Pats Pulpit
The New England Patriots will welcome the Carolina Panthers to Gillette Stadium on Sunday. It will be a matchup between two teams that are fairly unfamiliar with one another considering that a) the Panthers play in the NFC, and b) they have only been around since 1995.
With that said, let’s take a look at the two teams’ series history.
The Patriots and Panthers first met during Carolina’s inaugural season of 1995, a game the then-expansion franchise won 20-17 in overtime. Since then, seven other meetings have followed with the series split at four wins apiece, including playoffs.
The eight games can be broken down as follows:
In total, New England has scored 198 points in the series compared to Carolina’s 155. The most lopsided game was a 38-6 Patriots blowout win in the 2001 regular season finale; the contest was originally scheduled for Week 2 that year but pushed back due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Not counting last year’s preseason opener, a game the Patriots won 17-3, the two clubs last shared the field in Week 9 of the 2021 season. Visiting Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium, New England celebrated a 24-6 victory that included three interceptions off Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold — one by linebacker Jamie Collins and two by cornerback J.C. Jackson, who returned one of them 88 yards for a touchdown.
Offensively, the Patriots had a hard time getting into a rhythm. Mac Jones completed 12 of 18 passes for 139 yards and a touchdown to Hunter Henry, but he also threw an interception to ex-Patriot Stephon Gilmore and lost a fumble. The team did look good on the ground, gaining 154 non-kneel-down yards for an average of 4.3 yards per carry as well as one Damien Harris touchdown.
The most recent game at Gillette Stadium, meanwhile, was a 33-30 Panthers victory in Week 4 of the 2017 season.
There can be only one: Super Bowl XXXVIII, one of the best games in NFL history. A heavyweight fight between the two best teams in the league. the Patriots were able to celebrate a 32-29 victory in what was a back-and-forth affair.
Scoreless for the first 27 minutes of the game, there was a points explosion in the late first half that allowed the Patriots to take a 14-10 lead into the locker room — both TDs were scored via Tom Brady touchdown passes (one to Deion Branch, one to David Givens). After no points were scored again in the third period, the fourth quarter was one for the ages.
New England went ahead 21-10 on an Antowain Smith touchdown run, but two Panthers touchdowns allowed the NFC champions to go up 22-21 with less than seven minutes on the clock. The Patriots answered with a Brady touchdown to Mike...
