Carolina Panthers 2003 NFC Football Championship Ring
The 2003 Carolina Panthers season was the ninth season for the team in the National Football League. They improved on their 7–9 record from 2002, and made it to the playoffs for the second time in franchise history.
The season would be a huge success. The Panthers would go a surprising 11–5 to earn the #3 seat in the NFC Playoffs. They would defeat the Dallas Cowboys 29–10 in the Wild Card playoffs. The next week in St. Louis, the game would go to double overtime and on the first play of the second overtime, Steve Smith caught a pass by Jake Delhomme and took it 69 yards into the endzone to put an end to the game.
In the Conference Championship game, the Panthers traveled to Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia to play the Eagles who were in their 3rd straight conference championship game, but had yet to win one. The Panthers would continue the story with a 14–3 victory, which was dominated by Ricky Manning's three interceptions that kept the Eagles at bay.
The Panthers, for the first time in franchise history, advanced to the Super Bowl, but lost 32-29 to the Tom Brady-led New England Patriots.