Game Summary
Two excellent defenses and two less than overwhelming offenses: The experts agreed Super Bowl XXXVIII would be a low-scoring, defensive battle.
They were half right. The first and third quarters were scoreless. But the second and fourth quarters were both shootouts. When the smoke finally cleared, the New England Patriots had won their second Super Bowl in three years and the Carolina Panthers had become only the second team in history to lose despite scoring more than 26 points. (The Dallas Cowboys lost Super Bowl XIII, 35-31, to Pittsburgh.)
The Patriots and Panthers set records for scorelessness and scoring. The game was 0-0 for a record 26 minutes, 55 minutes and the teams combined for a record 37 points in the fourth quarter.
New England took a 7-0 lead with 3:05 to play in the first half on a 5-yard pass from Tom Brady to Deion Branch. At that point, the Carolina offense had minus-7 yards and quarterback Jake Delhomme had completed just 1 of 9 passes for 9 yards. But Delhomme immediately took the Panthers on a 95-yard drive, ending with a 39-yard touchdown pass to Steve Smith that tied the score.
The Patriots bounced right back, with a 52-yard Brady-to-Branch completion setting up another 5-yard TD pass, to David Givens. But the Panthers returned the ensuing squib kick to their 47 and Stephen Davis's 21-yard run set up John Kasay's 50-yard field goal, making it 14-10 at halftime.
Late in the scoreless third quarter, New England embarked upon a 71-yard drive that ended with a 2-yard touchdown run by Antowain Smith on the second play of the final period.
Carolina responded with an 81-yard drive, scoring on a 33-yard run by DeShaun Foster. Carolina Coach John Fox opted for a two-point conversion that would have put the Panthers within a field goal of a tie, but it failed and the Patriots led, 21-16.
A couple of minutes later, the Patriots seemed poised to score, but Brady threw an interception in the end zone. On a third-down play, Delhomme hit Muhsin Muhammad with an 85-yard touchdown pass, the longest play from scrimmage in Super Bowl history. Suddenly, the Panthers were ahead for the first time, 22-21. Again, Fox went for the two-point conversion and, again, the attempt failed.
New England was behind for the first time since Nov. 23. It didn't last long, though. Brady took the Patriots on a 68-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown pass to linebacker Steve Vrabel, playing as a third tight end. When Kevin Faulk ran in for the two-point conversion, New England was ahead, 29-22, with 2:51 remaining.
That lead didn't last long, either. Carolina came right back with a seven-play, 80-yard drive to tie the score on a 12-yard pass from Delhomme to Ricky Proehl with 1:08 remaining, and overtime loomed.
But it never arrived. Kasay's kickoff went out of bounds, giving the Patriots the ball at their own 40. Brady moved them to the Carolina 23 with 8 seconds left and Adam Vinatieri came on to attempt the game-winning field goal.
Vinatieri had failed on two earlier attempts. After pushing a 31-yarder wide right, a 36-yard attempt had been blocked. But Vinatieri put this 41-yard kick right down the middle and the Patriots were Super Bowl champions once again.
Brady, who completed a record 32 passes in 48 attempts, was named the game's MVP.