Panthers and Patriots head to Houston

The New England Patriots and the Carolina Panthers will meet at the Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas for Super Bowl XXXVIII.

The Patriots booked their spot in the NFL’s showpiece with a 24-14 win over the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship game, while the Panthers condemned the Philadelphia Eagles to a 14-3 defeat.

Ty Law was the hero for the Patriots, intercepting Colts quarterback Peyton Manning three times. Manning had not thrown an interception in the Colts’ previous play-off games and had been the driving force in their push for a place in Houston.

But the Patriots took his go-to-guy Marvin Harrison out of the game and then proceeded to beat up Manning himself. Jarvis Green had three of New England’s four sacks.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady hit David Givens for a seven yard touchdown pass to open the scoring with their only touchdown of the game. Reliable kicker Adam Vinatieri converted five field goals and their other two points came from a safety conceded by Colts punter Hunter Smith.

Edgerrin James went in from two yards and Manning connected with tight end Marcus Pollard on a seven-yard play to give the Colts their points.

While Peyton Manning crashed out of the playoffs, another Manning guided his Carolina Panthers to their first ever Super Bowl with a 14-3 win in Philadelphia.

Ricky Manning Jr matched Ty Laws’ efforts with three interceptions of his own as the Panthers mauled Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, who eventually left the game injured.

McNabb, Philadelphia’s Pro Bowl quarterback, was battered and bruised by the Panthers’ physical defence and the worst blow came in the second quarter when McNabb was hit in the ribs by Greg Favors after being sacked by Mike Rucker.

Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme connected with Muhsin Muhammad on a 24-yard scoring pass and DeShaun Foster went in from a yard out for Carolina. David Akers accounted for Philadelphia’s only points in the game with a 41-yard field goal.

With this defeat, Philadelphia became the first team to lose the NFC championship game in three consecutive seasons since the Dallas Cowboys turned in the dubious hat-trick from 1980-82.