2003 NFC Divisional Playoff:
January 10, 2004
Carolina Panthers vs
St. Louis Rams
Edward Jones Dome,
St. Louis, MO
Weather: Played
indoors, domed stadium
The St. Louis Rams were
finishing up an amazing five-year run where they had one of the most feared
offenses in the National Football League. Nick-named “The Greatest Show on
Turf”, the Rams offense was led by quarterback, Kurt Warner, receivers Isaac
Bruce and Tory Holt and running back, Marshall Faulk. The Rams had won the
Super Bowl after the 1999 season and had lost the Super Bowl to the Patriots
after the 2001 season. After a disappointing season in 2002, Warner was
replaced at quarterback by Marc Bulger, who led the Rams to a 12-4 season, the
NFC West title and a bye to the Divisional Playoff.
The Carolina Panthers had finished
the season at 11-5, won the NFC South and defeated the Dallas Cowboys, 29-10,
in the Wild Card game. The Panthers were led by quarterback, Jake Delhomme and
runningback, Stephen Davis, and receivers, Steve Smith, Muhsin Muhammad and
former St. Louis Ram, Ricky Proehl.
Rams’ kicker, Jeff Wilkins,
opened the scoring with a 20-yard field goal and the first quarter ended with
St. Louis ahead, 3-0. In the second quarter, Wilkins would kick two more field
goals, from 26 and 24 yards, while the Panthers scored ten points on a Muhammad
offensive fumble recovery and a John Kasay field goal from 45 yards. At the
half, Carolina led 10-9.
The third quarter was another
battle of field goals, as Kasay kicked two and Wilkins kicked one to make the
score at the end of the quarter 16-12 for the Panthers. In the fourth, after a
Bulger interception, the Panthers scored a touchdown on a seven-yard run by
Brad Hoover to increase the lead to 23-13.
But the Rams battled back. Faulk
scored on a one-yard run after a 57-yard drive and St. Louis added a two-point
convert to close the score to 23-20. The Rams attempted, and recovered, an
onside kick and then drove 43 yards to set up Wilkins for the game-tying field
goal, his fifth of the game.
Neither team was able to score
in the first fifteen-minute period of overtime. On the first play of the second
overtime, Delhomme threw a 69-yard touchdown to Steve Smith to win the game.
The final score was 29-23 for the Panthers. Delhomme finished the game with 290
passing yards while Bulger finished with 332 yards, but was intercepted three
times.
The Panthers would defeat the
Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship game the following and advance to
the Super Bowl for the first and only time in their franchise history.
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