Carolina Panthers Super Bowl rankings versus NFL history

How the Carolina Panthers two Super Bowl appearances matchup against the other 50 history making games…

Carolina Panthers fans have enjoyed a fair amount of success in just 23 seasons. A relatively young NFL franchise, the Panthers have already played in two Super Bowl games and made eight playoff appearances.

While impressive, the Panthers have yet to bring a championship to Charlotte or even record consecutive winning seasons but expectations are high both can be accomplished next year. A core group of individuals are returning to Carolina in key positions but their window of opportunity may be closing soon.

Veteran linebacker Thomas Davis and center Ryan Kalil have already announced their plans to retire after next season and everyone is awaiting to hear if defensive end Julius Peppers will return. In addition, other key components to their recent success – tight end Greg Olsen, running back Jonathan Stewart along with defensive ends Charles Johnson and Mario Addison are all 30-years old or older.

All of these individuals contributed to the Panthers historic 2015 season which finished with a disappointing Super Bowl loss to Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos. It wasn’t the greatest Super Bowl of all-time but for many Panthers fans it obviously has to rank higher than where NFL analyst Elliot Harrison has the game slotted.

Worse than half of the Super Bowl games in history, number 50 is number 30 according to the Harrison rankings. He offered the following comments about the game.

"While Super Bowl 50 was the golden anniversary of pro football’s biggest game, it was far from a shining reflection of the NFL’s best product. The promise of a defensive slugfest in the first half morphed into are-the-Panthers-ever-going-to-mount-a-serious-drive in the second. … Cam Newton’s questionable effort in the late stages was followed by his much-maligned postgame demeanor. Juxtaposed with all of this was one of the all-time great quarterbacks walking off into the pizza sunset, Lombardi Trophy in hand."

The other Panthers appearance ranks higher on the all-time list but for fans hurt just as bad, maybe worse. A year after finishing 7-9, the Panthers won 11 games and the NFC South division before beating the Dallas Cowboys on wild-card weekend at home.

Riding a wave of momentum, quarterback Jake Delhomme led the Panthers to their first ever Super Bowl appearance in franchise history against the New England Patriots. After trailing 14-10 at halftime, a furious fourth quarter saw Carolina tie the game at 29 with just over one minute remaining.

Destined for overtime the ensuing kickoff was hooked straight out of bounds by Panthers kicker John Kasay giving the Patriots excellent field position. Quarterback Tom Brady completed a 17-yard pass on third down and Adam Vinatieri kicked a 41-yard field goal for the lead with just four seconds remaining. Patriots win, Panthers lose.

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Harrison ranks this as one of the ten best Super Bowl games to have ever occurred and fellow analyst Gil Brandt offered the following about game No. 9 on the list.

"“The Patriots-Panthers Super Bowl had a slow first half and a great second half. Neither team could get going in the first half. But in the second, each team exchanged touchdowns and put up a lot of points. And, of course, then the Panthers kicked off and it went out of bounds … that was a huge play.”"

Both were epic games in the history of Panthers football and despite the disappointing outcomes remain memorable and a sense of pride for the team. As a fan, hoisting the Lombardi Trophy next season would be worth suffering through the prior two losses.

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Seeing Davis, Kalil, Peppers and probably others if it happens, ride into the sunset as champions would be a fitting conclusion to their careers.

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