PITTSBURGH – Nobody beats Brady and Belichick in a big game, not even Big Ben.

Tom Brady and Bill Belichick were an unstoppable combination again for the New England Patriots, exposing all of the Steelers’ weaknesses to end their 15-game winning streak and win the AFC championship 41-27 last night.

Brady gave the inexperienced Ben Roethlisberger a lesson in quarterbacking a championship game, throwing two touchdown passes – one to Deion Branch that gave New England a 10-0 lead in the first quarter.

Belichick also upstaged can’t-winthe-big-one Steelers coach Bill Cowher, improving to 9-1 as a playoffs coach and matching Vince Lombardi’s NFL best playoff coaching record.

Brady has a record of his own: 8-0 as a postseason quarterback, bettering Troy Aikman’s 7-0 record at the start of his playoffs career.

Now, the defending champions will play the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl on February 6 in Jacksonville.

The Patriots can become the first team to win three Super Bowls in four seasons since Dallas did it between the 1992-95 seasons.

This game was a near-replay of Pittsburgh’s breakthrough 34-20 win October 31 that ended New England’s record 21-game winning streak. Again, an under-pressure quarterback kept making mistakes as a team seized a 24-3 lead in the first half.

Unfortunately for the Steelers, they couldn’t throw a red flag from the sidelines to overturn this replay, which saw Roethlisberger throw three costly interceptions in his first loss in 15 NFL starts.

It was the Steelers’ fourth loss in five AFC championship games at home since 1995 under Cowher and, at least psychologically, the worst. Their franchise-record 15-game winning streak led them to believe they had what it took to get back to the Super Bowl for only the second time in 25 years.

The Steelers publicly toed the Cowher-dictated corporate line, saying they understood New England’s role as a 3-point favorite despite their 15-game winning streak and NFL-best 16-1 record. Privately, they were motivated by the perceived slight and linebacker Joey Porter promised they wouldn’t flop in a title game again.

Then, they went out and flopped, generating boos from their normally adoring crowd even before the Patriots led 24-3 by halftime.

New England didn’t have an injured Corey Dillon during that Halloween game, and the presence of the 1,635-yard rusher was supposed to make a big difference in the rematch. Instead it was Branch, also injured for the first game, who made the big plays with a touchdown catch, touchdown run, and a long reception that set up a score.

Branch got behind cornerback Deshea Townsend for a 60-yard scoring pass on the play after Jerome Bettis fumbled on a fourth-and-1 at the Patriots’ 39, and it was 10-0 Patriots halfway through the first quarter. It was Bettis’s second fumble in 10 carries over two games after he went more than a season without fumbling.

Adam Vinatieri kicked a 48-yard field goal following Roethlisberger’s first interception, on Pittsburgh’s opening drive.

Branch came back in the second quarter with a 45-yard reception to the 14 when Brady alertly found him between defenders in Pittsburgh’s cover-2 defense. Two plays later, defender Willie Williams fell, allowing David Givens to slip undefended into the end zone on a 9-yard scoring pass play, and it was 17-3.

That wasn’t the worst of it in a half that exposed all the flaws Pittsburgh adeptly covered up all season: Roethlisberger’s lack of big-game experience and a suspect secondary.

With the Steelers driving for the first time in the half, Roethlisberger made yet another rookie mistake, and it all but finished off Pittsburgh.

Roethlisberger was looking for tight end Jerame Tuman along the Patriots sideline, but Rodney Harrison stepped in front for an 87-yard interception re turn touchdown.

Pittsburgh tried to get back in it in the second half on Bettis’s touchdown run and Roethlisberger’s scoring pass to Hines Ward, but a replay reversal led to Dillon’s 25-yard TD run and a 31-10 New England lead.

Givens appeared to fumble after an 18-yard catch with Pittsburgh recovering, but the replay showed his knee hitting the turf before he lost the ball. Dillon scored on the next play.

Pittsburgh could have gotten to within a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, but was turned aside on three straight plays after having first-and-goal at the 5, and settled for Jeff Reed’s field goal.