Paul and John needed George and Ringo to make Sgt. Pepper. The Godfather wouldn’t be a classic without Tessio or Clemenza. What would Seinfeld be without Kramer, right Eli?

The AFC Championship demonstrated this isn’t so much the perfect season as the perfect team. What, did you forget about the team?

The spotlight has been on the record-breaking quarterback and wide receiver and the almost universally-detested coach. It has been about Spygate and running up the score, this team or that team coming oh so close to beating them, Tom Brady and Randy Moss setting records and going on the record to address a domestic altercation.

This is the price of whatever-and-oh hype. The pack mentality of the media that grows by the day down at Gillette Stadium has anyone with a microphone, camera or notebook pointing them at the issue/crisis/scandal of the moment and overlooking anyone who isn’t wearing a No. 12 or 81 or a hoodie.

The offensive line and Wes Welker got an occasional bouquet tossed their way, but they were usually a vehicle to explain why Brady and Moss were able to be so dominant. If anyone else got a mention, for example, the aging linebacking corps, it was usually identified by some pundit or ex-football player as a weakness for the next opponent to exploit.

The big three warrant a large share of ink, don’t get me wrong. Moss was quiet for the second straight week yesterday, but his presence could still be felt. Let’s just say that you wouldn’t have seen Reche Caldwell drawing the safety’s attention and opening up the middle for Welker on his touchdown catch. And Brady merely reminded us he is human. The Giants should be unnerved by the knowledge that Brady has two weeks to stew over this subpar performance.

The supporting cast couldn’t have picked a better time to remind everyone that championships aren’t just won by who has the best quarterback/wide receiver/coach combo. Terry Bradshaw, Lynn Swann and Chuck Noll, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice and Bill Walsh, Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Jimmy Johnson won the MVPs and got their busts put in Canton, but role players, offensive linemen, and playmakers on defense and special teams have collectively played as big if not a bigger part for every team that has ever lifted the Lombardi Trophy

Go back through history and you’ll find guys like Kevin Faulk, guys who make the exact play that needs to be made when it needs to be made, guys that move the chains on 3rd-and-7. Dave Meggett with the Giants. Joe Washington with the Redskins. Preston Pearson with the Cowboys of the 1970s. That’s just three who remind me of No. 33. You’ll find a Kelly Washington, guys who could make the special teams play that changes 15 or 20 yards worth of field position. Trust me kids, Steve Tasker may not have sideline reporting mastered, but Jim Kelly and Andre Reed were awfully glad to have him around in January.

Speaking of a guy who comes in handy in January, Tedy Bruschi played his best game of the year yesterday after looking for most of the season like he was holding down the inside linebacker job for Adalius Thomas. If he wins his fourth Super Bowl ring in two weeks and decides to retire, Bob Kraft should have a fifth ring made up for him to complete the set. And no one can accuse Junior Seau of just hanging on long enough to get a ring. Both of the Patriots inside linebackers can each take credit for one of the 3’s the Chargers hung on the scoreboard because of their plays near the goal line.

Rodney Harrison showed he isn’t in the hanging on phase of his career yet, either. Whenever the Patriots haven’t been able to put any pressure on a quarterback for a prolonged stretch, as with Philip Rivers in the first half, who does Bill Belichick turn loose? It’s no coincidence that the Patriots haven’t lost a playoff game with him on the field. Now that’s a guy I’d let hang on for as many rings as he wants. If Harrison wants to play until he’s 50, I might suggest Bill Belichick grant him his wish.

Patriots fans have gotten their wish with Laurence Maroney, who just might have a leg up on Brady for mythical postseason MVP honors. Some fans were so down on the second-year running back that they were openly pining for Darren McFadden taking his place next season. But Maroney has been playing like the Corey Dillon’s clock-killin’ replacement many of those same critics were touting him to be last season. Say what you want about the offensive line opening more holes for him as yesterday’s game wore on, and as the season wore on, but you can’t convince me that him finishing off some of those runs didn’t light a little bit of a fire under the line’s butt for that last clock-killin’ drive.

This is how the New England Patriots won their first three world championships, and they haven’t forgotten how just because they were winning games with more razzle-dazzle than we’ve been generally accustomed to earlier in the season. Guys like Sammy Morris and Rosevelt Colvin were making big plays then, too. Nobody chose to notice because Brady was throwing touchdown passes in his sleep and Moss was making one-handed catches and Belichick was absorbing the scorn of a nation.

Someone else from the supporting cast will step up in two weeks. Maybe it will be James Sanders or Ben Watson or Stephen Gostkowski or Heath Evans. And there will be one last reminder that it wasn’t just the perfect season.

It was the perfect team.

Randy Whitehouse is a staff writer. He can be reached [email protected]