Former Panthers amazed the Tom Brady who beat them is still going strong

[Sir Purr]

"Back then, it was easy to say it was all Belichick," Buckner, now the defensive line coach in Arizona, said. "It's all about the system, and at the time, Tom looked like another one of the guys Bill would plug and play. Little did we know, . . .


"In 2003, we might have thought we lost to Bill Belichick, and it was because he was scheming out the ying-yang. Now you realize Tom was a much bigger part of all their success than you ever thought at the time."


Of course, there's also the matter that the Panthers were convinced they were going to be the ones creating something bigger.


That belief was justified at the time.


They won nine games in the regular season by a touchdown or less, with Delhomme taking over at halftime of the opener and leading a comeback over the Jaguars, setting the stage for the entire season.


That magic continued in the playoffs, with Delhomme's pass to Smith on the first play of double overtime sending them to a win at heavily favored St. Louis, followed by an unexpected handling of Andy Reid's Eagles, who would go to the Super Bowl the following year (to lose to Brady and the Patriots, naturally).


Oddly enough, during interviews this week, both Buckner and Delhomme mentioned reserve defensive tackle Shane Burton, who blocked an Adam Vinatieri field goal in the second quarter.


"I was getting my mind ready for overtime," Delhomme said of Brady's final drive. "I was fully expecting Shane Burton to block the last field goal, and then we were going to win in OT."