Photo by Kirby Lee/Getty Images
Pat Lane and Matt St. Jean relive New England’s 2 AFC playoff games, against both MVP’s, McNair’s Titans and Manning’s Colts
Twenty-one years ago, the
New England Patriots completed the most dominant streak in the history of the NFL, finishing with 21 wins in a row across two seasons. Since it was such a dominant run, we have decided to take a look back at each one of the games.
This is the seventh in the series, so expect a ton more to come, and make sure to follow along
on YouTube for the accompanying videos for each game as well.
Today, let’s take a look at Wins No. 13 and 14.
Win No. 13: Patriots 17, Titans 14
2003 AFC ddivisional round | Jan. 10, 2004, 8:15 p.m. ET | Gillette Stadium
Setting the scene: A week earlier, the Associated Press had named both
Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair and
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning co-MVPs of the 2003 NFL season. Both led their teams to victories in the wild card round of the playoffs, meaning that the fifth-seeded Titans were coming to Foxborough with the third-seeded Colts headed to Kansas City.
Fresh off a bye week, the Patriots were ready to host the Titans following their win in Baltimore. Unlike the meeting between these teams in Foxborough earlier that season — a
38-30 win that kicked off the win current win streak — this game would be played at bone-chilling temperatures. The high that Saturday was 13 degrees Fahrenheit, but by the time the game kicked off that night, it had dropped to just 8 degrees with winds gusting up to 31 miles per hour.
By the end of the game, the wind chill dropped to more than 20 degrees below 0.
Game breakdown: The first meeting between these teams in the 2003 regular season finished as a scoring frenzy; the second half featured five lead changes and no punts with the defenses hanging on for dear life. While the weather was different for the AFC divisional playoff game, the offenses picked up right where they left off.
Tennessee got the opening kickoff, and an early false start would set up a 3rd-and-13 on the game’s first set of downs. The Patriots brought an all-out blitz, and Titans receiver Drew Bennett got wide open behind the defense for what could have been a walk-in 65-yard score. Instead, McNair’s throw sailed, and the Titans were forced to punt.
Tom Brady was faced with a 3rd-and-5 on his first possession, but he hit Kevin Faulk matched up one-on-one with a linebacker for a 19-yard gain. Now in Tennessee territory, the Patriots once again saw a third-and-medium. Brady did not like the look from the defense and called timeout to change the play. It worked. Rookie wide receiver Bethel Johnson got behind the defense, and Brady hit him in stride for a 41-yard touchdown as the Patriots scored a touchdown on their opening drive for the fourth consecutive game.
Tennessee would answer quickly. Completions to Derrick Mason and Drew Bennett put the Titans on the edge of the red zone, and a roughing the passer penalty on Richard Seymour moved them inside the 10. Two Chris Brown runs later, and the Titans had tied it up.
Two plays into the next possession, the Patriots were back on Tennessee’s side of the field. Brady connected with Dedric Ward for a 22-yard gain, and then a few plays later he would find Christian Fauria for 9 yards on 4th-and-1. A Tom Ashworth false start helped stall the drive there, though, and Adam Vinatieri was unable to convert from 44 yards out in the frigid conditions.
Steve McNair tried to take advantage of the miss, but instead he coughed it up. On the game’s next play, he tried to find tight end Shad Meier down the right sideline. Instead, he found safety Rodney Harrison, and New England got the ball right back.
New England was quickly faced with a 3rd-and-13. Brady dumped it off to Johnson over the middle who ran to the right side trying to get around the corner. Unable to find a lane, he cut it back all the way across the field to the left side trying to get a first down. With safety Lance Schulters bearing down on him, it was Brady who would throw the key block to allow Johnson to get up the field and secure a new set of downs. Brady found Fauria for a 14-yard gain to get the Patriots into the red zone, and Antowain Smith would score from a yard out a few plays later to put New England back on top.
McNair and Mason would connect three times on the next possession as Tennessee drove into scoring range, but a Willie McGinest sack would push them back and force them to punt. After New England was forced to punt, Mason would again move the Titans into Patriots territory. Chris Brown’s 13-yard run would set up Gary Anderson for a 31-yard field goal with about a minute left in the first half, but Richard Seymour wasn’t having it. He blocked the attempt, and the Patriots went into halftime leading 14-7.
After New England’s opening drive of the second half stopped before midfield, the Titans were able to tie the game on their first possession. McNair found rookie wideout Tyrone Calico, the receiver who had burned New England in the first meeting, for a 30-yard completion on 3rd-and-6. He found Justin McCareins on third down for 10 yards to move into the red zone. Then, he hit Mason for an 11-yard score. The drive took nearly 8 minutes, and now the game was tied late in the third quarter.
Tennessee appeared to retain momentum when Kevin Carter forced a Daniel Graham fumble on New England’s next drive. That gave Tennessee the ball at their own 47 with a chance to take the lead. Jeff Fisher dialed up a double pass, but Willie McGinest snuffed it out: he sacked Frank Wycheck for a 10-yard loss on the first play of the next series, and the Titans were forced to punt.
The Patriots were starting their next possession from their own 5. Antowain Smith took the ball for 17 yards on the last play of the third quarter, digging them out of that hole before Brady dinked and dunked over midfield behind completions to Kevin Faulk, David Givens, and Deion Branch, plus a run of his own. The drive would stall inside the Titans 40-yard line, and a Ken Walter punt would pin the visitors at their 7. Tennessee went on to pick up one first down, but a McGinest sack helped force a punt that Troy Brown returned back to the Tennessee 40. Now, with under 7 minutes left in the game, the Patriots had their chance to break the tie.
Runs by Smith and Faulk helped set up a 3rd-and-3 for the New England offense, but Brady’s throw to Larry Centers down the left sideline went incomplete. Faced with a crucial fourth down, Bill Belichick kept his offense on the field. The Patriots put Brady in the shotgun with an empty backfield, letting him choose his matchups. He went with Troy Brown in the slot, who picked up 4 yards on a quick out for the conversion. They would face 3rd-and-8 on the next set of downs from the Tennessee 27, and Brady would hit a wide-open Daniel Graham down the seam with a pass rusher in his face. Unfortunately, Graham dropped it.
Now, Vinatieri faced a 46-yard field goal attempt — 2 yards longer than the one he missed earlier and with the temperature dropping. This time, he squeaked it through as the Patriots went ahead 17-14 with just over four minutes to play.
Once again, the Patriots had a late lead on the Titans with their defense needing a stop. Once again, the defense would deliver, but not without some heroics from Tennessee first.
McNair opened the drive with an 11-yard completion to Justin McCareins. Then, on the next play he found Bennett who was falling out of bounds. New England challenged the completion, but it was upheld correctly as a 13-yard gain. McNair would take the next play himself, picking up 12 yards on the ground as Tennessee’s offense reached the New England 40-yard line. However, McNair took a shot from Asante Samuel on the play, and as the game stopped for the 2-minute warning after a 7-yard gain by Mason on the following play, it was clear McNair was in pain.
Seeing that Tennessee’s quarterback was hobbled, Belichick dialed up an aggressive blitz. On 2nd-and-3, the Patriots got multiple free rushers and McNair threw it away. He was flagged for intentional grounding, moving the Titans back 10 yards. The blitz came again on 3rd-and-13, drawing a holding penalty from Titans guard Benji Olsen for another 10-yard loss and re-play of down. Tennessee would regain that with an 11-yard completion to Bennett along the sideline, setting up 4th-and-12 with the game on the line.
Rodney Harrison came through the line of scrimmage free on the game’s pivotal play, forcing McNair into a final, desperate heave. The ball came down into the hands of Drew Bennett, but he bobbled it before a sea of Patriots defenders converged on him. Asante Samuel knocked the pass to the grass, and New England was headed to the AFC Championship Game for a second time in three years.
Game Highlights:
Other game notes: This was pretty much the last gasp for the Jeff Fisher-Steve McNair Titans. They won 13 games and made the Super Bowl in 1999, won 13 again in 2000, won 11 in 2002 with a loss in the AFC Championship, and then 12 in 2003. Tennessee would win just nine games over the next two seasons combined, and they moved on from McNair for Vince Young.
Elsewhere in sports: The 2003 playoffs were wild. The wild card round featured Matt Hasselbeck’s hot mic moment in Green Bay, declaring the
Seahawks wanted the ball and were going to score when they won the coin toss in overtime. They did not score on their first possession, and their second ended with an Al Harris pick-six off Hasselbeck to end the game.
New England’s game was the second in the divisional round, and the first ended a few minutes after the game in Foxboro had kicked off. After the St. Louis Rams overcame an 11-point deficit in the final 3 minutes of regulation, Jake Delhomme found Steve Smith for a walk-off 69-yard touchdown on the first play of the second overtime.
The following day, the Colts finished their second punt-less game of the playoffs with a win at Kansas City. Then, Donovan McNabb founnd Freddie Mitchell for 28 yards on 4th-and-26 as the Eagles drove down the field to tie the
Packers with a field goal at the end of regulation; a Brian Dawkins overtime interception would set up David Akers for the game winner as the Eagles advanced to the NFC Championship.
Win No. 14: Patriots 24, Colts 14
2003 AFC Championship Game | Jan. 18, 2004 3:00 pm. ET | Gillette Stadium
Setting the scene: The Colts came into this game having scored 79 combined points in their first two playoff games, and their punter, Hunter Smith, had only been on the field to hold for extra points and field goal attempts. Captained by co-MVP Peyton Manning, they looked like the most formidable offense left in the playoffs.
Their first matchup with the Patriots was a barn burner, and one that
the Colts almost won. The Patriots came in having won 13 straight, and just holding the other co-MVP, Steve McNair, and the Titans to 14 points.
This would be the fourth matchup between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, and Manning was looking for his first win of the series. It was a cold and snowy night, which was certainly an advantage to the Patriots against an indoors-team like the Colts.
Game breakdown: The Patriots, for the fifth consecutive game, scored a touchdown on their opening drive. The Colts, who hadn’t punted in their first two playoff contests, were on their way to tying the game when Rodney Harrison picked Peyton Manning off in the end zone.
What did the 2003 Patriots do when they forced a turnover? They scored, of course.
The Patriots went on their second 13-play drive of the game, this one ending in a field goal. On the very next play, Ty Law recorded his first of three interceptions against Manning on the day, a leaping one-handed pick. Once again, the Patriots responded with a scoring drive, this time an 11-play series that again ended in a field goal.
On their ensuing possession, the Colts were forced to punt for the first time in three games. They showed their rust, however, and the ball was snapped over punter Hunter Smith’s head, who kicked it out of the back of the end zone for a safety.
The Patriots now led 15-0, and had dominated the Colts to this point. On the next drive, however, the momentum would swing to the Colts: as Bethel Johnson fumbled the ball, giving the Colts possession at the Patriots 41 yard line. Five plays later, with the Colts already in field goal range, Rodney Harrison stripped Marvin Harrison with a perfectly placed hit, and the Patriots would end the half with a kneel-down and their shutout intact.
People forget how close that game got in the second half. The Colts really ate into the deficit, and the Patriots did not have a single third down conversion the entire half.
The half started when the visitors, who had been struggling to do anything in the first half, marched down the field via a 12-play, 52-yard drive to make it a two-score, 15-7 game. The Patriots respond with a solid drive of their own, but they end up not being able to convert on third down, and had to settle for a field goal instead, stretching the lead back to 11.
The Patriots defense then forced a three-and-out, and, after another Adam Vinatieri field goal, Ty Law picked Manning off again. Up 21-7 at that point, the Patriots started with the ball at the Indy 31 late in the third quarter. Unfortunately, after Christian Fauria dropped a touchdown on second down, Brady was picked off in the end zone on third down and the Colts got the ball back.
Indianapolis took the ball from their 20 after the touchback and moved into field goal range, but Manning threw yet another interception to Ty Law — this one on fourth down — and the Patriots were back in possession again. They also were back to struggling offensively: the unit failed to pick up a first down and only burned two minutes off the clock.
When Indy got the ball back with 6:30 left, they finally make the Patriots pay, scored a touchdown, and cut the lead to 21-14 with 2:25 left.
The Patriots did recover the ensuing onside kick, but only wasted 12 seconds off the clock thanks to two incompletions by Brady, plus Ken Walter failing to pin them deep, instead kicking the ball into the end zone for a touchback. The Colts got the ball back with two timeouts and the two-minute warning remaining, down only a touchdown and extra point. They had 80 yards to go, but Manning had done crazier things.
This time, however, he didn’t complete a pass, and four incompletions later the Patriots took over with great field position. They didn’t do anything with the ball, but they also did not have to: Vinatieri made it a 10-point game with 55 seconds left and the Colts having no timeouts.
(There was a moment of speculating that Brady fumbled on third down, but his knee was clearly down, so the Patriots kept possession and made it a two-score game.)
The Colts wouldn’t pass the Patriots 30 yard line, and Brady took a knee to end it. The Patriots were going back to their second Super Bowl in three years, and had now won 14 games in a row.
Game highlights:
Other game notes: Manning would eventually beat Brady during their career (though the final tally was 11-6 in favor of Brady). In fact, there of his fourr Super Bowl appearances, and both his wins, came after defeating Brady in the AFC Championship Game. On this snowy night in 2004, however, it seemed as though the Patriots were destined to dominate Manning and the Colts forever.
Neither team could run the ball in this game, neither team could consistently convert on third down (5-for-15 for the Pats and 5-for-14 for the Colts), and Manning and Brady actually finished with exactly the same number of passing yards, 237. The biggest difference between the two teams, and the reason the Patriots won: Manning’s four interceptions to Brady’s one, as well as the fourth down conversions; the Patriots were 2-for-2 and the Colts were 3-for-7.
Elsewhere in sports: The Panthers continued their magical run to the Super Bowl by knocking off the best team in the NFC, the Eagles. Donovan McNabb, who had been absolutely incredible the week before, got banged up in this one and just wasn’t the same; he ended up throwing for only 100 yards and three interceptions, with Koy Detmer adding another pick for good measure.
The Panthers won the game 14-3 to set up a matchup with the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVIII. Two offensives that were inconsistent, but could be explosive, and two physically and mentally tough defenses — it was going to be a great matchup, and one that certainly did not disappoint.
