Sir Purr
Well-known member
- Mar 16, 2019
- 1,969
- 0
In 2011, the Jaguars came to Charlotte on a cloudy afternoon with the Panthers still looking for the first win of the season and first wins for rookie quarterback Cam Newton and first-year head coach Ron Rivera.
What ensued was a meteorological anomaly. The skies opened up in the second quarter and buckets and buckets of rain dumped on the field. Cameras could barely follow the ball, not to mention players trying to hang onto it. Ball carriers slid nearly 10 yards after being tackled on the 100-yard long slip and slide that was the field.
Carolina mounted a fourth-quarter comeback with a touchdown catch and two-point conversion from Cam Newton to Greg Olsen and the Panthers recorded the first win of a new era.
The 2015 season had so many moments. So many great wins as Carolina set franchise and NFL records, winning the NFC Championship.
But it all started in Jacksonville in Week 1. On a day when the Panthers were outgained in net yards and clinging to a 10-9 lead in the third quarter with starting wideout Kelvin Benjamin already lost for the season, nobody was thinking about an eventual Super Bowl appearance.
And then Josh Norman intercepted a Blake Bortles pass, ran into the end zone and showed off his signature…personality. It was a defining play in a game that set the table for the season to come.
This Sunday, the Panthers look to climb back in the win column at home as some of the stars of those contests are inducted into the Panthers’ Hall of Honor.
Maybe we’ll be talking about Panthers-Jaguars 2019 contest for years to come.