On Sunday, the Eagles and Patriots both scored strong victories in their respective conference championship games. But it took only a matter of hours for New England to emerge as this year’s Super Bowl favorite. The Eagles will certainly have their say, but the storyline for this year’s Super Bowl is less one of competition and more one of coronation.

Already the question is being asked over and over, “Are the Patriots a dynasty?” But the more relevant question – if indeed they do win their third Super Bowl in four seasons – is, “How have the Patriots managed to become a dynasty?” After all, the general assumption was that the salary cap would prevent teams from assembling a group of players that could go on an extended run of this magnitude.

The ironic thing about the Patriots’ dominant run is that it hasn’t disproved this assumption at all. New England’s current roster is far different than the one that upset St. Louis in Super Bowl XXXVI three years ago. The 2001-04 Patriots need to be understood not as an extended dynasty, but rather as a team that has steadily improved since that improbable first title.

The Patriots were in terrible salary cap shape when head coach and general manager Bill Belichick took over prior to the 2000 season. Thanks to the previous regime’s habit of doling out large contracts to declining veterans, New England was $6.5 million over the salary cap. Making matters worse, a record of spotty drafting had left the team bereft of talented younger players.

The strategy that would eventually become known as the “Patriots Way” began as a stopgap measure. Twenty low-cost free agents were signed before the 2001 season simply as a means to put a competitive team on the field while Belichick could build a squad of young talent that would except his team-first mentality and learn his complicated, ever-shifting schemes.

As it turned out, most of these free agents played at a higher level than they ever had before, and the Patriots rode a remarkable run of serendipity to an upset Super Bowl win over the Rams. In the end, the biggest stroke of luck was not a single play in any game, but an injury that allowed Belichick to replace the declining Drew Bledsoe with Tom Brady, an unheralded but talented second-year player. Brady’s skills fit Belichick’s quarterback ideal – a nonstop worker with strong decision-making skills – and he fit in much better than Bledsoe ever had.

When the team went 9-7 in the season following the Super Bowl title, everyone assumed that the 2001 team was a one year wonder. But according to Football Outsiders’ Defense-adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA) ratings – which break down each play of the season and compare it to the NFL average based on situation and opponent – the Patriots have improved in each year of Belichick’s five-year tenure.

The Patriots ranked 22nd of 31 teams in 2000, Belichick’s first season. Despite their championship the following year, their statistical performance ranked just 16th during the regular season, primarily because they played an easy schedule. In 2002, the Patriots ranked 11th, though the continued development of young stars was concealed by a far more difficult schedule and a 9-7 record that, due to a tiebreaker, excluded them from the playoffs. The 2003 team, which won its final 12 regular season games, ranked second in DVOA. With the 2004 team, the Patriots finally ranked no. 1. It may be difficult to believe, but the franchise that has been so dominant over the past two seasons is only now realizing its full potential.

Because of the 2001 championship, most NFL fans have an image of the current Patriots as a team built on veterans. But a remarkable four-year streak of drafting has allowed New England to constantly replace its declining veterans with young talent. Only four of those original 20 veteran free agents from 2001 remain on the team, and only one, linebacker Mike Vrabel, is a starter.

When safety Lawyer Milloy’s declining skills made him overpriced, he was replaced in 2003 with second-round rookie Eugene Wilson. The Pats didn’t need to match Detroit’s exorbitant free agent offer for Damien Woody last summer because fifth-round rookie Dan Koppen had already forced Woody to shift from center to guard.

If Richard Seymour is healthy on Super Bowl Sunday, New England will start a defensive line that averages 24 years of age and consists of three first round picks: Vince Wilfork (2004), Ty Warren (2003), and Seymour (2001).

If Seymour is still injured, 2002 fourth-rounder Jarvis Green will step in capably, and that represents another secret to the Patriots’ success – depth.

Thanks to Belichick’s great success grooming late-round draft picks and rookie free agents, that depth has allowed the team to weather constant injuries over the past two seasons. Not every team can lose a Pro Bowl defensive end and have his backup step in with very little drop-off. How has Belichick been able to manipulate the draft to such a dizzying degree?

Rather than simply assign a value to a player and then draft or sign him based on that value, the Patriots seek players who will fit their specific style. An example of this is Belichick’s preference for players who apprenticed under his former assistant Nick Saban at Louisiana State, including both Green and cornerback Randall Gay.

Despite being undrafted last summer, Gay has played at a high enough level to render worries about the Patriots “patchwork secondary” meaningless over the first two playoff games, and to allow the Patriots to relieve themselves of Ty Law’s exorbitant salary next season.

As players like Gay grow into seasoned playoff performers while bulging veteran contracts are excised, the Patriots remain young, talented, and deep. The 2003-04 Patriots, not the 2001 Patriots, are the team that represents the goal that Belichick had when he arrived in New England five years ago.

And with so many young and gifted players playing pivotal roles, there’s no reason to doubt that the 2005 Patriots will make a run at a third-straight Super Bowl appearance.

Mr.Schatz is the editor in chief of FootballOutsiders.com.