The Panthers haven’t had what you’d call a memorable season, but it ended in appropriate way.
Specifically, they lost yet another quarterback, as just-signed Garrett Gilbert had to finish things up in their 33-14 win over the Saints.
After Cam Newton‘s shoulder finally let go, and Taylor Heinicke was placed on IR after his first start, the Panthers had to turn to Kyle Allen to start this one. Allen didn’t make it through the game, after being dropped hard on his right shoulder. Gilbert, who is set to play for the Orlando Apollos of the AAF and was signed last week so they’d have two healthy ones, had to finish the game. Running back Christian McCaffrey was warming up late, preparing to serve as the emergency quarterback if anything happened to Gilbert.
The Saints (13-3) had already secured home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs, and barely looked interested.
They didn’t even dress quarterback Drew Brees and running back Alvin Kamara, and left tackle Andrus Peat left the game with a hand injury and didn’t return.
Backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater started and threw a touchdown and an interception, on a day when he was dealing with an extremely limited playbook.
The Saints got on the board early in the fourth quarter, after the Panthers raced to a 30-0 lead. They haven’t been shut out during the Sean Payton-Brees era, as the last shutout was in 2002. The touchdown pass to Tre'Quan Smith extended that streak of games with points to 272 games, the longest such streak in the league.
The Panthers snapped a seven-game losing streak in the process, and finished 7-9 on the season.
In their 24 years in the league, 7-9 has been their most common record, happening eight times (also in 2012, 2007, 2004, 2002, 2000, 1997, and 1995).
They’ve finished the year with 12-4, 11-5, and 8-8 records three times each, and their all-time record now stands at 190-193-1.
So 7-9 sounds about right.
