| Carolina Panthers (14-5) Their Road to Houston: Regualar Season: 11-5 won NFCSouth Postseason wild card: def Dal 29-10 divisional round: def. StL 29-23 2ot championship: def. Phi 14-3 1st super bowl |
| New England Patriots (16-2) Their Road to Houston: Regualar Season: 14-2 won AFC East Postseason divisional round: def. Ten 17-14 championship: def. Ind 24-14 3rd super bowl appearance (1-1) |
 |
| SPORTINSIDER |
| SPORTINSIDER |
| Sportinsider has you covered for Super Bowl XXXVIII |
| Pats and Panthers to collide in Houston |
 |
 |
| Third Times a Disaster: Panthers roll past Philly So much for the old saying, third time's a charm. Or at least it doesn't work well for the Eagles who were handled badly at home 14-3 Sunday night at home. How good are these Panthers?, well they shut down McNabb to 100 yards and virtually no threat on the ground. Plus Ricky Manning had 3 interceptions for Carolina, and McNabb had 4 total as he struggled to garner any momentum for the Eagles who have reached the championship 3 years in a row, only to fall short. Stephen Davis played and rushed for 79 yards and Deshaun Foster chipped in 60 more and the Eagles put a crisp beatdown on the Eagles who can't seem to take the next step. As for the Panthers, the 3 seed, goes to the Super Bowl. They had reached the NFC Championship in 1997, but lost to Green Bay, this time they were not to be denied as Jake Delhomme had to do virtually nothing but hold on, which he did, and the Panthers are going to Houston! |
| Pat on the Back: Patriots shut down Manning, Colts Ty Law and the Patriots outstanding D could have given the Colts bulliten board material and a challenge. But instead, they said nothing and absolutley pounded the Colts. Forcing Peyton Manning to throw 4 interceptions, tied for a career high, the Pats were all over the place, and controlled the game throughout. The Colts didn't play very good D, and couldn't shut down the Pats O, as they got out to a 15-0 halftime lead, and never trailed. The snow had no affect on the game, though the fans did. Manning and the Colts were out of sync the whole day and even with 6-7 second a play to throw, he had little success. Manning who cam in this postseason with 8 tds and 0 picks, had 1 touchdown and 4 picks. You knew he'd come back to earth, and he did with a thud. The Colts fall short again, and New England goes back to the big game for the second time in 2 years and the third time since 1997. They are the best team in football: clearly! |
| Ty Law had 3 ints for New England |
| Ricky Manning had 3 int's for Carolina |
 |
 |
 |
| sportinsider 2004(SPI) was created for the sole purpose of giving sports fans what they really want: news, opinions, facts stats and predictions around the clock. If you're lookin for word for word coverage this isn't the place, but if you want a sport experience like none other: keep it here SPI tm |