Arizona Cardinals' history against the Carolina Panthers is downright ugly

The Arizona Cardinals' history with the Carolina Panthers is not a pretty picture.

Since the Panthers entered the NFL in 1995, they have won 13 of the 18 regular-season meetings between the teams and two of three in the playoffs, including the forgettable 2015 season NFC Championship Game, 49-15.

From 2003 through last season, the Cardinals are 4-14 against the Panthers, including one playoff win and those two postseason losses. Since 2014, the Cardinals have won only one of eight games, including those two playoff wins.

Overall, the Cardinals are 2-6 at home against the Panthers and lost two home games in the last eight meetings, 38-20 in 2019 and 34-10 in 2021.

Seventeen days before the 2021 game, Kyler Murray suffered an ankle injury in the Week 8 loss to the Packers that dropped the Cardinals' record to 7-1. The following week, against the San Francisco 49ers, Colt McCoy completed 22 of 26 passes for 249 yards while running back James Conner rushed for 96 yards and two touchdowns and caught five passes for 77 yards, including a 45-yard score. The Cardinals won 31-17.

Things spiraled out of control quickly the next week against Carolina. A sack/lost fumble forced by former Cardinal Haason Reddick on third-and-5 led to a 7-0 deficit five plays later. On the next possession from their own 42-yard line on fourth-and-1, McCoy tried to run up the middle and was dropped for a one-yard loss. Four plays later, it was 14-0, and then it became 23-0 at halftime.

McCoy came back to earth with an 11-for-20 outing for 107 yards and Conner totaled 39 yards on 10 attempts.

In the last eight games, there has been only one one-score game, which brings us to last season’s crushing 36-30 loss in overtime in Carolina.

With a 7-7 record, the Cardinals needed a win to remain in playoff contention. They quickly fell behind 20-3 with 7:55 remaining in the second quarter but got it to 20-17 at halftime, thanks to 158 yards from scrimmage by Conner: 111 rushing on 12 carries and three receptions for 47 yards.

However, he exited the game after the first possession of the second half because of a knee injury. Still, even after falling behind 30-20, the Cardinals came back. A 20-yard touchdown run by Murray made the score 30-27 with 6:56 to play.

The Cardinals got the ball back and even after a Murray interception on third-and-11, the Panthers were stopped and they got ball back at the 26-yard line with 1:47 to play. Six plays later, Murray ran five yards for a first down to the 39 and after bleeding the clock to two seconds before calling their final timeout, kicker Chad Ryland booted the game-tying 58-yard field goal.

The momentum was on the Cardinals' side. At least, that’s what everyone thought.

In overtime, the Panthers went three-and-out, but the Cardinals got the ball at the 10-yard line. After one first down, Murray was sacked for a 14-yard loss after a delay penalty made it third-and-10.

There was more self-inflicted damage on their punt. Michael Palardy nailed a 58-yarder to the 34, but Victor Dimukeje was flagged for being illegally downfield. The next punt went 47 yards and the Panthers took possession at the Cardinals' 49-yard line after a two-yard return.

In a blink, running back Chuba Hubbard ran for 28 and then 21 yards for the winning touchdown.

Following Sunday’s win over New Orleans, head coach Jonathan Gannon described one thing that was said in the team meeting Monday: “I don’t live in the past, but if you look back at that game last year, we did not play our brand of ball, so that was talked about.”

When asked what it was that compelled him to mention last year’s game, he said, “We didn’t stop the run, and we lost the takeaway battle and got beat. If you don’t do that you’re going to lose. It was very clear to our guys why we lost that game and just revisit it because they got a lot of players. Hubbard went for 152 (yards) versus us last year. You’re not going to win (when that happens).”

The Cardinals had no takeaways and two turnovers in that game and also were hurt by quarterback Bryce Young’s 68 rushing yards on five carries, which included a 34-yard run and a 23-yard touchdown.

As for Hubbard, 32.2 percent (49) of those 152 yards 49 of his 152 yards came on the two explosive plays in overtime. He averaged 6.1 per rush in the game, but in regulation, it wasn’t great, but up to that point, he had 22 attempts for 96 yards (4.4 average).

The Cardinals' last home victory over Carolina was 12 seasons ago, Cam Newton's NFL debut. It is clear that has to happen again so the good feelings from last Sunday aren’t canceled out.

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This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: The Arizona Cardinals' history against the Panthers is ugly