A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
Dates | January 3–February 1, 2004 | ||||
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Season | 2003 | ||||
Teams | 12 | ||||
Games played | 11 | ||||
Super Bowl XXXVIII site | |||||
Defending champions | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (did not qualify) | ||||
Champions | New England Patriots | ||||
Runners-up | Carolina Panthers | ||||
Conference runners-up | |||||
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The National Football League playoffs for the 2003 season began on January 3, 2004. The postseason tournament concluded with the New England Patriots defeating the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII, 32–29, on February 1, at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas.
Beginning with the 2003–04 season, the NFL changed the selection procedures regarding officials for playoff 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.
Participants
Within each conference, the four division winners and the top two non-division winners with the best overall regular season records) qualified for the playoffs. The four division winners are seeded 1–4 based on their overall won-lost-tied record, and the wild card teams are seeded 5–6. The NFL does not use a fixed bracket playoff system, and there are no restrictions regarding teams from the same division matching up in any round. In the first round, dubbed the wild-card playoffs or wild-card weekend, the third-seeded division winner hosts the sixth-seed wild card, and the fourth seed hosts the fifth. The 1 and 2 seeds from each conference received a first-round bye. In the second round, the divisional playoffs, the number 1 seed hosts the worst-surviving seed from the first round (seed 4, 5, or 6), while the number 2 seed will play the other team (seed 3, 4, or 5). The two surviving teams from each conference's divisional playoff games met in the respective AFC and NFC Conference Championship games, hosted by the higher seed. Although the Super Bowl, the championship round of the playoffs, is played at a neutral site, the designated home team is based on an annual rotation by conference.[1]
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 (wild card) | Seattle Seahawks (wild card) |
6 | Denver Broncos (wild card) | Dallas Cowboys (wild card) |
Bracket
Jan 3 – Bank of America Stadium | Jan 10 – Edward Jones Dome | |||||||||||||||||
6 | Dallas | 10 | ||||||||||||||||
3 | Carolina | 29** | ||||||||||||||||
3 | Carolina | 29 | Jan 18 – Lincoln Financial Field | |||||||||||||||
2 | St. Louis | 23 | ||||||||||||||||
NFC | ||||||||||||||||||
Jan 4 – Lambeau Field | 3 | Carolina | 14 | |||||||||||||||
Jan 11 – Lincoln Financial Field | ||||||||||||||||||
1 | Philadelphia | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
5 | Seattle | 27 | NFC Championship | |||||||||||||||
4 | Green Bay | 17 | ||||||||||||||||
4 | Green Bay | 33* | Feb 1 – Reliant Stadium | |||||||||||||||
1 | Philadelphia | 20* | ||||||||||||||||
Wild Card playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||
Divisional playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||
Jan 4 – RCA Dome | N3 | Carolina | 29 | |||||||||||||||
Jan 11 – Arrowhead Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
A1 | New England | 32 | ||||||||||||||||
6 | Denver | 10 | Super Bowl XXXVIII | |||||||||||||||
3 | Indianapolis | 38 | ||||||||||||||||
3 | Indianapolis | 41 | Jan 18 – Gillette Stadium | |||||||||||||||
2 | Kansas City | 31 | ||||||||||||||||
AFC | ||||||||||||||||||
Jan 3 – M&T Bank Stadium | 3 | Indianapolis | 14 | |||||||||||||||
Jan 10 – Gillette Stadium | ||||||||||||||||||
1 | New England | 24 | ||||||||||||||||
5 | Tennessee | 20 | AFC Championship | |||||||||||||||
5 | Tennessee | 14 | ||||||||||||||||
4 | Baltimore | 17 | ||||||||||||||||
1 | New England | 17 | ||||||||||||||||
- * Indicates OT victory
- ** Indicates 2OT victory
Schedule
In the United States, ABC broadcast the first two Wild Card playoff games. Fox then televised the rest of the NFC games. CBS broadcast the rest of the AFC playoff games and Super Bowl XXXVIII.
Away team | Score | Home team | Date | Kickoff (ET / UTC–5) |
TV |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wild Card playoffs | |||||
Tennessee Titans | 20–17 | Baltimore Ravens | January 3, 2004 | 4:30 p.m. | ABC |
Dallas Cowboys | 10–29 | Carolina Panthers | January 3, 2004 | 8:00 p.m. | ABC |
Seattle Seahawks | 27–33 (OT) | Green Bay Packers | January 4, 2004 | 1:00 p.m. | Fox |
Denver Broncos | 10–41 | Indianapolis Colts | January 4, 2004 | 4:30 p.m. | CBS |
Divisional playoffs | |||||
Carolina Panthers | 29–23 (2OT) | St. Louis Rams | January 10, 2004 | 4:30 p.m. | Fox |
Tennessee Titans | 14–17 | New England Patriots | January 10, 2004 | 8:00 p.m. | CBS |
Indianapolis Colts | 38–31 | Kansas City Chiefs | January 11, 2004 | 1:00 p.m. | CBS |
Green Bay Packers | 17–20 (OT) | Philadelphia Eagles | January 11, 2004 | 4:30 p.m. | Fox |
Conference Championships | |||||
Indianapolis Colts | 14–24 | New England Patriots | January 18, 2004 | 3:00 p.m. | CBS |
Carolina Panthers | 14–3 | Philadelphia Eagles | January 18, 2004 | 6:30 p.m. | Fox |
Super Bowl XXXVIII Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas | |||||
Carolina Panthers | 29–32 | New England Patriots | February 1, 2004 | 6:30 p.m. | CBS |
Wild Card playoffs
Saturday, January 3, 2004
AFC: Tennessee Titans 20, Baltimore Ravens 17
Period | 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: 43 °F (6 °C), fair
- Game attendance: 69,452
- Referee: Jeff Triplette
- TV announcers (ABC): Mike Patrick (play-by-play), Joe Theismann, Paul Maguire (color commentators), and Suzy Kolber (sideline reporter)
Game information |
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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 tackle Orlando Brown Sr. 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. Meanwhile, the Ravens running back Jamal Lewis, the league's regular season rushing leader, was limited to 35 yards on 14 carries.
On the Titans opening drive of the game, McNair completed passes to Drew Bennett and Frank Wycheck for gains of 17 and 14 yards, while Eddie George rushed five times for 25 yards on a 10-play, 67-yard drive. Running back Chris Brown finished the drive with a 6-yard touchdown run to give Tennessee a 7–0 lead. The Ravens were forced to punt on their ensuing drive, but three plays later, safety Ed Reed tipped a pass from McNair into the arms of cornerback Will Demps, who returned it 56 yards for a touchdown.
Early in the second quarter, a 15-yard punt return from Titans receiver Derrick Mason gave his team the ball at the Ravens 35-yard line. McNair then led them to the 17-yard line, but Reed intercepted a pass from him and returned it 23 yards to the 29. After an exchange of punts, Ravens quarterback Anthony Wright completed four passes for 56 yards and rushed for 11, setting up a 43-yard field goal by Matt Stover giving Baltimore a 10–7 halftime lead.
Midway through the third quarter, McNair's 49-yard touchdown pass to Justin McCareins gave the Titans a 14–10 lead. Then in the fourth quarter, Tennessee cornerback Samari Rolle intercepted a pass from Wright at the Ravens 30-yard line, setting up a 45-yard field goal from Anderson. But Wright led Baltimore back, completing five passes for 80 yards on their ensuing drive. Tight end Todd Heap caught three of Wright's passes for 55 yards, and finished the drive with a leaping 35-yard catch in the back of the end zone to tie the game.
After an exchange of punts, the Titans took the ball on their own 37-yard line and drove 35 yards to Ravens 28-yard line where Anderson's 46-yard field goal with 33 seconds left gave them the win. This would be the Titans last playoff win until 2017.
This was the second postseason meeting between the Titans and Ravens. Baltimore won the only previous meeting.[2]
Baltimore leads 1–0 in all-time playoff games |
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NFC: Carolina Panthers 29, Dallas Cowboys 10
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cowboys | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
Panthers | 6 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 29 |
at Ericsson Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina
- Game time: 8:00 p.m. EST
- Game weather: 63 °F (17 °C), partly cloudy
- Game attendance: 73,014
- Referee: Walt Coleman
- TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels (play-by-play), John Madden (color commentator), and Lisa Guerrero (sideline reporter)