ST. LOUIS -- When nerves should be frayed and the ball tough to grip, the Carolina Panthers feel right at home.
Charles Rex Arbogast, Associated PressCarolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith looks skyward after reaching the end zone with the winning touchdown pass on the first play of the second overtime against the Rams in and NFC playoff game at St. Louis.
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Even in a dome where visitors hardly ever win.
After blowing an 11-point lead in the final 2:39, the Panthers defeated the St. Louis Rams, 29-23, in double overtime last night on Steve Smith's 69-yard touchdown reception. That capped one of the wildest, most thrilling finishes in NFL history, and sent the sellout crowd home in stunned silence at the Rams' first playoff loss in the deafening dome.
Carolina, 10-3 in games decided by six points or fewer this season, advanced to the NFC championship game against the winner of today's Green Bay-Philadelphia contest.
"We've been in so many and we just believe we can get it done in some kind of way," Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme said after his pass found Smith in the seams of a zone. "I think the biggest thing is we stayed calm. Our guys don't take a deep breath and hope."
But the Panthers, in the playoffs for only the second time, made it plenty difficult in a back-and-forth game featuring momentum swings with just about every possession.
"It's what we went through all year," said Panthers receiver Ricky Proehl, a former Ram. "We've had so many tight games, we just keep fighting."
After St. Louis rallied to tie the score in regulation on a touchdown run by Marshall Faulk, a 2-point conversion, an onside kick recovered by kicker Jeff Wilkins and a 33-yard field goal by Wilkins, Carolina nearly won it on the first possession of overtime.
The Panthers took the kickoff and moved to the Rams 22. John Kasay made a 40-yard field goal, but the Panthers were called for delay of game. The offense came back for two running plays and Kasay, the last original Panther, was wide right from 45 yards.
Wilkins was short on a 53-yard attempt for St. Louis, and the Rams then forced a punt. With St. Louis moving, rookie Ricky Manning Jr., wrestled a pass away from Torry Holt for an interception at the Carolina 38.
"We fought so hard," Manning said, "we had to win that game."
Three plays later, on the first snap of the second overtime, they did. Smith caught a third-and-14 pass, then outran St. Louis' Jason Sehorn to the end zone to win the fifth-longest game in league history.
"I just beat the safety and Jake threw one of those pretty balls that he does in the last minute, like he always does," Smith said. Carolina also snapped a 14-game home winning streak for the Rams in the Edward Jones Dome, which fell eerily silent as Smith raced to the end zone.
The place couldn't have been louder in the final minutes of regulation. Up by 11 points, Carolina had Kasay try a 54-yard field goal, which hit the left upright with 6:29 remaining.
That sparked the Rams, who were outplayed most of the game.
Faulk capped a 15-play drive with a 1-yard run with 2:39 left and Marc Bulger's pass to Dane Looker for the conversion made it 23-20. Wilkins then recovered the onside kick that set up his tying field goal as regulation expired.
Coach Mike Martz played for the tie, confident the Rams' home-field advantage would come through. "I felt like if we could get it into overtime, we would win this game. I was very sure about the decision and don't regret the decision," Martz said.
The Panthers, 4-0 in overtime, got a controversial first-half touchdown on Muhsin Muhammad's fumble recovery in the end zone, and a 7-yard touchdown run by Brad Hoover with 8:50 remaining, plus Kasay's three field goals.
Carolina used the strong running of backup DeShaun Foster and some timely defensive stops to take control. Foster, in place of injured Stephen Davis, ran for 95 yards, keeping the Rams off-balance all day.
Davis left with a quadriceps injury after a 64-yard second-quarter run.
Delhomme, growing more comfortable with each playoff outing, was 16 for 26 for 290 yards, including the winning pass under the most difficult of circumstances.
Bulger was 27 for 46 for 332 yards but had three interceptions. "It's the toughest loss of my career," he said. "I still can't believe we lost that game now."
The reaction on the other side of the field also mirrored the tension of the seesaw game.
"Just look at this hair," Carolina coach John Fox said, pointing to his silver mane. "I've never seen a game quite like that and there were as big of peaks and lows as you can have in a football game."
First Published: January 11, 2004, 5:00 a.m.