Cardiac Cats Cardiac Cats is the nickname of the 2003 Carolina Panthers , who were known for close games often decided in the final minutes or the final play of the game . After finishing the season 11 – 5 , the Panthers captured their first division title since 1996 . They advanced to Super Bowl XXXVIII , but lost to the Patriots 32 – 29 after a last second field goal . The Cardiac Cats played in five overtime games on the road during the season , winning four of them ( an NFL record ) . This included a 2nd overtime victory over the Rams in the Divisional playoffs ( in the fifth - longest game in NFL history ) . The team also tied an NFL record by winning seven games by 3 points or less , and led the NFL in comeback wins during the season . Background . Following a league worst 1 – 15 finish in 2001 , in which the Panthers lost an NFL record fifteen consecutive games ( six of which by 3 points or less ) , Panthers head coach George Seifert was fired and replaced by former New York Giants defensive coordinator John Fox . In 2002 , Fox helped transform the Panthers defense from the second worst to the second best , and the team improved six games to finish the season 7 – 9 . Following the season , Fox sought to improve the Panthers offense , drafting players such Jordan Gross at offensive tackle . In addition , quarterback Jake Delhomme , running back Stephen Davis , and wide receiver Ricky Proehl were signed to the Panthers in the off - season . Notable games . September 7 vs . Jacksonville Jaguars . In the first game of the regular season , the Panthers hosted fellow 1995 expansion team Jacksonville , but fell behind 17 – 0 in the third quarter . At this point , starting quarterback Rodney Peete was replaced by ex - New Orleans Saint Jake Delhomme . Delhomme opened up with a 13 - yard touchdown pass to Muhsin Muhammad . After a John Kasay field goal , the Panthers blocked a Jaguars punt for a safety . Delhomme then hit Steve Smith with a 24 - yard touchdown pass , with a failed two - point conversion . The Jaguars then exploded on a 65 - yard Mark Brunell touchdown pass to Jermaine Lewis , but their two - point try was stopped as well . The Jags ' 5 - point lead wouldn ' t hold as Delhomme found Ricky Proehl with sixteen seconds remaining , giving the panthers a 24 – 23 victory , and winning Delhomme a starting job at quarterback . September 14 @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers . In a battle of field goals , the Panthers clawed to a 9 – 3 lead , but the defending Super Bowl champions raced down field in the final minutes and Keenan McCardell caught a six - yard touchdown on the final play of regulation . The PAT would win the game for the Bucs , but the kick was blocked , and in the ensuing overtime the Panthers made the Bucs pay with John Kasay ' s fourth field goal of the game , and a 12 – 9 victory for the Panthers . October 12 @ Indianapolis Colts . Indianapolis was a week removed from the Colts ' historic 38 – 35 comeback win in Tampa Bay and raced to a 13 – 3 halftime lead , but Delhomme erased the gap on two third - quarter drives , highlighted by a 52 - yard touchdown pass to Steve Smith . The Panthers clawed to a 20 – 13 lead but Peyton Manning drove the Colts down field in the final minutes ; Reggie Wayne caught a 25 - yard score with 44 seconds left in regulation , but in overtime the Panthers won the toss and never let the ball go as John Kasay finished it off after nearly six minutes of overtime with a 47 - yard field goal , giving the Panthers a 23 – 20 overtime win . October 26 @ New Orleans Saints . On the tenth anniversary of the official awarding of the Panthers franchise to Jerry Richardson , former Saint Delhomme led the Panthers to the Superdome . The Panthers rushed for 223 yards led by Stephen Davis ' 178 yards and two touchdowns . The Saints , led by Deuce McAllister ' s 101 rushing yards , erased Panthers leads of 10 – 0 , 17 – 13 , and 20 – 17 to force overtime . But the Panthers drove down field and booted yet another Kasay field goal ; this ended a 23 – 20 contest as the Panthers became the first team to ever win three straight overtime road games . December 7 @ Atlanta Falcons . After racing to an 8 – 2 record , the Panthers hit a wall with consecutive losses to Dallas and Philadelphia , falling to 8 – 4 . At the Georgia Dome , the Panthers faced the 2 – 10 Falcons as Michael Vick made his return following injury . Vick exploded to 141 rushing yards to go with 179 passing yards , offsetting Delhomme ' s 153 passing yards and Stephen Davis ' 81 rushing yards . Delhomme was picked off once and the Panthers could not finish it off in regulation as Vick ' s one - yard touchdown halfway through the fourth helped lead to overtime . After several punts the Panthers had the ball deep in their own territory , but Delhomme was picked off by Kevin Mathis at his 32 and Mathis ran in the winning touchdown , a 20 – 14 Falcons overtime win - the Panthers only overtime loss of the season . December 14 @ Arizona Cardinals . Now 8 – 5 , and coming off three consecutive losses , the Panthers traveled to Arizona to face the three - win Cardinals . Quarterback Josh McCown was picked off by Mike Minter , who ran the ball back for a 35 - yard Panthers touchdown . But the Cards put up a fight as McCown led a drive ending in his 16 - yard touchdown run ; then Emmitt Smith scored only his second touchdown of the year , putting Arizona up 14 – 7 at the half . John Kasay ' s field goal in the third quarter preceded another " Cardiac Cat " finish as Delhomme found DeShaun Foster for a 31 - yard touchdown . Neil Rackers tied the game at 17 for the Cards on a 44 - yard field goal just before the two - minute warning , then Delhomme clawed the Panthers in range for a 49 - yard Kasay field goal with four seconds in regulation and a 20 – 17 slump - ending Panthers win . January 10 , 2004 @ St . Louis Rams , Divisional Playoffs . Coming off a 29 – 10 victory over Dallas in the Wild Card playoffs , the Panthers faced St . Louis in the divisional round . After Carolina jumped out to a 23 – 12 lead , St . Louis rallied back by scoring 11 points in the last 6 minutes to send the game into overtime . During the first possession of the first overtime period , the Panthers marched down to the Rams 22 yard line and kicker John Kasay made a 40 - yard field goal that would have won the game , but the play was called back after a delay of game penalty . Kasay subsequently missed the 45 - yard attempt wide right , and on the Rams ensuing possession , kicker Jeff Wilkins would attempt a 53 - yard field goal . Unlike Kasay ' s , it was straight on , but it fell just inches short of the goalpost . On the first play of the second overtime period , and after Ricky Manning Jr . intercepted a Marc Bulger pass , Panthers QB Jake Delhomme threw a 69 - yard touchdown pass to Steve Smith to give the Panthers a 29 – 23 win in the fifth - longest game in NFL history . This handed the Rams their first home loss in 14 games , and helped pave the way for Carolina ' s appearance in Super Bowl XXXVIII . February 1 , 2004 vs . New England Patriots , Super Bowl XXXVIII . At Super Bowl XXXVIII , neither team was able to put up points in the first quarter , and the game remained scoreless until near the end of the first half . However , 24 points were scored in the last 5 minutes of the first half , and the score going into halftime was 14 – 10 New England . The third quarter was also scoreless and it wasn ' t until late in the game that things heated up once again . The teams traded leads numerous times in the highest - scoring fourth quarter in Super Bowl history , including setting a record when Jake Delhomme hit Muhsin Muhammad for an 85 - yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter . That pass made the score 22 – 21 , Carolina and went down in the record books as the longest offensive play in Super Bowl history . After New England responded with a touchdown of their own and a 2 - point conversion to make it 29 – 22 , Carolina would storm right back to tie the game with a touchdown pass to Ricky Proehl with 1 : 08 left in regulation , opening the possibility to the first overtime game in Super Bowl history . However , John Kasay ' s kickoff went out of bounds , giving the Patriots the ball on their own 40 - yard line . Adam Vinatieri , who had won Super Bowl XXXVI two years earlier on a last - second field goal , repeated his heroics , connecting on a 41 - yarder with four seconds left , even though he had already missed two field goals in the game . This gave the Patriots their second Super Bowl win in three years . Post – 2003 usage . Following the 2003 season and the Panthers loss in Super Bowl XXXVIII , the team is still referred to as the Cardiac Cats , usually when playing in close games .