Patriots Shipping Back To Boston With 5th Super Bowl Win

For everyone who loves the "thrill of victory and the agony of defeat" story line in any great sports event — shout out to ABC of the 1980s — last night's 34-28 Pats' win had it all. The first overtime in Super Bowl history. A comeback against seemingly impossible odds. And as coach Bill Belichick said Monday, a team that proved once and for all, they're the kings of crunch-time.

"I think eventually all those plays that we ran on offense, you know that our conditioning paid off, our mental toughness paid off, we were able to have good execution at the most critical time in the game, and that's really where champions are decided, how well you play under pressure in critical situations," Belichick said.

Quarterback Tom Brady picked up his record fourth MVP trophy Monday, an award that Brady said should have gone to running back James White. Brady was visibly emotional after the game on Sunday, and Monday he said why: His mother Galynn Brady, who's been fighting cancer for a year and a half, was in Houston to watch the game.

"All families go through challenging times personally," Brady said. "She has a lot of support and a lot of love, so I was just happy last night to be able to celebrate with her and she hadn't been to a game all year, so what a helluva of a game for her to be at."

Shira Springer, WBUR sports and society reporter. She tweets at @ShiraSpringer.