January 18, 2004: Carolina Panthers 14, Philadelphia Eagles 3
The 2004 Panthers under head coach John Fox were just two seasons away from a 1-15 disaster of a season in 2002, but under Fox, an underrated defense, running back Stephen Davis, and the aerial attack of Jake Delhomme to Steve Smith and Muhsin Muhammad allowed an impressive re-engineering. Still, the Panthers were road dogs to an Eagles team that had been in, and lost, the previous two NFC Championship games. Andy Reid’s third-straight such loss came about primarily through the efforts of cornerback Ricky Manning, who came away with three interceptions on the day. Philly quarterbacks Donovan McNabb and Koy Detmer combined for four picks, and the Eagles would have to wait one more year for their Super Bowl trip. Not that things went any better for the Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII — they played the Patriots close, but lost on a last-second 41-yard field goal from Adam Vinatieri.