JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) – New England’s third Super Bowl victory in four years came down to the most basic of football rules: The Patriots could run the ball and made sure the Eagles couldn’t.

So New England won 24-21, established itself as the team of the century (short as it is) and put Bill Belichick ahead of even the great Vince Lombardi with a 10-1 record.

Lombardi would have loved it, especially the 66-yard drive late in the third quarter and early in the fourth that broke a 14-all tie. Thirty-four of those yards were on the ground including the final 2, by Corey Dillon.

What made that drive even more important was that it answered a Philadelphia touchdown that had tied the game and seemed to give the Eagles the momentum.

The game also demonstrated the other characteristic that has made the Patriots into what passes for a dynasty in this day of salary cap-enforced parity: big plays from all kinds of players.

As usual, one was Tedy Bruschi, setting the tone for the game with a sack on Philadelphia’s first possession, then coming up with an interception that ended a fourth-quarter drive one play after a 36-yard pass completion to Terrell Owens, who performed better than expected in his first game back after a severe ankle injury.

But there also was backup running back Kevin Faulk, who had two rushes for 20 yards in that big drive and also went 14 yards to the Philadelphia 2 with a screen pass that set up Corey Dillon’s 2-yard touchdown run.

Plus Deion Branch, who the Eagles couldn’t cover, especially when the Patriots needed big yardage.

But the defense was more than big plays: It was stuffing the run.

Aside from a meaningless 22-yard scamper by Brian Westbrook on the final play of the first half, Philadelphia couldn’t run against a defense that often had just two down linemen: some combination of Ty Warren, Keith Traylor, Vince Wilfork, Jarvis Green and, most importantly, Richard Seymour, an all-Pro the last two years. But the outside linebackers – Willie McGinest, Mike Vrabel and Rosevelt Colvin – often played defensive end, making the Patriots’ 3-4 defense into a 4-3 that Philadelphia didn’t seem prepared to attack.

Seymour, who had missed five weeks with a knee injury, didn’t play as much as he usually does. But when he did, he looked like he hadn’t missed a beat.

Seymour, of course, has always been big in big games.

But as usual, so were most of the other Patriots.