The Carolina Panthers don’t get to play on “Monday Night Football” very often, which makes this week’s Monday night game a welcome anomaly.
Now 6-5 and firmly in the playoff hunt, the Panthers go on the road to face the San Francisco 49ers in the team’s first MNF game since 2023. It’s a chance for Carolina to impress the nation on ESPN (8:15 p.m. kickoff) or, alternately, lay an egg in front of millions of TV viewers.
Why don’t the Panthers get this chance more often?
Being a mid-sized NFL market has something to do with it. But a bigger reason is that the Panthers have been inept and irrelevant far too often in their 31-year history — although that’s usually not been the case on MNF.
In 30 previous full seasons, the Panthers have only made the NFL playoffs seven times (23.3%). That ain’t good. Their updated regular-season record is 225-269-1 — in other words, they are 44 games below .500 in the organization’s lifetime. That ain’t good, either.
But you know what is good?
When on MNF, the Panthers have usually played better than expectations and have posted an overall winning record. If you’re looking for omens, Panthers fans, here’s a promising one: Carolina is 10-8 on MNF, and even its losses have mostly been close.
The Panthers, who are 7-point underdogs to San Francisco (7-4), rarely embarrass themselves in this showcase. Their winning percentage on Monday night is 55.6%, which is 10th best among all NFL teams and also 10 percentage points higher than their franchise winning percentage.
It’s also true that a big Panthers win on MNF often correlates to a trip to the playoffs. There hasn’t been a win on MNF for the franchise, though, in a long time — since 2017, to be exact, which is also the last time the Panthers made the playoffs. Carolina’s last two MNF appearances, against New Orleans in 2018 and 2023, both resulted in 3-point losses. Bryce Young, coming off a franchise-record 448 passing yards against Atlanta last week, will try to change that.
I’ve covered all 18 of the Panthers’ previous MNF games for The Charlotte Observer. Here are my choices for their four best victories on Monday nights. It’s no coincidence that all four came from Panthers teams that made the playoffs. Do you remember any — or all — of these?
In chronological order:
12-8-08: Carolina 38, Tampa Bay 23
The Panthers ran roughshod over a strong Tampa Bay team, gaining a franchise-record 299 rushing yards (DeAngelo Williams had 186 and Jonathan Stewart 115 back in the “Double Trouble” days). This game also helped get Tampa Bay head coach Jon Gruden fired, as it began a four-game tailspin for the Bucs.
11-8-13: Carolina 24, New England 20
Cam Newton threw three touchdown passes in a thriller remembered for a controversial non-call. With Tom Brady throwing the ball into the end zone on the final play of the game for a potential game-winning touchdown, Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly got a little (well, a lot) handsy with New England tight end Rob Gronkowski. A flag was dropped as Brady’s pass was intercepted by Robert Lester.
If the interference call on Kuechly had stood, New England and the dreaded duo of Brady and head coach Bill Belichick would have had one untimed play from the 1-yard line to try to win the game. Instead, officials picked the flag up, deeming Brady’s pass uncatchable.
Patriots fans like to think of this as the “Robbed Gronkowski” game, but some Panthers fans still call it the “Immaculate Perception.”
11-2-15: Carolina 29, Indy 26 (OT)
In a wild game, Graham Gano kicked not one but two overtime field goals for the Panthers to win (the first to match a Colts score, the second from 52 yards out to win it outright). This was also the game where four protesters somehow sneaked some serious climbing equipment into Bank of America Stadium and rappelled down into the stands to unfurl a banner protesting ... well, I can’t remember exactly what.
In the meantime, the Panthers kept their perfect record intact on the way to a 14-0 start that season (The Observer recently did a documentary on the 2015 season called “Super Men,” which is now available for free on YouTube).
11-13-17: Carolina 45, Miami 21
This was the last time the Panthers won a game on Monday Night Football. And do you know the name of the rookie running back who scored twice for Carolina that night in a blowout?
It was Christian McCaffrey, who is about to face off against the Panthers in an entirely different uniform Monday night with San Francisco.