By Paul Attner
Sporting News

The wonder of the Patriots isn't just how they keep winning and winning and winning these Super Bowls. It is more than the blinding glitter from all those rings and their secured place among the dominant teams in history. It's their astonishing consistency, their unflappable composure, the almost matter-of-fact approach they employ to make the difficulty of what they have achieved seem so unremarkable.

Amid all the praise and admiration generated by their continued romp through the NFL, these Patriots leave you with the impression that not only did they expect to win Super Bowl 39 but that they expect to win a lot more before this incredible run is over.

"We are not necessarily done," linebacker Mike Vrabel says. "This team is set up for championships, and I don't think we are necessarily finished." That's the chilling part of what we are witnessing. This is not a team at its peak but a team built for continuity and stability. So we better not be surprised if we again see Bill Belichick being doused with water, the signal for his players to begin celebration of yet another title.

New England already is in the same elite territory shared by wondrous clubs from the past: the Bears of the '40s, the Browns of the '50s, the Packers of the '60s, the Steelers of the '70s, the 49ers of the '80s and the Cowboys of the '90s. "For them to win all these titles in this current environment is incredible," Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome says. "This is a team game, and they show all of us how you win as a team. You've got to put them right up there with these other great teams from the past."

That's what makes them so unique. This era of free agents and a salary cap wasn't supposed to allow any franchise to dominate -- "All of us thought it couldn't be done," Falcons general manager Rich McKay says -- yet the Patriots, lacking as they are in abundant superstars, have created a rare blend of intelligence, sacrifice, savvy and coaching to produce this picture of excellence.

How the Patriots hate all these comparisons. They just want to do their jobs and get on with business as soon as possible; after No. 3, they barely mounted a proper post-game celebration. Belichick has convinced them that even a hint of outward satisfaction with their body of work will somehow destroy what they've constructed. "This just means we started at the bottom of the mountain in August and we are now at the top of that mountain," Belichick says.

But they can't dismiss what they've done so easily, not with all this mounting evidence. Now they are the second team to win three Super Bowls in four years -- matching the Cowboys of Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith. Belichick is the the fourth coach to produce as many as three Super Bowl titles, joining Chuck Noll (four), Bill Walsh (three) and Joe Gibbs (three). And Tom Brady is the fourth quarterback with at least three Super Bowl rings, joining Terry Bradshaw, Aikman and Joe Montana. And at 27, Brady won his third at the youngest age.

The Patriots' latest Super Bowl victory, a 24-21 test of nerves over the Eagles, was no easier than the previous two. It took another exceptional effort by Brady, who passed for two touchdowns and nary an interception, a record-tying 11 catches by Super Bowl MVP Deion Branch and an opportune defense that yielded 357 passing yards to Donovan McNabb but created four turnovers. And that still was barely enough to subdue Philadelphia. But there was no reason to suspect it would be simple; these Eagles are almost as solid and competent as the Patriots, and together they represent the best the NFL has to offer. And that, for the rest of the league, should be very, very scary.

The problem for the remaining 30 teams is this: How do they close this gap of success the Eagles and Patriots have created between themselves and everyone else? It is the crucial competitive question facing the NFL, one that once seemed outlandish to raise given the constant upheaval created by a parity-pushing system the past decade-plus. Yet the presence of these two franchises -- the most successful and consistent of any over the past five years -- in this Super Bowl highlights the change we are seeing. That is, at least these two clubs have shown you can maintain dominant rosters in an era in which that seemed impossible.

"These two teams are almost mirror images of each other as to how they go about trying to win," says Aikman, now a FOX analyst. "You walk through the door at both places, and it doesn't take long to figure out why they are successful. You just feel it. They have a chain of command, lines are clearly defined as to what people do, there is tremendous respect for everyone within those buildings, and they get good, quality people. And they do sacrifice individual for the team. There is a culture right now where players want it to be about them. But not with these two teams. That is the bottom line."

This is how bullies bludgeon the competition. Over the past five years, the Eagles are the only team to make the playoffs each season -- and the only one to play in four conference championship games. And their record (59-21) exceeds anyone else's. Once the playoffs start, it is the Patriots who excel.

There seems little reason both franchises can't maintain such splendor. The Eagles are $17 million under the cap and have five picks in the first three rounds of this year's draft. New England, which traditionally spends to the cap limit, is methodically adding younger players to its roster, stockpiling quality reserve talent to cushion the aging process in some spots. Neither should lose any quality player in the free-agent market this offseason. Plus, their quarterbacks are young enough to still improve, and who would not want Belichick or Andy Reid as their coach?

OK, maybe there is one possible crack, at least in New England. Belichick will lose both of his coordinators, Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel. Weis is the new head coach at Notre Dame, and Crennel will be named coach of the Browns this week. Both have been with Belichick at every Super Bowl, and their expertise has drawn league-wide admiration. For the first time in his New England tenure, Belichick will be faced with a major staff shakeup, which might be enough to help the pretenders close the gap. Yet, as long as Belichick keeps showing up on game days in that ugly sweatshirt of his, you have to believe the Patriots still will be more than OK.

"As soon as this Super Bowl was over, 30 other teams suddenly had a lot of hope," Newsome says. Certainly, the pattern created by the free-agent system and the salary cap reinforces Newsome's optimism. Every new season, we have teams moving from last place to ring challengers. But the new reality of the league should start to dampen this kind of enthusiasm. You likely will still see examples of the dramatic ascent every season, but now such improvement might not be sufficient to dislodge the Patriots and Eagles. So instead of the free-for-all scramble we have been witnessing for Super Bowl berths, the NFL now is more about bullies against 98-pound weaklings.

Look how difficult it is to overcome New England. The Eagles couldn't do it despite a truly inspirational effort from receiver Terrell Owens, who returned from a broken ankle weeks ahead of his original prognosis and caught nine passes for 122 yards. The Patriots limited the Philadelphia running game to 45 yards and forced 51 passes by McNabb, who wasn't quite sharp enough against a surprising 4-3 scheme -- New England primarily had been a 3-4 club all season -- that contained his scrambling. And he wasn't good enough in a puzzlingly slow hurry-up offense late in the game to help the Eagles win their first title in 44 years.

The Patriots also have Brady, who grows more impressive with every championship. His coolness and accuracy under the greatest of pressure separate him from his peers. On this night, he overcame a slow start with a scintillating second half in which he led the Patriots on two long scoring drives to break away from a 7-all halftime tie and gain control of the contest.

He is now 9-0 in the playoffs and never was more professional than in this latest playoff run, when the Patriots toppled the Colts, Steelers and Eagles, all momentous achievements. "He is just an amazing young man," Weis says. "He kept calling me during the week late at night to talk about the game plan. I just wanted to sleep." No wonder the Eagles had problems with him.

"The gap can be eliminated, no doubt about it," says ESPN analyst Randy Mueller, a top candidate to take over the Seahawks' front office. "But it's different than it used to be when I was the Saints' general manager (2000-02). These two have taken talent evaluation to the next level. They have shown that it is not necessarily the most talented teams that win. It is more the way their head coaches and staff bring them together as a team; how they use the chemistry, the IQ of the players and fit the players' strengths into the team's schemes. You need to pay special attention to 'team' and chemistry now when putting together your roster."

Certainly, the model used by the Patriots and Eagles is influencing the shaping of front offices and rosters throughout the league. Both franchises have head coaches who also are in charge of personnel. A similar alignment has been adopted this offseason by the Dolphins, who have handed over all power to Nick Saban, and the 49ers, who have done likewise with Mike Nolan. John York, owner of the 49ers, admits he is attempting to revitalize his once-proud franchise by copying the New England blueprint. But playing copycat is easy; actually constructing rosters good enough to knock off these bullies is something else.

Because of this new league order, no more than half the teams -- if that -- can realistically overcome the Eagles and Patriots. At the moment, no one else has the proper combination of elements it would take to kick them off the top.

"To catch them, you need a new stadium to give you the proper cash flow, a new practice facility to attract free agents, a franchise quarterback who can be the face of the organization, a head coach who has command of his situation and a front office that has a blueprint for success and can work in concert with the head coach," FOX analyst Brian Baldinger says. "And you need a philosophy about how to go about winning games, a sound philosophy that cuts through an entire organization."

Franchises that constantly change head coaches, assistant coaches and front office personnel have no chance against the stability of the Pats and Eagles. Just consider the past two offseasons; there have been 14 head coaching changes and double that in offensive and defensive coordinator changes. The Packers alone are on their third defensive coordinator in three years. Just as important, franchises with clueless ownership can't compete with these two teams. "I think some owners are more committed to winning than others," Patriots owner Robert Kraft says. "Some just want to make as much money as they can." Kraft and Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie have demonstrated the proper mentality to produce a winner. They are willing to provide the financial resources for free agents (to acquire needed talent) and assistant coaching salaries (to maintain staff stability) along with allowing their football people to make all the football decisions. There hardly has been any turnover among the staff or front office of either team the past five years. Owners can be educated, too. Lurie once was considered a bumbler who was messing up the Eagles. Then he hired Reid.

"They have done a good job of dealing with the hard decisions, letting name players go because of salary cap problems, things like that," the Falcons' McKay says. "That takes understanding by the owner. He has to realize not everything is going to work out and you have to ride out the downs. Not every owner can handle that."

The quick turnarounds of so many teams from season to season have created a league-wide quest for the quick fix, a mentality that contradicts the approach by these Super Bowl clubs. "It is so hard to be disciplined right now," Mueller says. "But you have to be. That is what I have learned, too. You have to stick with what you think is right and not chase talent for talent's sake. The Eagles and Patriots have figured out the players they need to make their systems work, and they are willing to confine their talent search to these players."

Nor can the wannabes hope to become dominant by adopting a fantasy football approach to roster building. The Patriots and Eagles don't believe in wild spending sprees for available players. Instead, they are incredibly selective, using offseason pickups such as Corey Dillon, Jevon Kearse and Owens to fill major needs. "It is tempting to want to use free agents to make everything better," McKay says. "But I am firmly convinced that is just the wrong way to go about it. We feel we can close the gap by identifying our core players, keeping them on the team, be smart in the draft and have continuity in the scheme and staff. I tell my people I want our offseason grade (for free agents) to be a C. If we get an A, we should be scared. Too many offseason A's boomerang."

McKay's gap-closing ability is enhanced by a decision he made almost a year ago, when he hired Jim Mora as his coach. The importance of the head coach has grown during this era; just consider the way Belichick and Reid dominate their organizations, how their players reflect their demeanor and respond to their party lines. "I think having a coaching staff comprised of great teachers, starting with the head coach, is paramount if you want to get to the top now," Texans GM Charley Casserly says. "There's something like 15 new guys on a roster every year, so you are assimilating new people into your system constantly. So your coaches need to be able to get their methods across quickly." Reid puts it this way: "It's like we are college coaches."

So you can close the gap by hiring a special head coach. But no one has developed an accurate measure that identifies who will succeed. Belichick had been mediocre in Cleveland; Kraft still gave him total control. Reid had been a position coach with the Packers when Lurie hired him; only later did he give him GM duties. Now York in San Francisco hopes the untested Nolan, who never has been an NFL head coach or GM, can duplicate the triumphs of Belichick and Reid. As much as anything, you have to get lucky in this coach search.

The bullies also keep demonstrating that it is now the smarter teams, and not necessarily the most gifted ones, that win. Everyone raves about the Patriots' IQs. The Patriots didn't get that way by accident. New England refuses to employ players who lack ability to absorb its schemes. "You have to have players who are not going to lose games for you, who don't do dumb things at the wrong times," Newsome says. "You rarely see the Patriots do things in games that hurt them. So you have to beat them; they won't beat themselves. The bottom line to me right now is to add impact players, rid yourself of guys who do things to lose games and manage the cap. If we do that, we can overcome the Patriots."

Character matters, too. "When I hired Bill," Kraft says, "I said, 'Just don't bring thugs or hoodlums to New England.' " And he hasn't.

What he has brought is glory. "We all want what he has now," Casserly says. "Nothing lasts forever. The league keeps getting better, and we'll catch these teams. Otherwise, we shouldn't be in this business." Still, you wonder. These bullies are really, really good. Don't look for them to be trampled any time soon.

Senior writer Paul Attner covers the NFL for Sporting News. Email him at attner@sportingnews.com .