Fourth Quarter

Scoring: New England 17, St. Louis 10: Kurt Warner, two-yard run at 9:31. PAT--Jeff Wilkins (kick).

New England 17, St. Louis 17: Ricky Proehl, 26-yard reception from Kurt Warner at 1:30. PAT--Wilkins (kick).

New England 20, St. Louis 17: Vinatieri, 48-yard field goal at 0:00.

Impact player: Adam Vinatieri has nerves of steel. He calmly strolled onto the field and kicked the game-winning field goal as if it was something he did every day for the last 20 years. Of course, there wasn’t a howling wind and it wasn’t snowing as it was against the Oakland Raiders, so maybe the kick seemed easy in comparison. The Patriots showed they belonged in this game no matter what Al Davis says.

Missed opportunity: The fourth quarter was about as good as football gets, more than making up for a crummy first three quarters. Both teams played well, and you can’t really find anything to fault. If anything, the biggest missed opportunity was by the people who voted Brady the game’s most valuable player. It should have gone to Vinatieri. Think kickers aren’t athletes? How many of you who think that could have made that kick? Put your hand down, Scott Norwood.

Best number: Guess which team had 26 first downs and which had 15? Guess which team had 427 total yards and which had 267? Which team passed for 337 yards, and which for 134? If you said Rams, Patriots, Rams, Patriots, Rams, Patriots, you win. How did the Patriots win? That brings us to ...

Worst number: The Rams turned over the ball three times, leading to 17 points for the Patriots.

Houston Mitchell