Today in 2003 - Carolina Panthers vs Atlanta Falcons

Today in 2003, the Carolina Panthers invaded the Georgia Dome to take on the Atlanta Falcons in a Week 14 divisional contest.

After a scoreless first quarter, T.J. Duckett got Atlanta on the board in the second quarter with a 9 yard touchdown run.  Carolina answered with a 16 yard touchdown pass from Jake Delhomme to Jermaine Wiggins.  The score was tied 7-7 at halftime.

Stephen Davis provided the only score in the third quarter with a 1 yard touchdown run.  The Panthers led 14-7.

In the fourth quarter, the Falcons also had the only score on a 1 yard touchdown run by Michael Vick.  The game went to overtime.

In the overtime period, Carolina had possession, but Kevin Mathis intercepted a Delhomme pass and scored the winning touchdown.  The Atlanta Falcons beat the Carolina Panthers 20-14.

For the Panthers, Jake Delhomme passed 12-25 for 153 yards, with a touchdown and 2 interceptions.  Stephen Davis rushed 24 times for 81 yards and a touchdown.  Steve Smith had 7 receptions for 66 yards.  Deon Grant, Julius Peppers, and Dante Wesley each recorded a sack.

For the Falcons, Michael Vick passed 16-33 for 179 yards and an interception.  He ran 14 times for 141 yards and a touchdown.  T.J. Duckett had 17 rushes for 59 yards and a touchdown.  Alge Crumpler had 5 receptions for 57 yards.  Peerless Price had 4 catches, also for 57 yards.  Ellis Johnson had a sack and Kevin Mathis had the winning Pick 6.

Atlanta went to 3-10 with the win.  They finished the season at 5-11, fourth in NFC South.  Carolina fell to 8-5 with the loss.  They finished the season at 11-5, NFC South Champions.  They went on the play in Super Bowl XXXVIII, losing to the New England Patriots on a last minute field goal.

Trivia

• This was Wade Phillips’ first game as interim head coach of the Falcons, because Dan Reeves was fired earlier that week.  Phillips went 3-1 in that stretch.
  
• This was John Fox’s second season coaching the Panthers.  He was head coach from 2002-10 and is now the head coach of the Denver Broncos.
  
• This was Phillips’ second time as an interim coach.  He was first an interim coach with the New Orleans Saints in 1985 after his father, Bum Phillips resigned.  Wade went 1-3 that year. 
  
• As featured in other posts, Phillips was the head coach of the Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, and Dallas Cowboys.  Today, he is the defensive coordinator of the Houston Texans.
  
• Panthers offensive coordinator Dan Henning was the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons from 1983-86 and the San Diego Chargers from 1989-91.  He never achieved more than seven wins in any given season.
  
• Henning was a backup quarterback for the San Diego Chargers in 1966.
  
• Carolina defensive back Ricky Manning played in the Minnesota Twins’ farm system from 1999-2002.
  
• The Panthers went to overtime five times that season, including the playoffs.  This was their only overtime loss.
  
• The Falcons went to overtime twice.  They won this game and lost to the New Orleans Saints three weeks earlier.

Here are some historical scores on this day for teams facing each other this week, on December 7,

1975 – Pittsburgh 31 – Cleveland 17

2003 – San Francisco 50 – Arizona 14

2006 – Pittsburgh 27 – Cleveland 7

2008 – Minnesota 20 – Detroit 16

Game stats can be found on Pro-Football-Reference.com at Carolina Panthers vs Atlanta Falcons - December 7, 2003.