The last time the football world took the Carolina Panthers seriously was in 2015—when Ron Rivera, Cam Newton and the rest of crew were staring down a Lombardi Trophy. So perhaps this stat we’re about to tell you about isn’t all that surprising.
But in a rather telling nugget that speaks to the strength of their Super Bowl 50 hangover, the Panthers have now notched wins over each NFC South team for the first time in six seasons. And that accomplishment was reached on Thursday night, with a 25-15 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
Between that post-Super Bowl campaign of 2016 and 2021, Carolina went a combined 10-26 against their divisional opponents. The struggles with their rivals were particularly rough under former head coach Matt Rhule, who guided them to a 3-9 mark over the previous two years.
But now, the Panthers currently sit at 3-1 within their division—which is somewhat of a statement given their overall record of 3-7. While being 0-6 in games outside of the NFC South is less than ideal (obviously), being a significant winner in division games is a nice change of pace for Carolina and gives them a unique advantage in what will be a crazy race for the crown.
