2003–04 NFL playoffs

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

On the Cowboys ensuing drive, Carter completed a 28-yard pass to Joey Galloway and Troy Hambrick ran for 16 yards, giving Dallas a first down at the Panthers 20-yard line.

Later in the second quarter, Gowin once again gave the Panthers great field position with a 17-yard punt to the Carolina 49-yard line, and this time they managed to get the ball into the end zone with a 23-yard touchdown run by Davis, giving them a 13–0 lead.

Dallas' defense managed to force a punt on Carolina's next drive, but two plays later, Panthers lineman Julius Peppers intercepted a screen pass from Carter and returned it 34 yards to the Cowboys 11-yard line.

The game is memorable for Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck's ironic comment after winning the coin toss for the start of overtime, telling the microphoned referee, and thus the crowd at Lambeau Field and the national television audience, "We want the ball, and we're going to score.

[3]" After forcing a punt, the Seahawks scored on their opening drive, with Hasselbeck completing two passes to Koren Robinson for 25 yards and Shaun Alexander rushing for 22 on the way to a 30-yard field goal by Josh Brown.

Favre's 27-yard completion to Walker on the Packers ensuing drive gave them a chance to win, but Longwell missed a 47-yard field goal attempt on the last play of regulation, and it went into overtime.

After both teams went three-and-out on their first drives of the extra period, Seattle drove to their own 45-yard line before Harris intercepted Hasselbeck's pass and returned it 52 yards for the winning touchdown.

James rushed for 17 yards on the drive, while Manning started it off with a 25-yard completion to tight end Marcus Pollard and finished it with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Harrison, giving the Colts a 21–3 lead with 11:07 left in the second quarter.

Denver managed to move the ball to the Colts 36-yard line on their ensuing drive, but a 15-yard penalty on guard Dan Neil pushed them out of field goal range and forced them to punt.

After the turnover, Manning completed four passes for 48 yards, moving the ball to the Broncos 10-yard line where Mike Vanderjagt made a 27-yard field goal on the last play of the half, giving the Colts a 31–3 halftime lead.

Three plays after the ensuing kickoff, Colts linebacker Rob Morris recovered a fumble from Plummer on the Broncos 20-yard line, setting up a 20-yard field goal from Vanderjagt.

St. Louis scored on their first drive of the game, with Marc Bulger completing passes to Dane Looker and Isaac Bruce for gains of 24 and 17 yards on the way to a 20-yard Jeff Wilkins field goal.

Eventually faced with third and goal from the 5, quarterback Jake Delhomme was tackled behind the line and fumbled the ball while attempting a shovel pass, but it rolled into the end zone where receiver Muhsin Muhammad recovered it for a touchdown that gave the Panthers a 7–6 lead.

The Rams got the ball back on their own 46 due to a 15-yard face mask penalty by Mike Minter while tackling Arlen Harris at the end of a 30-yard return, and retook the lead with a third field goal from Wilkins.

But the Panthers went three and out, and on their third down play, defensive tackle Tyoka Jackson's 11-yard sack pushed them to the outer limits of field goal range, where Kasay missed a 53-yard kick attempt with 6:26 left in regulation.

The drive ended with no points when Vinatieri missed a 44-yard field goal attempt, but on the next play, safety Rodney Harrison intercepted a pass from McNair and returned it seven yards to the Patriots 43-yard line.

The Patriots gained only 13 yards on their ensuing possession (including a critical 4-yard completion from Brady to Brown on fourth down and 3), but it was enough for Vinatieri to make a 46-yard field goal, giving New England a 17–14 lead with 4:02 left in regulation.

Then Holmes made up for his earlier mistake by carrying the ball on six of the eight plays of Kansas City's possession, gaining 44 yards and finishing the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.

[2] at Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ahman Green's franchise postseason record 156 rushing yards and an early 14–0 lead was not enough to lift the Packers to victory.

Midway through the first quarter, Packers lineman Nick Barnett recovered a fumble from McNabb on the Eagles 40-yard line, and Brett Favre threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Robert Ferguson on the next play.

After the missed field goal, Green rushed three times for 31 yards before Favre threw his second touchdown pass to Ferguson, giving the Packers a 14–0 lead with 1:16 left in the first quarter.

[2] at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts New England's defense dominated the Colts, only allowing 14 points, intercepting four passes from Peyton Manning (3 of them by Ty Law), recording four sacks (three by Jarvis Green), and forcing a safety.

Although New England's offense fared no better and only scored one touchdown, Vinatieri's five field goals made up for the difference as the Patriots won, 24–14, to advance to their second Super Bowl appearance in three seasons.

The Colts had a great opportunity to score when cornerback David Macklin recovered a fumble from receiver Bethel Johnson three plays after the free kick, giving Indianapolis a first down on the Patriots 41-yard line.

Antowain Smith then rushed four times for 53 yards on New England's next possession, advancing the ball to the Colts 3-yard line where Vinatieri kicked his fourth field goal.