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February 02, 2004
Patriots Day II
By Joe Menzer | JOURNAL REPORTER
HOUSTON
In one of the greatest Super Bowls ever played, the Carolina Panthers fell two kicks short last night of taking home the Vince Lombardi Trophy that goes to the NFL champion.
The New England Patriots took it home instead, using a 41-yard field goal by place-kicker Adam Vinatieri with four seconds left to fend off a furious rally by the relentless Panthers in front of 71,525 at Reliant Stadium.
Coach John Fox of the Panthers said he was disappointed but added that he was proud of his players, despite the heart-breaking defeat.
"They're a well-coached, talented football team - and they got the ball last. I'm very proud of our football team," Fox said. "I'm just a little disappointed that we couldn't win this last one."
Quarterback Tom Brady won the Pete Rozelle Trophy as the game's most-valuable player after completing 32 of 48 passes for 354 yards and three touchdowns.
"Give a lot of credit to Carolina. That's as tough a team as we've played all season," said Brady, who led the Patriots to victory in their last 15 games of the season.
The Panthers, who had a six-game winning streak snapped, tied the game at 29-29 on a 12-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jake Delhomme to wide receiver Ricky Proehl and John Kasay's extra point with 1:08 left.
But Kasay then did the unthinkable. Needing a deep kickoff to prevent the Patriots from gaining good field position, he knocked his kick out of bounds, giving the Patriots a huge head start on their final drive.
The ball was placed at the New England 40-yard line as a result, and Brady used a 17-yard completion to Deion Branch on third down to move the Patriots into position for Vinatieri's winning field goal.
"When I saw the kick go out of bounds, I knew that helped their cause," Fox said.
Kasay, the only player still on the roster from the Panthers original season of 1995, said that there was no excuse for his errant and costly kickoff.
"I caught it just a little late," Kasay said. "I was trying to make a really good kick. I got a little high and a little outside on the ball. That never entered my mind, that something like that could happen. We needed a really good kick, and I didn't get it done."
When the Patriots needed the same, Vinatieri delivered for the second time in three years. He also kicked the winning field goal at the end of Super Bowl XXXVI, giving the Patriots a victory over the St. Louis Rams.
The rest of the game didn't go nearly as well for Vinatieri. Earlier, he missed one field-goal attempt wide right from 31 yards, and he had an attempt from 36 yards blocked by defensive lineman Shane Burton.
"It was a great opportunity, and it was a great feeling to look up and see it go right down the middle," Vinatieri said.
Even before Vinatieri's dramatic kick, the Panthers had assured that Super Bowl XXXVIII would go down as one of the best by refusing to fold, even after they fell behind 21-10 early in the fourth quarter.
First, the Panthers cut the Patriots' lead to 21-16 on an electrifying 33-yard touchdown run by DeShaun Foster with 12:39 left. After cornerback Reggie Howard intercepted a Brady pass in the end zone, Delhomme hit wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad for an 85-yard touchdown pass - the longest in Super Bowl history. The completion gave the Panthers a 22-21 lead with 6:53 remaining.
But on their next possession, the Patriots marched downfield again against a weary Panthers defense - going 68 yards in 11 plays, taking 4:02 off the clock and regaining the lead on a gimmick play. On second and goal from the Carolina 1-yard line, Brady dropped back and completed a pass to Mike Vrabel - a linebacker who had reported in as an eligible receiver.
On the 2-point conversion attempt, the Patriots got creative again, snapping the ball directly to running back Kevin Faulk, who ran it in for a 29-22 lead with 2:51 remaining.
The Panthers, who won eight games this season on their final possession, drew on that experience to rally again, tying it on the Delhomme-to-Proehl pass and the extra point. The key play in the 80-yard, seven-play drive was a 31-yard completion from Delhomme to Proehl.
If anything, though, the Panthers scored too early. And when Kasay's kickoff unexpectedly soared out of bounds, Brady and the Patriots had plenty of time to move into position for the winning field goal.
"We've been down before. We just tried to keep our poise," Brady said. " They made some really big plays to keep coming back on us. Jake Delhomme threw the crap out of it against our defense, which doesn't happen very much.
"But that's what happens in Super Bowls. The other team makes great plays, too. And they did. For a 60-minute game to come down to the final four or five seconds, that says something about both teams."
Brady credited his offensive line with giving him the time he needed. The Patriots didn't give up a sack throughout the playoffs, including last night against the Panthers - who pride themselves on harassing opposing quarterbacks.
"To win this the way we did it, it's just incredible," Brady said. "No sacks against that defensive line? That's incredible. That's the most heat I've been under all year, but they fended them off."
Delhomme shook off a horrendous start to complete 16 of 33 passes for 323 yards and three touchdowns. He said he tried to take post-game words of comfort from Fox to heart but admitted that he found it difficult.
"Certainly, he's proud of us, but he knows how bad it hurts. It's hard right now. It's tough," Delhomme said.
The teams circled each other like prizefighters for most of the first half, but they began throwing offensive haymakers at each other in the final three minutes of the half and didn't stop until Vinatieri's kick.
For most of the first half, the game was the defensive struggle it had been predicted to be. But the teams combined for 24 points in the final 3:05 of the half. Delhomme hit wide receiver Steve Smith for a 39-yard touchdown, and Kasay made a 50-yard field goal after Vinatieri gave the Panthers excellent field position with a poor kickoff late in the half.
Brady threw two 5-yard touchdown passes in the final 3:05 of the half - one to Branch and the other to David Givens.
Perhaps the most important statistic in the half was time of possession. The Patriots held an edge of 18:51 to 11:09, and Fox said he thought that contributed to the Panthers' inability to stop the New England offense in the second half.
"The first half was a defensive struggle, and the second half was an offensive shootout," Fox said. "New England did an excellent job offensively. But I think we were a little worn out from being on the field so much in the first half.
"It was a disappointing end to what was a very special season for us. I don't think anyone really expected for us to get this far."
• Joe Menzer can be reached at jmenzer@wsjournal.com
Carolina010019-29New England014018-32
Second Quarter
NE - Branch 5 pass from Brady (Vinatieri kick), 3:05.
Car - S.Smith 39 pass from Delhomme (Kasay kick), 1:07.
NE - Givens 5 pass from Brady (Vinatieri kick), :18.
Car - FG Kasay 50, :00.
Fourth Quarter
NE - A.Smith 2 run (Vinatieri kick), 14:49.
Car - Foster 33 run (pass failed), 12:39.
Car - Muhammad 85 pass from Delhomme (pass failed), 6:53.
NE - Brady 1 pass to Vrabel (Faulk run), 2:51.
Car - Proehl 12 pass from Delhomme (Kasay kick), 1:08.
NE - FG Vinatieri 41, :09.
TEAM STATISTICS
CarNE
First downs1729
Total Net Yards387481
Rushes-yards16-9235-127
Passing295354
Punt Returns1-25-42
Kickoff Returns6-1164-78
Interceptions Ret.1-120-0
Comp-Att-Int16-33-032-48-1
Sacked-Yards Lost4-280-0
Punts7-44.35-34.6
Fumbles-Lost1-11-0
Penalties-Yards12-738-60
Time of Possession21:0238:58
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING - Carolina, Davis 13-49, Foster 3-43. New England, A.Smith 26-83, Faulk 6-42, Brady 2-12, T.Brown 1-(minus 10).
PASSING - Carolina, Delhomme 16-33-0-323. New England, Brady 32-48-1-354.
RECEIVING - Carolina, Muhammad 4-140, S.Smith 4-80, Proehl 4-71, Wiggins 2-1, Foster 1-9, Mangum 1-2. New England, Branch 10-143, T.Brown 8-76, Givens 5-69, Graham 4-46, Faulk 4-19, Vrabel 1-1.
MISSED FIELD GOALS - New England, Vinatieri 31 (WR), 36 (BK).