Top 10 playoff games of the Brady/Belichick era (Part 1)
By Mike Caliri
6. Super Bowl XXXVIII vs. Carolina Panthers
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Boxscore
Vegas Odds: Patriots -7.0
Super Bowl XXXVIII was a defensive stalemate for most of the first half and the third quarter. Then all of a sudden, both teams stepped up on offense in several big moments, and the footrace for points was on. A number of highlight-reel-worthy plays from Panthers receiver Steve Smith Sr. and Patriots receiver Deion Branch ignited the scoreboard for their respective squads.
After the slow start and two missed field goals by Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri, both teams combined for 24 points in the final 3:05 of the first half.
A Mike Vrabel strip-sack set up a Tom Brady to Deion Branch touchdown for the first points of the game, right at the 3:05 mark in the second quarter.
The Panthers, whose longest play to this point had only netted five yards, responded by driving 95 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at seven.
With under a minute to play in the half, the Patriots scored another touchdown, set up by a long pass to Deion Branch. The Panthers answered by kicking a field goal as time expired, making it a 14-10 halftime lead for the Patriots.
The third quarter featured two scoreless drives by each team, but the Patriots’ third drive of the quarter resulted in a touchdown at the start of the fourth.
21-10 Patriots.
The Panthers then went on to score 12 unanswered points after two touchdowns and failed two point conversions on each, giving Carolina a narrow one-point lead. Not to be outdone, New England drove down the length of the field and scored a touchdown and a two point conversion on another successful direct snap to Kevin Faulk.
29-22 Patriots, just under 3:00 to play in the championship.
Panther quarterback Jake Delhomme willed his offense 80 yards and into the end zone to tie the game at 29 with 1:13 to play, but then disaster struck for Carolina. On the ensuing kickoff, the Panthers’ John Kasay kicked the ball out-of-bounds… giving Brady and the Patriots possession at their own 40 yard line.
With 1:08 left on the clock and all three timeouts, Brady had plenty of time to get the ball into field goal range. Vinatieri had one last chance to redeem himself for his earlier misses, and the clutch New England legend of course delivered, booting the ball 41 yards and giving the Patriots their second Super Bowl title in three years.
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