in four years, were all about.

Before the Steelers came up to the line of scrimmage, coach Bill Belichick summoned middle linebacker Ted Johnson and offered some advice. Johnson, who calls the defensive signals, took that advice back to the huddle. Moments later, Jerome Bettis took a handoff from Ben Roethlisberger and was stopped dead in his tracks by Rosevelt Colvin, who stripped the ball loose. Mike Vrabel made the recovery.