threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Patten to give the Patriots a 14–3 halftime lead. Early in the second half, the Steelers moved from their own 32 to the New England 16, where they lined up for a field goal by Kris Brown. However, Brandon Mitchell blocked the kick, Brown picked up the ball at the 40 and ran 11 yards before lateraling to Antwan Harris, who took it 49 yards for a touchdown that made the score 21–3. But Pittsburgh scored two third-quarter touchdowns to make the score 21–17. The Patriots ended the comeback attempt by scoring a field goal in the fourth quarter and intercepting 2 passes from Steelers quarterback Kordell Stewart in the final 3 minutes of the game. Effect of the September 11, 2001, attacks New Orleans had been preparing for Super Bowl XXXVI ever since the city was awarded the game on October 28, 1998, during the NFL's meetings in Kansas City, Missouri, beating out San Diego as host city. However, the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks led the league to postpone its September 16 games and play them a week after the scheduled conclusion of the regular season. This caused the playoffs and Super Bowl to be delayed by one week. Rescheduling Super Bowl XXXVI from January 27 to February 3 proved extraordinarily difficult. In addition to rescheduling the game itself, all related events and activities had to be accommodated. This marked the first time in NFL history that the Super Bowl was played in February; all subsequent Super Bowls (excluding XXXVII in 2003) have been played in February. In turn, this and the games from XXXVIII (2004) to LV (2021) were to now be played on the first Sunday in February. The NFL expanded its season from 16 to 17 regular season games, and LVI (2022) became the first to be played on the second Sunday of the month. Historically, the NFL made allowance for an open weekend between the Conference Championship games and the Super Bowl. However, there wasn't one scheduled for 2001, due to the NFL's decision beginning in the 1999 season to move the opening week of games to the weekend after Labor Day. Because the date of the Super Bowl had been set through 2003, the bye week prior to the Super Bowl did not return until 2004. The NFL and New Orleans officials worked diligently to put together