But that’s another measure of this team’s all-time greatness. They have the will and the character and the resources to win when everything doesn’t go exactly their way. They just make the plays that have to be made on both sides of the ball. No team has ever played as intelligently on both sides of the ball as have the Patriots.

The Cowboys were far superior to everyone they played for most of their run. The Patriots have never been head and shoulders above the league in talent; just in victories.

The Steelers that won four Super Bowls were even better talent-wise than the Cowboys with Terry Bradshaw, Mean Joe Greene, Rocky Bleier, Franco Harris, Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, Mel Blount, and great players everywhere you looked. And even the Steelers didn’t win three in four years.

Neither did Joe Montana and the great 49ers teams that he took to four titles. That shows you just how incredibly difficult it is to win so often in a league that does everything in its power to level the playing field.

SPECIAL FEATURE AP file NFL dynasties, from Packers to Patriots

The NFL has been successful at that. In the past six years, nine different teams have played in the Super Bowl. Other than the Patriots, the only other team with even two appearances is the Rams. No team other than the Patriots has been to the game two straight years.

That’s the reality of the game. The Ravens looked invincible when the beat the Giants and haven’t been back since. The Buccaneers dismantled the Raiders two years ago and neither of those teams has looked even semi-competent since. The Titans lost in 1999 and never got another shot.

The salary cap doesn’t allow consistency. It strikes the Patriots just as it does everyone else. Last season, they lost All-Pro defensive back Lawyer Milloy and went ahead and won the Super Bowl. This season, they lost half the secondary and won anyway.

Again, it wasn’t easy.

All season, we kept ragging on the NFC, but the Eagles showed themselves to be worthy of the moment. They played great, took the early lead, did everything you could do but win.

Donovan McNabb had a big day in yardage, but he threw three balls to a New England secondary that began the game with two plug-in corners and finished it with a back-up safety after Eugene Wilson went out in the first half.

They held McNabb, a terrific runner, without a rushing yard and sacked him four times. Their no-name offensive line gave up just one sack to a defense that had made life miserable for Daunte Culpepper and Michael Vick in the playoffs.

The Patriots shut down Peyton Manning, who had the best season of any quarterback in the history of the game. They ran up a pile of points on Pittsburgh, the league’s best defense. And now, on a day when they made too many mistakes, they beat the Eagles.

It’s two straight and three of four in an era in which it’s never been more difficult to excel, let alone dominate.

If the Patriots aren’t the best ever, no one is.