Ranking the Panthers’ 3 best performances on ‘Monday Night Football’ — and their 3 worst

The Carolina Panthers have had a decent history on “Monday Night Football,” going 10-7 overall. That’s the sort of record that might well win the NFC South this year.

That record is helped by the fact that the Panthers — who have piled up five consecutive losing seasons — also haven’t been featured on the NFL showcase since 2018. But the Panthers (0-1) return to play Monday night against New Orleans (1-0) in Charlotte, in what will be rookie quarterback Bryce Young’s first home start (7:15 p.m kickoff).

Given that I covered all 17 of those previous MNF games, here are my choices of the three best and three worst all-time performances by the Panthers on “Monday Night Football.”

Best 3 Panthers MNF games

1. Nov. 18, 2013. Carolina 24, New England 20.

The Panthers won a thriller against a New England team coached by Bill Belichick and quarterbacked by Tom Brady. The Panthers scored a go-ahead TD with 59 seconds left on a throw from Cam Newton to Ted Ginn Jr., then held the Patriots out of the end zone on the game’s final play when Luke Kuechly bear-hugged New England tight end Rob Gronkowski (a flag was thrown, then waved off). Safety Robert Lester intercepted Brady’s last-ditch heave.

Yes, they robbed Gronkowski — or so the Patriots said, anyway. If you were there, you still remember this one.

2. Dec. 8, 2008. Carolina 38, Tampa Bay 23.

The Panthers rushed for an astounding 299 yards in a top-notch battle between two 9-3 teams. DeAngelo Williams (19 carries, 186 yards, two TDs) was unstoppable. A month later, Bucs coach Jon Gruden got fired.

3. Nov. 27, 2000. Carolina 31, Green Bay 14.

The brief and mighty legend of undrafted free agent rookie Brad “Hoooov” Hoover emerged in full flower. Hoover, switched from fullback to tailback out of desperation, rushed for 117 yards in a surprising win.

Honorable mention: Cam Newton throwing four touchdown passes in Carolina’s 45-21 whipping of Miami in 2017.

Worst 3 Panthers MNF games

1. Sept. 13, 2004. Green Bay 24, Carolina 14.

Coming off a narrow loss in the Super Bowl and hosting Green Bay, the Panthers wanted to show they were a team worthy of a title in the season opener. Instead, Carolina laid an egg.

To make matters much, much worse, wide receiver Steve Smith broke his left leg late in the game and was lost for the year. It took Carolina half the year to recover from Smith’s injury, as the team started 1-7.

2. Nov. 10, 2014. Philadelphia 45, Carolina 21.

Behind one of the worst offensive line performances in Carolina history — and that’s saying a lot — Newton was sacked nine times, had four turnovers and was outplayed by (yes, it’s true) Mark Sanchez.

3. Dec. 17, 2018. New Orleans 12, Carolina 9.

In the Panthers’ most recent “Monday Night Football” appearance, the team wasted a fine defensive performance against Drew Brees. Carolina’s only touchdown came on a trick pass thrown by Christian McCaffrey.