By Marc Thaler
Sports Editor

It was the moment when all the elements necessary for Super Bowl success fused to form a perennial professional football power.

I like to think of it as the Patriots’ version of the Big Bang Theory.

Since this exercise is based on a theory, a definitive answer doesn’t exist.

But so long as beliefs can be supported with facts, all ideas can be entertained.

For example, I’ve heard the argument that New England’s leap to greatness didn’t actually take place until the 2003 season when the Patriots steamrolled to their second Super Bowl win, against the Carolina Panthers.

The foundation for this particular theory is the belief that time has proven the Patriots’ first title team in ’01 was an utter miracle. The NFL is structured to give most teams, if not all, the chance to experience a Cinderella season.

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League parity and extremely good fortune certainly contributed to that Super Bowl XXXVI championship.

By contrast, there was nothing miraculous about the Patriots club that won the first of two consecutive crowns. That team was just plain powerful, winning 15 straight games en route to a 17-2 record.

Still, I don’t subscribe to that specific school of thought. Call it a fondness for the squad that celebrated in the Superdome. I believe the Patriots’ Big Bang took place during Tom Brady’s first season as New England’s starting quarterback.

However, my pick for the instant when the stars aligned, setting off a sensational stretch of dominance, might surprise a few fans of the Flying Elvis.

Certainly, there were several key moments in the ’01 season that contributed to New England’s first-ever Vince Lombardi trophy.

In my book, however, the Patriots’ run didn’t start with Adam Vinatieri’s first Super Bowl-winning kick as time expired in New Orleans. It didn’t start with Troy Brown’s backbreaking punt return for a touchdown against Pittsburgh in the AFC Championship, either.

Another worthy candidate for Key Moment is the late-game play in the divisional round against the Raiders that made “tuck rule” a now-famous phrase. But that’s not it.

Likewise, the Pats’ run didn’t start with – yet again – Vinatieri and his unimaginable 45-yard field goal in white-out conditions, sending the Snow Bowl into overtime.

The turning point was well before the ’01 playoffs, but well after another candidate for Key Moment: Brady taking over for Drew Bledsoe in Week 2.

New England’s run began with a loss – against a team the Pats eventually took down to win Super Bowl XXXVI.

Rewind the clock to Nov. 18, 2001; Week 10 of the ’01 campaign.

In front of a national television audience on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Football,” the Patriots – winners of two straight games and owners of a mediocre 5-4 record – hosted the high-octane St. Louis Rams.

Kurt Warner passed for 401 yards and three touchdowns in the Rams’ 24-17 triumph.

It was a game the Patriots probably could’ve won if not for costly turnovers – none bigger than Antowain Smith’s fumble in the first half’s final minute.

Still, the Pats’ physical play prompted Martz to label New England the toughest team his Rams – who lost five players to injury that night – faced that year.

“We can look at this game and learn from it,” Ty Law told reporters. “But I think we can also look at this game and say we can play with anybody.”

And so it began. New England rattled off its final six regular-season games to clinch its first division title since 1997.

Little did Patriots Nation know the unthinkable was on the horizon.