Kasay's flubbed kick saved Pats

His botched kickoff with a minute to go set up New England with field position.
HOUSTON (AP) -- No matter how bad they've looked or how often they've failed, Tom Brady and Adam Vinatieri always crave another chance.
John Kasay gave it to them.
A botched kickoff gave New England good field position, and the two Patriots who thrive on pressure pulled out another Super Bowl championship.
Brady withstood a heavy pass rush and completed four of five passes on a final drive, moving New England into field goal range in less than a minute. Vinatieri then was perfect on a 41-yard kick with four seconds to go.
"Tom and Adam, it's been that way many times this year," said coach Bill Belichick, who won his second Super Bowl in three years. "They are both great players, and great players play well in big games under pressure."
This time, they had help.
Seesaw finale
The Panthers turned the fourth quarter into a wild, back-and-forth affair. Jake Delhomme threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Ricky Proehl with 1:08 remaining, and Kasay's extra point tied it at 29.
Then, one of the NFL's most accurate kickers tried to pin the Patriots and send it to overtime, but hit the ball poorly. Kasay's kickoff flew out of bounds -- a double whammy for the Panthers. The clock didn't start, and the Patriots got the ball at their 40-yard line.
Kasay had a look of disbelief after the kickoff went awry, and the Panthers knew they were in deep trouble.
"John just didn't hit it," coach John Fox said. "He was trying to drive it deep, and he hooked it right."
Without even touching the ball, the Patriots had regained control.
"I'm sure he'd like to have that one back," Brady said. "It's a pressurized situation. He's trying to get all [the distance] he can. We had great position to start with."
Sparkle under pressure
All that remained for the quarterback known as "Mr. Cool" and the kicker known as "Mr. Money" to do what they do best -- sparkle under pressure. To that point, they hadn't done it.
Brady had a chance to put New England in control midway through the fourth quarter, and blew it.
On third-and-goal from the 9, he floated a pass toward Deion Branch in the end zone. It went right to cornerback Reggie Howard, whose interception left Brady angry with himself.
New England was up by five points at the time and well within range for a field goal that would have put the Panthers in a tough spot. Instead of throwing it away and taking the three points, Brady threw his worst pass of the playoffs.
"I just didn't make the best throw," Brady said. "I think I was throwing to the right guy, but I just didn't put enough air on it. I threw it right to him."
One more chance
He wanted one more chance. When Kasay's kick went out of bounds, Brady made sure there would be no more mistakes.
He went 4-of-5 for 47 yards in only 59 seconds, avoiding a determined rush to make perfect throws. His 17-yard pass down the right sideline to Deion Branch put the ball at the 23-yard line with nine seconds remaining.
It was vintage Brady. The receiver headed downfield, then cut outside as Brady let it fly to the exact spot it was supposed to be. Safety Mike Minter couldn't do anything to stop it.
"The clock was going and we were trying to get the play off, and I think we had the perfect play called for that coverage," said Brady, who won his second MVP award in large measure for that final drive.
"I think we were really anticipating what they were going to do," he said.
Everyone knew what Vinatieri was going to do next -- win it.
Kasay's botched kickoff set it up.
"That was a big mistake," Branch said. "That was a big part of the game. We're thankful he did that."