Go ahead, say it. Tell the world you saw the greatest dynasty in the history of the NFL. The team is the New England Patriots, and who’s going to tell you you’re wrong?

It’s two straight now, three out of four, and no one’s done better than that. And it’s a record put together under rules that everyone said make it impossible to be this great for this long.

Even Troy Aikman, calling the game for Fox, said these Patriots are better than his Cowboys, the only other team of modern times to win three in four years. And who am I to argue with Troy Aikman?

Aikman’s Dallas team was a great, great football team with All-Pros at nearly every position, among them Aikman himself, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, Nate Newton, Bill Bates, Jay Novacek.

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And the Patriots are better. They have the man who must be considered the best coach the league has ever seen leading the way and two great coordinators running the offense and defense. How critical Romeo Crennel and Charlie Weis are will be seen next year when both move on to new jobs running their own team.

But right now, Bill Belichick is the best, and so is his team, a group of great players, not great athletes.

The Patriots didn’t get any pushovers in this run. They beat the Rams, a defending champion, on the last play of the game. The beat the Panthers, again on the game’s last play. And now they beat a terrific Eagles’ team by a scant three points.

They say the true champions are those who win when they don’t have their best stuff, and the Patriots didn’t have nearly their “A” game in Jacksonville, Fla., on Sunday. They committed a swarm of little penalties that caused big damage to their cause. Quarterback Tom Brady put the ball on the ground inside the Eagles' 10-yard line. The defense blew a coverage late in the game that gave the Eagles a chance at a heroic comeback.

The Patriots got a first down on their first offensive play, then went more than 15 minutes before they got another. But when the Eagles finally broke through with the first touchdown of the game, the Patriots suddenly rediscovered their offense, matched that touchdown, and then never trailed again.

In the second half, they scored the go-ahead touchdown, forced a three-and-out on defense, then drove down for a field goal and a 10-point margin that sealed the game.

That’s why they’re great. No team that we’ve seen adjusts on the fly as successfully and as often as do the Patriots. They tried short passes, long passes and runs without success, but then found the little screens underneath that broke apart the Eagles defense. When Philadelphia started looking for that play, the Pats ran the ball. When Brady needed to make a play, he found wide receiver Deion Branch, who would be this Super Bowl’s MVP.

The defense made the same adjustments, first stopping the Eagles, then giving up two scores, then clamping down again before giving up a touchdown late that made the game close and more interesting than it should have been.