With Super Bowl XLIV looming on Sunday, we’re taking this week to look back at some of the most memorable Super Bowl moments in recent Patriots history. Yesterday, we examined the five most underrated Super Bowl moments in franchise history. Today, we take a look at the five best individual Super Bowl performances.

5. Mike Vrabel in Super Bowl XXXVIII

In one of the biggest games of his career, Vrabel was absolutely dominant on both sides of the ball. From the outside linebacker spot, he finished with six tackles and a game-high two sacks — one of which was an early strip sack of Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme.

In addition, operating as a tight end in the red zone, he caught a 2-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter from Tom Brady. His touchdown made him the first defensive player to score a Super Bowl TD on offense since William “Refrigerator” Perry did so for the Bears against the Patriots in Super Bowl XX.

“We had been running it and running it and running it in practice,” Vrabel said of his touchdown catch. “I have a chance on that play. I know I have a chance to catch it,” he added. “It was an unbelievable feeling, because I knew all week I had a chance.

“Tonight was pretty good,” he added. “But never did I think I would have played in that game and that I’d have two sacks and a touchdown.”

4. Adam Vinatieri in Super Bowl XXXVI

If he doesn’t connect on the field goal at the end of the game, the Patriots go to overtime, and then who knows what would have happened? But the kicker delivered one of the best big-game kicks in the history of the NFL, banging a 48-yarder through the uprights as time expired to give New England the 20-17 victory over St. Louis.

“Once it left my foot, it was time to celebrate,” Vinatieri said in the postgame haze of confetti.

In the game, Vinatieri made both of his field goal attempts — the game-winner and a 37-yarder in the third quarter — as well as both extra-point opportunities. It capped off a remarkable postseason for Vinatieri, who beat the Raiders with a pair of big kicks in the divisional playoffs.

“Adam is the man,” defensive back Lawyer Milloy said. “He’s the man we want at Foxboro when it’s windy. He’s the man we want at Foxboro when it's snowing — just ask the Raiders. He’s the man we want when we have a chance to win the Super Bowl. That’s the bottom line.”

3. Deion Branch in Super Bowl XXXIX

Before the game, Branch called every coach that had helped him reach the pinnacle of professional football. Then, he went out and made them all proud. The undersized receiver, who grew up two hours from Jacksonville and had almost 100 friends and family at the game, finished Super Bowl XXXIX with 11 catches for 133 yards, tying the mark for most receptions in a Super Bowl. (That was a year after catching 10 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown in Super Bowl XXXVIII.)

He matched a receiving record held by Jerry Rice (1989 with San Francisco) and former Northeastern star Dan Ross (1982 with Cincinnati).

“What Deion Branch epitomizes is the way the Patriots win,” NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue said after the game. “A great individual talent, but a big performance in the big game and a big performance at the critical times. But all within the context of the team.”

Almost all of his receptions that night meant something. Eight of his catches — for 106 yards — came on New England scoring drives. As a result, of New England’s three Super Bowl wins, this was the only one of them in which Brady did not walk away with MVP honors. (“It doesn’t matter who gets what,” Branch said after the game.)

“He's really a pleasure to work with," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said after the game. “I can’t imagine him having a chip on his shoulder. I haven’t seen that.”

2. Ty Law/Patriots secondary in Super Bowl XXXVI

Really, this spot could go to a number of defensive backs for their performance that night in New Orleans. The Patriots used some unique fronts to slow down the St. Louis passing game — New England had four defensive backs on nine plays, five defensive backs on 10 plays, six defensive backs on 13 plays and seven defensive backs on one play. The Patriots secondary rattled the St. Louis receivers to their core with a physical, nasty approach.

“Our defensive backs were smackin’,” Vrabel said gleefully after the game.

Tebucky Jones, Otis Smith, Lawyer Milloy and Law all had great games against the Rams, but it was Law who stole the spotlight with a 47-yard interception return for a touchdown that gave the Patriots a second-quarter lead.

“That changed the momentum right there,” Law said.

It was one of two picks Warner threw on the evening. (Smith had the other, which the Patriots later cashed in on with a 37-yard field goal from Vinatieri.) While Law should be singled out for his performance — it was later revealed that if it were not for fan balloting, Law would have won the Super Bowl MVP instead of Brady — it was the work of the secondary as a group that really changed the tone of Super Bowl XXXVI.

“Everybody says those guys are a track team, and they are fast, but I've never seen anybody win a 100-yard dash with somebody standing in front of them,” Law said after the game. “We were standing in their lane.”

1. Tom Brady in Super Bowl XXXVIII

Every great quarterback has a signature Super Bowl. And while more people will remember Brady for what he did in Super Bowl XXXVI, the game in Houston remains the best big game of Brady’s career. The quarterback was absolutely phenomenal, shredding the Carolina defense and leading New England to its second Super Bowl title in three seasons.

He completed a Super Bowl-record 32 passes in 48 attempts for 343 yards and three touchdowns. The only blemish on the day was a fourth-quarter interception that the Panthers turned into a late lead — one that would eventually be erased when Brady engineered a late six-play, 37-yard drive that allowed Adam Vinatieri to connect for a game-winning 41-yard field goal with four seconds left.

Along the way, Brady became the first quarterback with two Super Bowl titles before his 27th birthday and matched Joe Montana, Bart Starr and Terry Bradshaw as the only men with multiple Super Bowl MVP awards.

“Tom’s a winner,” Belichick said. “The quarterback’s job is to do what he needs to do to help his team win, and that’s what Tom does.”