New England Patriots were playing against the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII, which was their second appearance in three years. The game was played on February 1, 2004 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas, home of the host team Houston Texans, in its second season as the league's newest expansion team. The game was broadcast on CBS in the United States with Greg Gumbel and Phil Simms calling the action. Vinatieri missed a 31 yard field goal on the Patriots' first possession, and had a 36 yard attempt blocked by Shane Burton with six minutes left in the second quarter. But three plays later, Mike Vrabel sacked Jake Delhomme and forced him to fumble. Richard Seymour recovered at the Panthers' 20, and a 12 yard scramble by Tom Brady on third and 7 set up his 5 yard touchdown pass to Deion Branch with three minutes and five seconds left in the first half. The Panthers responded with an 8 play, 95 yard drive capped by Delhomme's 39 yard perfectly placed touchdown pass to Steve Smith with one minute left in the half.

Delhomme beat the blitz by lofting the pass deep down the left sideline. Brady's 52 yard pass to Branch with 37 seconds left in the half set up David Givens' 5 yard touchdown catch with 18 seconds left. New England squibbed the ensuing kickoff and Kris Mangum returned it 12 yards to the Panthers' 47. A 21 yard run by Stephen Davis set up John Kasay's 50 yard field goal as the half expired for a 14-10 New England lead. Neither team scored in the third quarter, but Antowain Smith's 2 yard touchdown run two plays into the final quarter capped a 71-yard drive and gave the Patriots a 21-10 lead. Undaunted, Carolina scored on its next two possessions. First, Delhomme completed passes of 18 and 22 yards to Smith to set up DeShaun Foster's 33 yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 21-16 with twelve and a half minutes to play. Carolina went for the 2 point conversion, but Delhomme's pass was incomplete. New England marched to the Panthers' 9 with the ensuing kickoff, but Reggie Howard intercepted Brady's third and goal pass in the end zone. Two plays later, Delhomme rolled left and fired a Super Bowl record 85 yard touchdown pass to Muhammad for a 22-21 lead with less then seven minutes left.

Once again, the Panthers went for 2 points and Delhomme's pass was incomplete. New England drove 68 yards on its next possession, with Givens catching a 25 yard pass and 18 yard pass on third and 9, to set up Brady's 1 yard touchdown pass to Vrabel, who was lined up as a tight end. A direct snap to Kevin Faulk resulted in a 2 point conversion for a 29-22 lead with less then three minutes left. Delhomme completed passes of 19 yards to Muhammad and 31 yards to Ricky Proehl before finding Proehl from 12 yards with the tying touchdown with one minute remaining. Kasay's ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, giving New England the ball at their own 40. Five plays later, faced with third and 3 from the Panthers' 40 with 14 seconds left, Tom Brady fired a 17 yard pass to Branch to set up Vinatieri's Super Bowl winning 41 yard field goal. Tom Brady, who was named the Super Bowl most valuable player for the second time in his career, was 32 of 48 for 354 yards and 3 touchdowns with 1 interception. Branch had 10 receptions for 143 yards. Delhomme was 16 of 33 for 323 yards and 3 touchdowns, and Muhammad had 4 catches for 140 yards. Adam Vinatieri kicked a 41 yard field goal with four seconds remaining as the Patriots won their second Super Bowl in three seasons.

While it took a Super Bowl record 26 minutes and 55 seconds for the first points to be scored, the teams combined for 868 yards (481 by New England) and the game also featured the highest scoring quarter (combined 37 points in the fourth). For the second straight year, the teams were introduced as a team after highlights were shown on the telecast and in stadium.