Super Bowl XXXVIII
Tags: non fiction

Plot synopsis:
The New England Patriots faced the Carolina Panthers in the 38th annual AFC-NFC World Championship Game in Houston, TX. For the Patriots, it was the second time in three years they had gone to the Superbowl, while it was the first such trip for the Carolina Panthers. The Patriots had erupted to a 14-2 regular season and were seven-point favorites while the Panthers were two years removed from a 1-15 record and had gone 11-5 and three straight playoff wins highlighted by a 70-yard touchdown in double-overtime to beat the St. Louis Rams.Though the two teams were only infrequent opponants due to being in different conferences of the NFL, they carried a particularly bitter animosity into the game, as previous meetings between the two clubs had led to confrontations between players; in on-field warmups before the game the Panthers' Brentson Buckner got into an argument with Richard Seymour and Ted Washington of the Patriots that was broken up by an assistant to head referee Ed Hochuli, and on the opening kick a fight erupted between several players that was quickly broken up; later in the first quarter Michael Rucker of the Panthers crashed atop Troy Brown and his knee broke Brown's nose.The Panthers proved unable to move the ball in the first quarter, but when the Patriots tried a 38-yard field goal it missed. The Patriots clamped down on Panthers running back Stephen Davis and snuffed out efforts by quarterback Jake Delhomme, who'd led a league-leading seven comeback wins in the season. Another Patriots field goal try in the second quarter was blocked by Shane Burton, but this went for naught as Mike Vrabel of the Patriots hammered Jake Delhomme with five minutes to go in the first half and forced a fumble recovered by the Patriots, by which time the Panthers had lost nine yards on a combined twenty offensive snaps.A twelve-yard run by Tom Brady set up a touchdown toss to Deion Branch with 3:05 to go in the half. But now the Panthers found a rhythm on offense and Delhomme began killing the Patriots secondary with passing that led to a game-tying touchdown throw to Steve Smith with some seventy seconds left in the half. Undaunted, the Patriots renewed their attack with a 40-yard Brady throw to Branch that set up a David Givens touchdown catch. But the two teams that couldn't score until 3:05 to go in the half now couldn't stop scoring - in the final eighteen seconds a Patriots squib kick led to a John Kasey field goal and a 14-10 halftime score.Ignoring an embarassing act of exposure during the Superbowl's halftime show, the two teams took to the field for two more quarters, though a professional streaker had to be tackled by stadium security with the help of Matt Chatham of the Patriots. The third quarter was another standoff; neither team moved the ball crisply and several passes were nearly intercepted. But as the third quarter ended the Patriots were on the march, and early in the fourth they scored on an Antowain Smith run.The Panthers, however, had figured out how to attack the Patriots, and drove down the field with an aerial attack by Delhomme and a run into the endzone by DeShaun Foster for a 21-16 score following a missed two-point conversion. The Patriots now drove downfield, but the tiring Panthers defense attacked Brady enough that a third-down throw to the endzone was intercepted by Reggie Howard. Pinned at the Panthers own 15, however, Jake Delhomme moved in the pocket, launched a deep throw, and found Muhsin Muhammid well downfield ahead of cornerback Ty Law; the touchdown put the Panthers ahead 22-21 after another missed two-pointer.By now the game had ceased to be an exercise in coaching and instead had become a race to score against the clock with less than six minutes remaining and the two teams once again unable to stop scoring. Tom Brady completed a gutsy third-down throw to Troy Brown at the 50, and the Patriots drove to the Panthers 3-yard line. Here defensive players Richard Seymour and Mike Vrabel checked in on offense; Vrabel played tight end and caught a Brady touchdown toss. The Patriots went for two and a direct snap to running back Kevin Faulk nailed it.But with three minutes left and down 29-22, the Panthers were not done, and now receiver Ricky Proehl, in his third Superbowl (first with the Panthers after two trips with the Rams) got into the act with clutch catches; with seventy seconds to go Proehl caught a touchdown from Delhomme, and the score was tied yet again, now at 29. But the ensuing kick proved devastating for the Panthers at it flew out of bounds and thus put the Patriots at their 40. This, though, went away as the Patriots lost yardage on an offensive pass interference call against Troy Brown, but Brady completed passes to Brown and then to Deion Branch for first downs with just seconds remaining and the Panthers determined to stop Adam Vinitiari's last-second field goal try.

Review: One of the best Super Bowls of all time! The Brady bunch comes thru again at the end.. "Super Bowl "XXXVIII" pitted the AFC champion New England Patriots against the NFC champion Carolina Panthers and it would turn out to be one of the greatest Super Bowl ever played especially a second half that was nonstop action and exciting. The game started off as both defenses were hard hitting and the running games of both offenses were taken away. Tom Brady still remained smooth throwing for 144 passing yards in the 1st half finally the Pats would take a 7-0 lead on a play fake. The Panthers would roar back and tie the game at seven on a 95 yard drive. Never fear the Brady bunch would close out the half with a 14-10 lead, after a dull first 27:00 minutes the last three minutes of the half would explode with points. Starting the second half would be tough as neither team scored a point during the third quarter, yet the fourth and final quarter would prove to be a knockdown drag out fight that was back and fourth. As Carolina would take the lead yet it's not safe when you have to face the eventual game MVP for the second time in Super Bowl history as Tom Brady completed a record 32 passes and he would beautifully drive the Pats with a 1:08 left in the game to set up the game winning field goal. Mr. clutch Adam Vinatieri hit a 41 yard kick to win 32-29 another great Super Bowl win by the New England Patriots.. The Greatest Superbowl. For decades the Superbowl was derided as a spectacle where the hype and the TV ads were more memorable than the game itself, but with the Denver Broncos' win in Superbowl XXXII the game itself retook the lead in importance, a trend continued in Superbowl XXXIV's photo finish win by the St. Louis Rams, accelerated in the New England Patriots' last-second field goal triumph in XXXVI, and finally cemented in the most exciting AFC-NFC World Championship Game ever.The Patriots had emerged as the most successful Superbowl entry since the 1972 Miami Dolphins went the entire season unbeaten, and tellingly, both the 2003 Pats and 1972 Phins won behind their defense - Bill Arnsparger's defensive line in 1972 was called the No Name D, while the Pats defense under Romeo Crennel coined The Homeland Defense for their playoff run.Facing against the Patriots was the upstart Carolina Panthers, two seasons removed from a 1-15 record and now under coach John Fox compared with the 2001 Patriots, particularly with dark horse young quarterback Jake Delhomme. The Panthers pulled two upset triumphs in their NFC playoff run, first a double overtime win in St. Louis via a touchdown at the very start of the second OT, then a last-second field goal triumph in Philidelphia against the perennial NFC title bridesmaid Eagles.The Patriots were listed as seven-point favorites, but a great many fans were genuinely angry toward the Patriots, deriding their 2003 schedule even though they were slated with a dozen teams with winning records in 2002, and wound up winning nine games against teams with winning 2003 records. Fan hatred (and media lack of respect) of the Patriots stemmed from their lack of dominant big name players, a situation in perfect keeping with coach Bill Belichick's anti-star approach to football.The Panthers likewise lacked big names, and many predicted a boring game monopolized by defense. And indeed, for almost the entirety of the first half neither team could score. But a Delhomme sack yielded a fumble and the Patriots nailed a TD with some three minutes in the half. The Panthers responded with an air assault that overwhelmed the stingy ground defense of the Pats, tying the score. Tom Brady and the Pats responded with another TD, but a squib kick led to a last-second Carolina field goal ending the first half.Several embarrassing incidents during halftime festivities did not affect the game, as the third quarter went scoreless, but starting the final quarter the Patriots nailed a touchdown. Carolina responded with their own touchdown, but missed a 2-point conversion. A Tom Brady interception in the end-zone set up the longest score from scrimmage in Superbowl history, an 85-yard Delhomme bomb for a touchdown. The Panthers went for two again and failed, and the Patriots responded with a time-consuming drive that yielded a touchdown, and the Pats went for two and Kevin Faulk ran it in, putting the score to 29-22. But the Panthers could not be eliminated, striking back and tying the game with just over one minute left.From a 27-minute opening span without a score, Superbowl XXXVIII racked up a combined 24 points in three minutes, then after a scoreless third quarter the game racked up another 34 combined points - a total of eight touchdowns, one field goal, and a two-point conversion, stats that brought comparisons with the popular indoor Arena Football League whose 19th season opened one week later. And it came down to a final drive by Tom Brady and the Patriots, a drive to cap off what most who witnessed it would say was the greatest Superbowl ever played.