The Carolina Panthers lost the pregame coin toss, but the moment that hunk of metal hit the Superdome turf will go down as their final “loss” of the season.
In a game that featured mostly backups, the Panthers (7-9) beat the playoff-bound New Orleans Saints (13-3), 33-14, to avoid becoming the first team in NFL history to start a season 6-2 and lose its final eight games.
Sunday’s victory was more sentimental than anything for a team that nearly went two full months without one, but good luck finding someone on the roster complaining.
From a football standpoint, the game had all the excitement of a late-August exhibition.