The Arizona Cardinals travel to Charlotte this Sunday in what is a pivotal game against the Carolina Panthers. The Cards have playoff hopes and losing in Carolina would make them appear unlikely.
If they can win, they’re right back at .500 and have a chance to stay afloat in the NFC West race.
The Cardinals have struggled against the Panthers.
Including 3 postseason matchups, this will be the 20th time the two teams have played. The Panthers have dominated this series 14-5 and have won the last 6 meetings, including twice in the playoffs.
The Cardinals have not beaten the Panthers since 2013.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the previous three matchups between these two teams. Most Cardinals fans know it hasn’t been pretty against Carolina, which has many nervous for this game.
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2021 in Arizona: Panthers 34, Cardinals 10
This game was hideous.
The Cardinals were 8-1 in this game and the Panthers were a lowly 4-5. At this point, the Cards were still one of the best teams in football and the Panthers were far from their level.
Colt McCoy started this game for the Cardinals while Kyler Murray recovered from an ankle injury. The team was also without DeAndre Hopkins in this game.
McCoy fumbled and was picked off in the first quarter, and the Panthers scored the first 20 points of the game.
The Carolina defense absolutely dominated the Cardinals, holding them to only 169 yards of total offense.
Christian McCaffrey gutted the Arizona front seven, gaining 95 yards on only 13 carries.
P.J. Walker started this game but it was the first game back with the Panthers for Cam Newton. As he had many times in the past, Newton scored twice on the Cardinals.
Despite the injuries, it was still a tough outing for the Cards to lose that badly at home.
2020 in Carolina: Panthers 31, Cardinals 21
The box score is deceptive in this one. The game was never close.
The Cardinals showed major improvements in their first two games of the 2020 season but hit a wall with a home loss to the Lions in Week 3. They followed it up by getting blown out by the Panthers in Week 4.
The Panthers pass rush made it impossible for the Cardinals to get anything going offensively and Kyler Murray’s rushing threat was neutralized. He had three passing touchdowns but only 134 yards.
Teddy Bridgewater played an efficient game for the Panthers, throwing for 276 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for a touchdown.
The Cardinals were completely lost defensively and held almost no pressure on Bridgewater.
2019 in Arizona: Panthers 38, Cardinals 20
Coming in at 0-1-1, the Cardinals were encouraged by the start of the Kliff Kingsbury-Kyler Murray era, despite the lack of wins. They made a furious comeback against the Lions in Week 1 and played a very close contest against the Ravens in Baltimore.
Those hopes were dashed by the Panthers and quarterback Kyle Allen, who was starting for the Carolina in this one.
Allen lit up the Cardinals defense with 261 yards and four passing touchdowns. This season was a miserable one for Vance Joseph’s unit and it showed in this game.
The Cardinals kept this one close at halftime, but a pair of Kyler Murray interceptions late put this one away.
The biggest highlights of this game for each team was a 76-yard rushing touchdown by Christian McCaffrey for the Panthers. For the Cardinals, Larry Fitzgerald made a diving catch over the middle for a first down after being hit hard.
