Here’s where the talking ends.

Two weeks of hype and hope conclude with the biggest annual event in sports and television at 6:25 p.m. this evening.

The New England Patriots are aiming for their second title in three years, a conquest that would at least trigger some talk of a dynasty or the team’s historical significance.

For the Carolina Panthers, a team with a nine-year history, most of it ignominious, tonight’s game represents an opportunity to shake the expansion blues and become earn some mainstream recognition.

After a fortnight of analysis, analysis and more analysis, it’s easy to forget that the Patriots’ pattern for winning its last 14 games was as simple as one, two, three.

Emphasizing three basic tenets of the game plan will yield the same results.

Patriots’ keys to victory

1. Make Jake Delhomme throw. There are two primary ways the Patriots can force Carolina’s first-year starter to prove his mettle under the hottest spotlight in professional sports. One is for Tom Brady and the offense to score on their first possession, as they did in two previous playoff victories. The other is to stuff Stephen Davis on DeShaun Foster on first and second down runs so Delhomme is facing third-and-9, not third-and-2.

Philadelphia could do neither, which is why Delhomme needed only 14 pass attempts in the NFC Championship game and why the Eagles will be watching, not playing, this evening.

2. Score a defensive touchdown. Or, at the very least, return a fumble or interception into the red zone to shorten the field for Brady and his cadre of receivers.

Ty Law’s runback against St. Louis two years ago may be the most significant play in Patriots franchise history when you consider the tone it set for a team that was a double-digit underdog. Even in the favorite’s role, this year’s Pats are driven by defense.

Matt Chatham’s fumble return against the Giants and Tedy Bruschi’s snowswept score against Miami were season-defining plays. And while Law didn’t reach paydirt in the AFC title game against Indianapolis, two of his three picks snuffed out drives deep in New England territory.

3. Don’t make mistakes in the kicking game. Although this season was perhaps the most inconsistent of placekicker Adam Vinatieri’s eight years in New England, partially due to a nagging back injury, he remains the best big-game kicker in the NFL. His late-game heroics already have won three playoff games since 2001, including Super Bowl XXXVI.

New England’s offense had trouble cracking the end zone against Tennessee and Indianapolis, so there’s reason to believe Carolina’s defense will prove equally stingy. Vinatieri might be asked to kick five field goals, and in a close game, the Patriots can’t afford to have him miss three of them.

Ken Walter was statistically one of the poorest punters in the NFL this season. The two primary reasons he was reclaimed after a one-week hiatus in December were that the Patriots couldn’t find anyone better that late in the season and that he has good chemistry with Vinatieri, for whom he is the holder on field goal and extra-point attempts. One or two timely boots inside the Carolina 10-yard line would atone for a multitude of shortcomings.

Prediction

Are you kidding?

Brady, Law and Vinatieri each will accomplish something big in this game before Carolina adjusts to the atmosphere.

While the Panthers have invited comparisons to the underdog Patriots of Super Bowl XXXVI, they are more likely to follow in the tradition of the Patriots of ’96, Falcons of ’98, Giants of 2000 and Raiders of ’02. All enjoyed a nice season, but all saw it evaporate like the dry-ice induced smoke at so many halftime shows.

New England 20, Carolina 6.