NFL playoffs, 2003-04
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The NFL playoffs following the 2003 NFL season led up to Super Bowl XXXVIII.
Beginning with the 2003-04 season, the NFL changed the selection procedures regarding officials for playoffs games. The league suspended the prior practice of assembling "all-star" officiating crews of highly-rated individual officials. Instead, the league began using the entire crews that were highest rated during the regular season, preserving familiarity and cohesiveness in the officiating. The "all-star" crews were later resumed, beginning with the 2005-06 Conference Championships.
| Playoff seeds | ||
| Seed | AFC | NFC |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | New England Patriots (East winner) | Philadelphia Eagles (East winner) |
| 2 | Kansas City Chiefs (West winner) | St. Louis Rams (West winner) |
| 3 | Indianapolis Colts (South winner) | Carolina Panthers (South winner) |
| 4 | Baltimore Ravens (North winner) | Green Bay Packers (North winner) |
| 5 | Tennessee Titans | Seattle Seahawks |
| 6 | Denver Broncos | Dallas Cowboys |
Contents |
[edit] Wild Card playoffs
[edit] Saturday January 3, 2004
[edit] AFC: Tennessee Titans 20, Baltimore Ravens 17
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Titans | 7 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 20 |
| Ravens | 7 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
at M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland
- Game time: 4:30 p.m. EST
- Game weather: 63 °F (Fair)
- TV announcers (ABC): Mike Patrick, Joe Theismann, and Paul Maguire
- Referee: Jeff Triplette
- Game Attendance: 69,452
Starting Quarterbacks:
- Tennessee Titans - Steve McNair 9
- Baltimore Ravens - Anthony Wright 2
In a defensive struggle, Gary Anderson kicked the winning 46-yard field goal for the Titans with 29 seconds left. The winning kick was set up after a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on Ravens offensive lineman Orlando Brown forced Baltimore to punt and enabled Tennessee to start its final drive from its own 37-yard line. Titans quarterback Steve McNair threw three interceptions, one of which was returned 58-yards by Will Demps for a touchdown. Meanwhile, the Ravens running back Jamal Lewis, the league's regular season rushing leader, was limited to 35 yards on 14 carries. Todd Heap scored another touchdown for Baltimore, while Chris Brown and Justin McCareins scored for Tennessee.
- Scoring
- TEN - Brown 6 run (Anderson kick)
- BAL - Demps 56 interception return (Stover kick)
- BAL - FG Stover 43
- TEN - McCareins 49 pass from McNair (Anderson kick)
- TEN - FG Anderson 45
- BAL - Heap 35 pass from Wright (Stover kick)
- TEN - FG Anderson 46
[edit] NFC: Carolina Panthers 29, Dallas Cowboys 10
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowboys | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| Panthers | 6 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 29 |
at Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina
- Game time: 8:00 p.m. EST
- Game weather: 63 °F (Partly cloudy)
- TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels and John Madden
- Referee: Walt Coleman
- Game Attendance: 73,014
Starting Quarterbacks:
- Dallas Cowboys - Quincy Carter 17
- Carolina Panthers - Jake Delhomme 17
The Cowboys' turnaround season under coach Bill Parcells came to a crashing halt. Quarterback Quincy Carter threw for only 154 yards and an interception, while being sacked 3 times. Carter scored the Cowboys' only touchdown of the game. Meanwhile, Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme threw for 273 yards and a touchdown to Steve Smith. Stephen Davis ran for 104 yards and another touchdown. John Kasay kicked five field goals for Carolina.
- Scoring
- CAR - FG Kasay 18
- CAR - FG Kasay 38
- CAR - Davis 23 run (Kasay kick)
- DAL - FG Cundiff 37
- CAR - FG Kasay 19
- CAR - Smith 32 pass from Delhomme (Kasay kick)
- CAR - FG Kasay 32
- DAL - Carter 9 run (Cundiff kick)
- CAR - FG Kasay 34
[edit] Sunday January 4, 2004
[edit] NFC: Green Bay Packers 33, Seattle Seahawks 27 (OT)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle | 3 | 3 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 27 |
| Packers | 0 | 13 | 0 | 14 | 6 | 33 |
at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin
- Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST/12:00 p.m. CST
- Game weather: 20 °F (Cloudy)
- TV announcers (FOX): Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and Cris Collinsworth
- Referee: Bernie Kukar
- Game Attendance: 71,457
Starting Quarterbacks:
- Seattle Seahawks - Matt Hasselbeck 8
- Green Bay Packers - Brett Favre 4
Packers defensive back Al Harris returned an interception 52 yards for the game winning touchdown 4:25 in overtime, making this the first playoff game ever to be won in overtime with a defensive touchdown. The game was sent into overtime on Seahawk running back Shaun Alexander's third touchdown of the day. Ahman Green scored two touchdowns for Green Bay, and Bubba Franks caught a 23-yard touchdown in the second quarter. The game is memorable for Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck's ironic comment after winning the coin toss for the start of overtime, telling the referee, the crowd at Lambeau Field and the national television audience, "We want the ball, and we're going to score." [1]
Packers quarterback Brett Favre completed 26 of 38 passes for a career postseason high 319 yards and a touchdown. This was his 14th consecutive postseason game with a touchdown pass, a postseason record.
- Scoring
- SEA - FG Brown 30
- GB - FG Longwell 31
- SEA - FG Brown 35
- GB - Franks 23 pass from Favre (Longwell kick)
- GB - FG Longwell 27
- SEA - Alexander 1 run (Brown kick)
- SEA - Alexander 1 run (Brown kick)
- GB - Green 1 run (R.Longwell kick)
- GB - Green 1 run (R.Longwell kick)
- SEA - Alexander 1 run (Brown kick)
- GB - Harris 52 interception return
[edit] AFC: Indianapolis Colts 41, Denver Broncos 10
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broncos | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| Colts | 14 | 17 | 10 | 0 | 41 |
at RCA Dome, Indianapolis, Indiana
- Game time: 4:30 p.m. EST
- Game weather: Indoors (Domed stadium)
- TV announcers (CBS): Greg Gumbel and Phil Simms
- Referee: Johnny Grier
- Game Attendance: 56,586
Starting Quarterbacks:
- Denver Broncos - Jake Plummer 16
- Indianapolis Colts - Peyton Manning 18
Colts Quarterback Peyton Manning completed 22 of 26 passes for 377 yards and 5 touchdowns, giving him a perfect passer rating of 158.3 as the Colts crushed the Broncos. Manning passed for four touchdowns in the first half alone, including one to Marvin Harrison where he got up and scored after falling down untouched. Both Harrison and Brandon Stokley scored two touchdowns for Indianapolis, and Reggie Wayne added the fifth. Rod Smith scored a late touchdown for Denver. Harrison recorded a career postseason high 7 receptions for 133 yards 2 touchdowns.
- Scoring
- IND - Stokley 31 pass from Manning (Vanderjagt kick)
- DEN - FG Elam 49
- IND - Harrison 46 pass from Manning (Vanderjagt kick)
- IND - Harrison 23 pass from Manning (Vanderjagt kick)
- IND - Stokley 87 pass from Manning (Vanderjagt kick)
- IND - FG Vanderjagt 27
- IND - Wayne 7 pass from Manning (Vanderjagt kick)
- IND - FG Vanderjagt 20
- DEN - Smith 7 pass from Plummer (Elam kick)
[edit] Divisional playoffs
[edit] Saturday January 10, 2004
[edit] NFC: Carolina Panthers 29, St. Louis Rams 23 (2OT)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | 2OT | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panthers | 0 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 29 |
| Rams | 3 | 6 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 23 |
at Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, Missouri
- Game time: 4:30 p.m. EST/3:30 p.m. CST
- Game weather: Indoors (Domed stadium)
- TV announcers (FOX): Dick Stockton and Daryl Johnston
- Referee: Mike Carey
- Game Attendance: 66,165
Starting Quarterbacks:
- Carolina Panthers - Jake Delhomme 17
- St. Louis Rams - Marc Bulger 10
The Panthers stunned the favored Rams in double-overtime in a thrilling finish to a game that featured big swings in momentum. St. Louis built up a 6-0 lead early in the second quarter, but wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad's touchdown on a fumble recovery gave Carolina a 7-6 advantage. Both teams spent the rest of the second and the third quarter trading field goals. But in the fourth period, Brad Hoover's 7-yard rushing touchdown gave the Panthers a 23-12 lead.
However, the Rams rallied back with a touchdown, a successful two-point conversion, and a field goal to send the game into overtime. The field goal would cause some controversy, as the Rams held the ball inside the Carolina 20 yard line with less than a minute remaining, and one Time Out. But Rams Coach Mike Martz elected to play for the tie, allowing the clock to run down and kicked the tying field goal, rather than let his quick-scoring offense try for the winning Touchdown. Jeff Wilkins' 5th field goal of the game as time expired in the 4th Quarter tied the score at 23 and sent it into Overtime.
Both teams missed field goals in the first overtime period. The Panthers would march down to the Rams 22 yard line on their first drive in Overtime, and Carolina kicker John Kasay in fact made a 40-yard field goal that would have won the game. But the Panthers were flagged for Delay of Game, and Kasay's attempt from 45 yards was wide right. On the Rams ensuing possession, Wilkins would attempt a 53-yard field goal, but it fell short.
The Rams held the ball late in the first overtime, and were driving into Carolina territory, however an errant Bulger pass was intercepted by Carolina cornerback Ricky Manning, Jr. On the first play of the second overtime period, Jake Delhomme threw a 69-yard touchdown pass to Steve Smith to win the game. It marked the first double-overtime game and longest NFL game since 1987.
- Scoring
- STL - FG Wilkins 20
- STL - FG Wilkins 26
- CAR - Muhammad fumble recovery in end zone (J.Kasay kick)
- STL - FG Wilkins 24
- CAR - FG Kasay 45
- STL - FG Wilkins 51
- CAR - FG Kasay 52
- CAR - FG Kasay 34
- CAR - Hoover 7 run (Kasay kick)
- STL - Faulk 1 run (Looker pass from Bulger)
- STL - FG Wilkins 33
- CAR - Smith 69 pass from Delhomme
[edit] AFC: New England Patriots 17, Tennessee Titans 14
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Titans | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Patriots | 7 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 17 |
at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts
- Game time: 8:00 p.m. EST
- Game weather: 4 °F (Clear)
- TV announcers (CBS): Greg Gumbel and Phil Simms
- Referee: Bill Carollo
- Game Attendance: 68,436
Starting Quarterbacks:
- Tennessee Titans - Steve McNair 9
- New England Patriots - Tom Brady 12
In one of the coldest games in NFL history, with temperatures reaching 4 °F (-15 °C), the Patriots survived both the cold and quarterback Steve McNair. Bethel Johnson opened the scoring with an opening drive 41-yard touchdown reception from Tom Brady. Chris Brown later evened the score for the Titans, then the Pats' Antowain Smith and the Titans' Derrick Mason swapped touchdowns. With 4:06 remaining in the game, the Patriots took the lead on kicker Adam Vinatieri's 46-yard field goal. The Titans tried to rally, but McNair's fourth down pass to Drew Bennett fell incomplete on their final drive.
- Scoring
- NE - Johnson 41 pass from Brady (Vinatieri kick)
- TEN - Brown 5 run (Anderson kick)
- NE - Smith 1 run (Vinatieri kick)
- TEN - Mason 11 pass from McNair (Anderson kick)
- NE - FG Vinatieri 46
[edit] Sunday January 11, 2004
[edit] AFC: Indianapolis Colts 38, Kansas City Chiefs 31
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colts | 14 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 38 |
| Chiefs | 3 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 31 |
at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
- Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST/12:00 p.m. CST
- Game weather: 51 °F (Clear)
- TV announcers (CBS): Dick Enberg and Dan Dierdorf
- Referee: Gerald Austin
- Game Attendance: 79,159
Starting Quarterbacks:
- Indianapolis Colts - Peyton Manning 18
- Kansas City Chiefs - Trent Green 10
This offensive shootout became the first puntless game in NFL playoff history. Colts quarterback Peyton Manning threw for 304 yards and three touchdowns (to Reggie Wayne, Brandon Stokley and Tom Lopienski), while Edgerrin James ran for a career postseason high 125 yards and two scores. On the Kansas City side, Dante Hall caught a touchdown and returned a kickoff for another; and Priest Holmes, who set the regular-season rushing touchdown record in 2003, rushed for 176 yards, caught 5 passes for 32 yards, and scored twice. Kansas City's 33-year old quarterback Trent Green threw for 212 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for 18 yards in his first career postseason game. Holmes' third-quarter fumble, which set up a Colts' field goal, turned out to be one of the Chiefs' downfalls. Kansas City defensive coordinator Greg Robinson resigned the following week in disgust.
- Scoring
- IND - Stokley 29 pass from Manning (Vanderjagt kick)
- KC - FG Andersen 22
- IND - James 11 run (Vanderjagt kick)
- KC - Hall 9 pass from Green (Andersen kick)
- IND - Lopienski 2 pass from Manning (Vanderjagt kick)
- IND - FG Vanderjagt 45
- KC - Holmes 1 run (Andersen kick)
- IND - Wayne 19 pass from Manning (Vanderjagt kick)
- KC - Hall 92 kickoff return (Andersen kick)
- IND - James 1 run (Vanderjagt kick)
- KC - Holmes 1 run (Andersen kick)
[edit] NFC: Philadelphia Eagles 20, Green Bay Packers 17 (OT)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Packers | 14 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 17 |
| Eagles | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 20 |
at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
- Game time: 4:30 p.m. EST
- Game weather: 25 °F (Clear)
- TV announcers (FOX): Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and Cris Collinsworth
- Referee: Ed Hochuli
- Game Attendance: 67,707
Starting Quarterbacks:
- Green Bay Packers - Brett Favre 4
- Philadelphia Eagles - Donovan McNabb 5
Ahman Green's franchise postseason record 156 rushing yards was not enough to lift the Packers to victory. Facing fourth down and 26 yards to go, with 1:12 left in the fourth quarter and the Packers leading 17-14, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb completed a 28-yard pass to Freddie Mitchell on a famous play now known as "4th and 26". The play set up David Akers' 37-yard field goal to send the game into overtime. Akers then kicked a 31-yard field goal in the extra period to give the Eagles the victory.
McNabb had a spectacular performance in the game, completing 21 of 39 passes for 248 yards and 2 touchdowns, while also rushing for 107 yards on 11 carries.
- Scoring
- GB - Ferguson 40 pass from Favre (Longwell kick)
- GB - Ferguson 17 pass from Favre (Longwell kick)
- PHI - Staley 7 pass from McNabb (Akers kick)
- PHI - Pinkston 12 pass from McNabb (Akers kick)
- GB - FG Longwell 21
- PHI - FG Akers 37
- PHI - FG Akers 31
[edit] Conference Championships
[edit] Sunday January 18, 2004
[edit] AFC: New England Patriots 24, Indianapolis Colts 14
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colts | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| Patriots | 7 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 24 |
at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts
- Game time: 3:00 p.m. EST
- Game weather: 32 °F (Cloudy, occasional snow)
- TV announcers (CBS): Greg Gumbel and Phil Simms
- Referee: Walt Coleman
- Game Attendance: 68,436
Starting Quarterbacks:
- Indianapolis Colts - Peyton Manning 18
- New England Patriots - Tom Brady 12
New England's defense dominated the Colts, only allowing 14 points, intercepting 4 passes from Manning (3 of them by Ty Law), and forcing a safety. Although New England's offense fared no better and only scored one touchdown, Vinatieri's 5 field goals made up for the difference as the Patriots won, 24-14, to advance to their second Super Bowl appearance in 3 seasons.
Colts players would later publicly complain that the game officials did not properly call illegal contact, pass interference, and defensive holding penalties on the Patriots' defensive backs. This, and similar complaints made by others, would prompt the NFL during the 2004 offseason to instruct all of the league's officials to strictly enforce these types of fouls.[2]
- Scoring
- NE - Givens 7 pass from Brady (Vinatieri kick)
- NE - FG Vinatieri 31
- NE - FG Vinatieri 25
- NE - Safety, Smith kicked ball out of end zone
- IND - James 2 run (Vanderjagt kick)
- NE - FG Vinatieri 27
- NE - FG Vinatieri 21
- IND - Pollard 7 pass from Manning (Vanderjagt kick)
- NE - FG Vinatieri 34
[edit] NFC: Carolina Panthers 14, Philadelphia Eagles 3
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Panthers | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Eagles | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
- Game time: 6:30 p.m. EST
- Game weather: 33 °F (Cloudy)
- TV announcers (FOX): Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and Cris Collinsworth
- Referee: Bernie Kukar
- Game Attendance: 65,158
Starting Quarterbacks:
- Carolina Panthers - Jake Delhomme 17
- Philadelphia Eagles - Donovan McNabb 5
Carolina's defense shut down the Eagles offense, only allowing a field goal and holding Donovan McNabb to just 10 of 22 completions for 100 yards. Rookie cornerback Ricky Manning, Jr. also intercepted McNabb 3 times. McNabb also sustained a lower-rib injury early in the game but stayed in until the second half. Although Carolina's offense only scored 14 points, it was more than enough for the team to earn their first trip to the Super Bowl with a 14-3 win. For the Eagles, it was the third straight NFC Championship Game loss.
- Scoring
- CAR - Muhammad 24 pass from Delhomme (Kasay kick)
- PHI - FG Akers 41
- CAR - Foster 1 run (Kasay kick)
[edit] Super Bowl
- Further information: Super Bowl XXXVIII
New England Patriots (AFC) 32, Carolina Panthers (NFC) 29 at Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas
[edit] Bracket
| January 3 - Bank of America Stadium | January 10 - Edward Jones Dome | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Dallas | 10 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Carolina | 29 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Carolina | 29 | January 18 - Gillette Stadium | |||||||||||||||
| 2 | St. Louis | 23 | ||||||||||||||||
| NFC | ||||||||||||||||||
| January 4 - Lambeau Field | 3 | Carolina | 14 | |||||||||||||||
| January 11 - Lincoln Financial Field | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Philadelphia | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Seattle | 27 | NFC Championship | |||||||||||||||
| 4 | Green Bay | 17 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Green Bay | 33 | February 1 - Reliant Stadium | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | Philadelphia | 20 | ||||||||||||||||
| Wild Card Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||
| Divisional Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||
| January 4 - RCA Dome | N3 | Carolina | 29 | |||||||||||||||
| January 11 - Arrowhead Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| A1 | New England | 32 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Denver | 10 | Super Bowl XXXVIII | |||||||||||||||
| 3 | Indianapolis | 38 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Indianapolis | 41 | January 18 - Lincoln Financial Field | |||||||||||||||
| 2 | Kansas City | 31 | ||||||||||||||||
| AFC | ||||||||||||||||||
| January 3 - M&T Bank Stadium | 3 | Indianapolis | 14 | |||||||||||||||
| January 10 - Gillette Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | New England | 24 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Tennessee | 20 | AFC Championship | |||||||||||||||
| 5 | Tennessee | 14 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Baltimore | 17 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 | New England | 17 | ||||||||||||||||
[edit] References
- NFL.com scores for the 2003 playoffs (Last accessed January 9, 2006)
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