The Panthers Vs Back to Back Winning Seasons
My absolute favorite fun fact about the Carolina Panthers: The Carolina Panthers have never had two winning seasons back to back. Despite this, the Panthers have won 3 division titles in a row.
I love that fact. I love it. It sounds literally impossible but they still did it, going 7-8-1 that one season and actually winning a playoff game when they got to face Ryan Lindley and the Cardinals in the wildcard round. The NFC South was a complete joke that season. So the Panthers have one of the crazier team statistics in NFL history. Last year they were a playoff team. This year, they finally looked primed to beat the streak. They started 6-2. The South was always going to run through the Saints, but the Falcons had fallen off the bus and gotten hurt and the Bucs were a bust. They could easily sneak into a wildcard spot. Hell, at 6-2, they were only one game behind the Saints. A couple of lucky breaks and they could pull it off.
The Panthers have now lost 5 straight games. They are now 6-7. Two of their remaining games are against the 11-2 Saints. The other is against the Falcons. They have to win all 3 to earn a winning record. The Panthers have a rotted curse upon them and this will not be the year they exorcise it. If they do manage to do it, I am officially the reason why. The universe is specifically out to prove me wrong.
I’m sure readers might recognize this comic template, and that’s because I think this week is special in that not only did it honor this particular curse, it also honored the other two curses I have used this template for. The Steelers once again faced a bad team on the road and then ate shit at the last second. The Patriots once again went to Miami and then ate shit at the literal last second. Twas an absolute stellar week for glorious football schadenfreude. Honestly this week was amazing and you could write an entire book about it. The Miracle in Miami. Big Ben goes 0-4 in Oakland. The Skins go down 40-0 and send out Josh Johnson. The Browns air it out against the Panthers. The Dallas/Eagles crazy ending. The Bears shutdown the Rams. Joe Philbin uses both challenges within 2 minutes of the game’s start. Pat Mahomes throwing goddamn no-look passes. Derek Henry. Great week of football.
Are there any other bizarre fun facts that would fit this comic template? I’ve been trying to think of some. Basically anything that always randomly acts as an Achilles heel for some team. Maybe if the Chiefs fuck up in the playoffs thanks to bad clock management by Andy Reid that can be the next one.
Why do my Falcons have to regress so far. Sure injuries happened but the defense just decided to not have a next man up. Smh
would have suggested this template for the super bowl li outcome (& make the midroad villain simply be “super bowl”) but daves comic for that aftermath was even better
I have a theory on the falcons: the offense really needs o-line help and the defense went too small in the front 7. When I saw them draft Calvin Ridley, I initially wondered why they would draft a WR3 when Matt Ryan can throw to anyone as long as he has time. That line has been a consistent pain point over the past 5 years, and the one year their line played above average they went to the Superbowl.
Their defense has a ton of injuries but they also drafted a bunch of smaller quicker guys up front, and while that’s not a bad tactic in today’s NFL, most teams are doing this by rotating guys in a ton so the smaller players don’t get exhausted as easy. With their
injuries they can’t afford to do that so they can’t stop the run unless they commit 8 in the box and because of that teams just pass all over them. It also doesn’t help that their two best tacklers were injured for a majority of the year.
“The Panthers have now lost 5 straight games. They are now [7-6]…”
Dave, given the importance of numbers regarding this hilarious material, I think you have to rectify that little bit… Also, is it just me being sleepy, or is something wrong with the mouseover text? It reads weird and I don’t get it.
In any case, I remember the Panthers being 6-2 very vividly. It was all because of that that a month ago, their game against Pittsburgh got so much hype. Steelers were on the upswing after a horrible start to the season and the Panthers were coasting on a 3-win streak. Gonna be great prime time football!
Well, then the Steelers absolutely shellacked them at home, forcing Cam to avoid a safety by throwing a pick-6 and giving Big Ben his 4th career perfect passer rating game, tying old Peyton for having the most such games.
Who would have thought that, a month later, the Panthers’ season would be basically over and the Steelers would be in very real danger of missing the playoffs by losing the division to the Ravens? NFL seasons are great.
“Are there any other bizarre fun facts that would fit this comic template? I’ve been trying to think of some.”
Regarding just the NFL, right?
Kirk Cousins vs. Monday Night Football
Vikings vs. Crucial FG situations
Can’t think of a lot, really.
It’s what we call a garden path sentence. You interpret the “something” to be a part of the expression “dead or something”, but you need to rewire your interpretation of the sentence to realize that the “something” is connected to “something in his shoulder is”. Basically, it’s not “[Cam is dead or something] in his shoulder is”, it’s “[Cam is dead] or [something in his shoulder is (dead)]”.
Guess I really must have been drowsy when I posted that, since now I look at the mouseover text again and it’s completely understandable, even without the explanation. Then again, something at the back of my mind tells me that the mouseover text wasn’t originally that, but marginally changed. Dave did correct the 7-6 to 6-7 so it’s not a wild speculation, either, though unlikely of course… Some kind of personal, mini-Mandela Effect I guess?
At any rate, with the onset of certain news, I am proud to present one more bizarre fun fact that would fit this comic template.
Brandon Marshall vs. the NFL Playoffs.
I wonder which would be a a funnier topic for Dave to tackle for Friday’s comic? A (wacky, Dave-interpreted) timeline of B-Marsh’s career, or the final play at Pats@Phins with whatever the hell Gronk was doing on that final play?
PS. “NFL teams vs. Home stadium as the Super Bowl venue” might work as well. Could maybe be an excuse to draw the Falcons crashing their own truck, I guess. Maybe we could get every one of the 32 teams their own version!
No mention of George Kittle’s record-setting game? I mean, I get it. The Niners are kind of a joke in a division that would also be a joke if it weren’t for the Rams.
Rams are stellar, but Seahawks are pulling their weight this year. At 8-5, they’re 5th seed in the NFC and have a better record than the Steelers. Even if the Chiefs beat them, they’re still favored to hit 10-6 by the end.
Too bad he didn’t set the record
That actually makes it funnier. For those who didn’t watch, Kittle was sitting at five yards away from the record at half time… and then proceeded to not catch another pass for the rest of the game. Shannon Sharpe keeping his record was probably the only bright spot in the game as a Broncos fan… >.>
This comic is going to get re-done again and again and again. There are so many damn repeats in the league that you can find more source material to reprint this every single season
Oh and they pounded so hard, they destroyed the road in front of them, and thus as now stuck there waiting for a tow truck.
PS : Olsen. How many Injuries can one man get in a season. I think “Sand in his Mangina” is the only injury he hasnt been diagnosed with this year.
How about the 2015 Giants and the last two minutes of a game?
The Seahawks and running the ball on the 1yd line
The Panthers sure have an impressive shelf filled with Lombardis.
we don’t talk about that here
This comic template is always fun to me.
This template is by far the best template.
Also, you could use this one for Friday. The Chargers are 0-9 in the last 9 games against the Chiefs. I’m not saying they’re going to lose, but the odds are stacked against them. Plus, we probably won’t have Gordon or Ekeler so RIP in peace.
GRATS! Snatched victory from Mahomes. Smart move too. so officially 1-9 in the last 10 now. That looks……..just as bad really. Still, people think the Chargers are good and they beat a good team. So they lose out?
So, the Panthers are the NFL SF Giants?
Except the Giants actually won some titles.
REEEEE wheres my dolphins comic. it needs to happen before they suck and the hype dies down
Comics aren’t for the good teams, its the disasters that get all the coverage. I miss the many Sean Payton comics but I don’t miss the disaster that created them!
Something about that NFC South, man.
So the Panthers have never had back-to-back winning seasons.
The Saints went 20 years before their first winning season in 1987 (which they followed up with another in 1988).
The Buccaneers went 23 years (with 3 winning seasons) before they had back-to-back winning campaigns in 1999 and 2000.
And the Falcons existed once-famously for 42 years (!!!) before having their first back-to-back winning seasons in 08 and 09.
That Falcons stat is my fav
Out of those three on Sunday, Kuechly had a pretty good game. I think he was the only guy on defense that actually wanted to win after the first 25 minutes or so. McCaffrey had a good first quarter. And Cam had . . . a really nice suit. Seriously, I get drops happen, but 5/15 for 33 yards to anyone not named McCaffrey or Thomas in the second half? The Browns’ defense is good, but it’s not that good. Also, that was totally a sack-fumble. Incomplete pass my ass.
Just fire Rivera
Man, I wasn’t on the Fire Rivera train until after this last game. Everyone except McCaffrey, Kuechly, and TD were playing like a JV team.
Yeah same here. 5 game losing streak with the type of talent we have is just ridiculous.
If feel like this template would be perfect for the Texans and TY Hilton in NRG.
God I hate him, and I don’t know what to do about it.
I feel like until a few years ago “The Texans in Indianapolis” would have been a good fit, but they overcame that particular curse
Miami vs the Texans would be a belter. We’ve only beaten them once, and that took 12 years.
chargers kickers was good until just recently…
Don’t forget the Bengals & a playoff game.
How about an old school backstory comic where the Bills crashed into the Super Bowl 4 times??? I know how you enjoy drawing “Bills suck” comics
You can also wait for the Cowboys to blow it in the postseason