Panthers Super Bowl History

On February 1st, 2004 the Carolina Panthers played in their first Super Bowl, losing a heartbreaking decision to the New England Patriots by a 32-29 score. The Panthers had advanced to the Super Bowl that season by virtue of an 11-5 regular season mark and a trio of playoff victories. In order, Carolina beat the Dallas Cowboys, the St. Louis Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles to go to the Super Bowl against the Patriots, who were favored by seven points.

  1. First half

    • The first quarter of Super Bowl XXXVIII was scoreless, with Carolina proving to be nearly inept on offense. Their quarterback, Jake Delhomme, endured a period of complete misery, missing on eight of his first nine passes. He was sacked three times and even fumbled once as New England chased him all over the field. Only two missed field goals by Patriot kicker Adam Vinitieri kept the game scoreless. Finally, the Patriots scored on a five-yard pass from Tom Brady to Deion Branch, but then Carolina found itself and came down the field rapidly, scoring their own touchdown on a Steve Smith 39-yard reception from Delhomme to tie the score at 7-7. New England answered with their own drive and a short pass from Brady to David Givens gave them a 14-7 lead. They then allowed a Carolina field goal of 50 yards by kicker John Kasay at the halftime gun and held a 14-10 lead.

    Second half

    • The third quarter saw no scoring, but New England opened the fourth with a two-yard run for a score by Antowain Smith for a 21-10 advantage. Carolina roared back on the strength of a DeShaun Foster 33-yard touchdown dash but Carolina went for two and failed, leaving them behind at 21-16. They took the lead after intercepting Brady in their own end zone, and then on third down Delhomme connected for an 85-yard touchdown strike to Muhsin Muhammad. Again the two point conversion was no good but Carolina clung to a 22-21 lead. New England retook the lead when Brady hit Mike Vrabel for six points on a one-yard toss. They then made their own two point conversion. Carolina's Ricky Proehl culminated a Delhomme-led drive with a 12-yard reception for a touchdown and the extra point made it 29-29 with under two minutes to play. However, Brady fashioned a short six-play game-winning drive and Vinitieri kicked a 41 yard field goal with four seconds left to give New England the 32-29 triumph.

    Jake Delhomme

    • Jake Delhomme recovered admirably from his shaky start to almost lead Carolina to the upset. Although he only completed 16 of his 33 passes, he threw for 323 yards and three touchdowns. His 85-yard pass to Muhammad set a record as the longest touchdown pass from in the Super Bowl. Delhomme did not throw an interception despite the constant pressure New England hounded him with.

    Kasay's mistake

    • The Panthers lost the game for all intents and purposes when, after their game-tying touchdown and extra point with under two minutes left, kicker John Kasay managed to kick the ball out of bounds on the ensuing kick-off, which by rule gave New England the ball at their own 40 and created a very short field for Tom Brady to have to negotiate to set up the winning score. Brady, who finished with 394 passing yards, needed six plays to cover 37 yards and set up Vinitieri's game-winner. For his efforts, Brady was named the game's MVP.

    Wardrobe malfunction

    • This Super Bowl was almost as famous for its halftime show. The game, held at Houston's Reliant Stadium, featured singer Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson performing Jackson's song "Rock Your Body." At the end of the performance Timberlake ripped away some of Jackson's outfit to reveal her breast, which wound up being seen live by the entire world before cameras could cut away. This was infamously referred to as a "wardrobe malfunction" and caused a stir across the U.S. for some time after.