Pittsburgh, PA -- Tom Brady threw for 207 yards and two touchdowns and Deion Branch had 153 all-purpose yards and two scores to lead the New England Patriots over the Pittsburgh Steelers, 41-27, in the AFC Championship Game at Heinz Field.

Brady, who improved to 8-0 in the postseason for his career, completed 14-of- 21 passes with no interceptions and New England converted four Pittsburgh turnovers into 24 points as the defending Super Bowl champions won the conference title for a second straight season and third time in four years.

The Patriots will next face the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville on February 6. Philadelphia defeated the Atlanta Falcons, 27-10, earlier in the day to make its first Super Bowl appearance in 24 years and break a streak of three straight NFC Championship Game losses in as many seasons.

Rodney Harrison returned an interception for a touchdown and Eugene Wilson had two picks for New England, which has won the Super Bowl in its last two appearances (2002 and 2004).

Branch had 116 yards and one touchdown receiving as well as 37 yards and a rushing score for the Patriots, who jumped ahead early and never trailed. Corey Dillon added a TD and 73 yards rushing as New England avenged a regular- season setback to Pittsburgh that ended the club's NFL-record 21-game winning streak.

"We got a few breaks and things went our way. We made the plays when we needed to and didn't turn over the ball," said New England head coach Bill Belichick, who improved to 9-1 in the postseason during his coaching career to tie Hall- of-Fame head coach Vince Lombardi for the best mark all-time.

Rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger suffered his first loss as a starter, finishing 14-of-24 for 226 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. It was the first setback for Roethlisberger in 16 starts and the Steelers saw their 15-game winning streak come to a halt.

Roethlisberger rebounded from a poor first half to finish strong and make it a game. But two of his first-half interceptions accounted for 10 New England points and a Jerome Bettis fumble led to another first-half TD for the five- time AFC champs, making it hard for the Steelers to make a comeback.

Bettis had 64 yards and a touchdown for the Steelers, who fell to 1-4 in home conference championship games under head coach Bill Cowher.

"The thing we haven't done all year, the turnovers, we weren't able to overcome today," said Cowher.

After falling behind 24-3 at halftime, Pittsburgh came out of the locker room energized, as the Steelers held the Patriots to a three-and-out on the first possession of the half.

The team then took their first drive 56 yards on only five plays to cut the deficit to 24-10 just 4:06 into the quarter. Roethlisberger hit Antwaan Randle El with pass plays of 12 and 34 yards, with the second bringing the ball down to the five-yard line. Bettis then capped the drive with a powerful five-yard TD run.

The Patriots responded with a touchdown of their own on their next possession, thanks in part to two Pittsburgh penalties. First, on a third-and-17 from the Patriots' 37, defensive lineman Aaron Smith was called for holding intended receiver Keith Faulk on a screen play to give New England a fresh set of downs.

Then Clark Haggans was called for unnecessary roughness for a late hit that brought the ball down to the Steelers 25. On the play, officials originally ruled that David Givens fumbled an 18-yard pass that was recovered by Pittsburgh. However, it was challenged and won by the Patriots.

On the next play, Dillon ran 25 yards for the score and 31-10 cushion.

The Steelers got seven more points on their next possession as well, cutting the Patriots' cushion to 31-17. Roethlisberger hit Hines Ward with a 30-yard touchdown strike with 2:35 left in the third quarter to cap a 10-play, 60-yard drive.

Then, after holding the Patriots to a three-and-out, Pittsburgh made it a two- possession game when Josh Reed hit a 20-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to make it a 31-20 game. The kick ended a six-play, 53-yard drive that bridged the final two periods.

New England answered with a field goal of its own, as Adam Vinatieri snuck a 31-yarder inside the left upright. In addition to making it a 14-point game, the Patriots took nearly 5 1/2 minutes off the clock and gave the ball back to the Steelers with only 8:03 remaining.

Wilson then intercepted Roethlisberger on the next possession and the Patriots ran the clock down to 2:23 before Branch ran in from 23 yards out to ice the game, 41-20.

"The team showed its resiliency today," said Brady. "Even on the last offensive drive we showed good discipline."

Roethlisberger, who ended the scoring with a seven-yard TD strike to Plaxico Burress with 52 seconds left, went 9-of-14 for 149 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in the second half.

"I learned a lot this year," said Roethlisberger, who added 45 rushing yards. "It was a great year for us. Unfortunately, it didn't end the way we wanted to.

"I made too many mistakes today," he added. "That's just the way it goes sometimes."

The Steelers started the game with the football, but that didn't last long. On a 3rd-and-3 from their own 32 yard line, Roethlisberger's pass was behind Randle El and picked off by Wilson at the Pittsburgh 48.

Five plays later, Vinatieri's 48-yard field goal gave the Patriots a 3-0 lead.

Pittsburgh appeared to be moving the ball better on its second possession, going 40 yards on six plays when Bettis fumbled on 4th-and-1 on the New England 39.

Bettis was going to be stopped short of the first down and in an attempt to keep the play alive he coughed up the ball, which was recovered by Roosevelt Colvin. It was the second time in 13 carries Bettis fumbled after going 368 touches without one.

The Patriots wasted little time taking advantage of the miscue, as Brady hit Branch with a 60-yard bomb for a touchdown and a 10-0 cushion just 7:11 into the contest.

Each team then went three-and-out and Pittsburgh finally took advantage of a poor New England play. Punter Josh Miller got off only a 27-yard punt to give the Steelers the ball at the Patriots' 48 yard line.

From there, Roethlisberger moved his team 23 yards to set up a Reed 43-yard field goal to make it a 10-3 contest with 1:22 remaining in the first. The big play of the drive was a 19-yard completion from the rookie QB to Ward on the first play.

That, however, was the lone highlight of the first half for the Steelers, as the Patriots tacked on 14 second-quarter points to pull away.

Brady's pass to Givens on a 2nd-and-5 on the Steelers' nine was run in for a touchdown with 7:08 left in the half. The play ended a five-play, 70-yard drive that was highlighted by a 45-yard pass play from Brady to Branch that brought the ball down to the Pittsburgh 14. Brady was 4-of-4 for 68 yards on the drive.

Then on the Steelers' ensuing possession, another Roethlisberger interception led to seven points for New England. This time, after the rushing game drove Pittsburgh down to the Patriots' 19 yard line, the signal-caller's third pass attempt of the eight-play drive was picked off by Harrison at the 13 and returned 87 yards for the easy TD and a 24-3 halftime lead.

"We turned the football over early and they took advantage of it, creating a situation that we couldn't run the ball," said Bettis, who didn't say whether or not he will retire this offseason. "We needed to play a mistake free game and we didn't."

Game Notes:

Ward ended with 109 yards on five receptions...Pittsburgh's Duce Staley ended with only 27 yards on 10 carries...Staley has lost four straight conference championship games, having dropped three in a row with Philadelphia before coming to Pittsburgh in the offseason...This was a rematch of the 2002 AFC championship game, which was also at Pittsburgh and won by New England 24-17...Vinatieri's 48-yard FG on the Pats' first possession tied the longest in Heinz Field history...The 60-yard TD play for New England was the longest pass play allowed by the Steelers this season...Vinatieri has made 28 straight FG attempts...Reed has made 21 FG's in a row...The Pats' last loss in the playoffs came on January 3, 1999 in Jacksonville, a 25-10 defeat in the first round...The Steelers' last loss came on September 19 at Baltimore, 30-13...The 41 points were the most allowed by Pittsburgh this season...Belichick is 8-0 with the Patriots in the playoffs and was 1-1 with Cleveland.