Last night, the Panthers became the only undefeated team in the NFL when the Patriots lost to the Broncos.
Today, they get to celebrate their anniversary.
As pointed out by Bill Voth of Black and Blue Review, it was one year ago today, Nov.30, 2014, when the Panthers last lost a regular season game.
That was an ugly 31-13 defeat at Minnesota, a result which dropped them to 3-8-1.
While that might have ended many seasons, the Panthers kept going, winning their last four games to finish 7-8-1 and go to the playoffs as NFC South division champions.
Coupled with this year’s 11-0 start, that’s 15 straight regular season wins.
That leaves them five games clear of Atlanta for the NFC South title with five to play, and two games up on Arizona in the chase for home field advantage in the playoffs.
Their remaining schedule is favorable, too, with this week’s trip to 4-7 New Orleans followed by a home game against the 6-5 Falcons, trips to the 5-6 Giants and Falcons before their finale against the 5-6 Buccaneers.
So while the possibility of going 16-0 is tantalizing, the Panthers and their fans should also stop to enjoy the fact that any disappointment being felt in Boston today (or half the NFL) is something they haven’t had to endure in a year.