Top 20 games of 2015

[KB_fan]

Has anyone posted about the top 20 games of the season as ranked by NFL.com?

I just noticed that Panthers @ Saints in week 13 comes in at #9

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000648412/article/top-20-games-of-2015-no-9-panthers-at-saints

The write of the game is really fun.  I loved this section that I've bolded:

 

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Not to invoke John Madden here, but, hey, wait a minute! Weren't these Panthers supposed to run the ball and play defense behind Luke Kuechly, Thomas Davis, and the boys? Where did this Dan Marino 1984-esque blitzkrieg come from?

All this scoring was smack dab, Cam's dab, in the middle of a five-game run where the Panthers came one touchdown shy of putting up 200 points! By season's end, Carolina -- the team that supposedly would struggle after stud wideout Kelvin Benjamin went down -- led the league in scoring.

Yet, it was the last touchdown in our ninth top game of 2015 that was oh so important.

By virtue of driving his team 88 yards to paydirt, Brees put the Saints up 38-34 with 5:27 to play. Unwittingly, the Saints franchise quarterback forced his Panthers counterpart into earning NFL MVP honors.

Newton responded, calmly marching the Carolina offense 75 yards in 11 plays. He distributed the ball evenly, hitting five different receivers on this drive alone. When all hung in the balance on a fourth-and-4 from the New Orleans 46-yard line, Newton escaped pressure, then found his most reliable receiver for 16 yards. Olsen's sliding catch carried a high degree of difficulty and scrutiny, but the play was upheld by the replay booth. Three plays later, Jerricho Cotchery was clutching a Cam bullet in the end zone for the lead.

After watching helplessly as Newton orchestrated the go-ahead drive in front of a house full of Saints faithful and a national television audience, Brees was unable to bring his club back this time. The Panthers finally did lean on that defense, and 41-38 was all she wrote.

Ron Rivera's group would be crowned NFC South champs for the third straight year. Although the slumping Falcons helped in that regard by losing earlier in the afternoon, Carolina made its own luck rather than wait for it, beating Brees and the Saints at their own game -- a home-cooked track meet. The only thing that got smoked was the home team's defensive backs by the eventual league MVP.

All of it was one heckuva fun watch.

 

Sweet.  I think Panthers have been featured in other top 20 games so far... I'll see if I can find the list of all the games that have been ranked so far (#20 - #9)

[KB_fan]

Here are #10 - #15:

·  No. 10: Eagles upset Pats with special teams

·  No. 11: Romo-Witten magic on display again

·  No. 12: Cardinals storm 'Hawks in Seattle

·  No. 13: Patriots get their revenge on Giants

·  No. 14: Brown downs Broncos top defense

·  No. 15: Raiders leave Brown open for the win

[KB_fan]

Here are #16 - #20.  Panthers show up at #17 for the game at Giants.

#20  Top 20 Games of 2015 : No. 20 -- Rams at Cardinals

#19  Top 20 Games of 2015 : No. 19 -- Buccaneers at Redskins

#18  Top 20 Games of 2015 : No. 18 -- Seahawks at Vikings (NFC Wild Card)

#17  Top 20 Games of 2015 : No. 17 - Panthers at Giants

#16  Top 20 Games of 2015 : No. 16 -- Ravens at Browns

 

Looks like the whole list, updated as new games are listed,  is available here

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000644296/article/the-top-20-nfl-games-of-2015

I would think that there probably is at least one more Panthers game in the top 10.  Maybe week 6 at Seattle?  Or maybe Colts at Panthers and that incredible MNF game in the rain...

 

[uncfan888]

That Seattle game better be in the top ten.  That was an awesome comeback

[j2sgam]

Wife & kids are out of town, did a little after work work,  & am 5 beers deep contemplating what to watch before bed over leftover smoked pork tenderloin... Panthers at Seahawks sounds perfect....

Prob'ly gonna just watch the NFL. Replay version & call it a night early, but I do really appreciate the suggestion.... Keep pounding, love the Huddle..

[Willis1789]

Panthers and Giants should have definitely been rated higher on that list  

[the butch]

I'd marry you if you weren't already taken.  This just perfected my afternoon.  I'm sick with congestion and was about to lay down for a snooze and this is gonna take me there.  

[KB_fan]

Panthers at Seahawks makes #2 on the list of the top 20 games of 2015

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000650891/article/top-20-games-of-2015-no-2-panthers-at-seahawks

The right of passage for a successful NFL team goes through Seattle.

All the dabbing, sideline karaoke of "Sweet Caroline," and boy they're good even without Kelvin Benjamin talk did not begin for the Panthers until they pulled off a road win in the Pacific Northwest. This is nothing new. Despite their legendary while still active status, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady had to outlast these Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX to win their first Lombardi Trophy in a decade. But it's not just the Cam Newtons' of the world, or the Evil Empire for that matter, that needed the 12's proverbial stamp of approval.

[...]

Drive of the Game

The Panthers were down 20-7, then 23-14, before managing to claw their way to 23-20. After Seattle punter John Ryan boomed a 68-yarder Carolina had the ball at its own 20-yard line with two minutes and change to play.

Enter Cam Newton, league MVP.

The franchise quarterback completed six passes in a row (we're not counting spiking the ball to save time) in moving the offense 80 yards down the field. He did it attacking the strength of the top defense over the last four years -- its secondary -- to the most derided group of receivers in the league. Jonathan Stewart caught the first ball. Then Ted Ginn, Jr. held on. Ed Dickson was Newton's next target. Rookie Devin Funchess contributed. Then 75-year-old Jerricho Cotchery caught a pass to put the Panthers at the Seahawk 26.

Ginn. Dickson. Funchess. Cotchery. The nucleus of an 0-13 fantasy team.

After spiking the ball, there were 36 ticks on the clock. Offensive coordinator Mike Shula sent in a play that called for Greg Olsen to run a nine route straight up the seam, all the way into the endzone. Why not take a shot here? It's much easier to try here compared to when you get closer to the goal and the field gets squeezed.

Watching the play unfold on TV, you could see Newton calmly set up, and loft the ball deep. Why is Cam, king of the rocketball, lofting it!? Surely no one is that open. Olsen was. Miscommunication in the Seattle secondary left the Panthers tight end running room, and his quarterback laid it right in there. It was, in two words, totally awesome.

[KB_fan]

Also love this section giving tribute to Stew and how clutch he was in this game and during the season:

Don't call him sexy, call Jonathan Stewart effective. Although it might not wow you, Stewart's 20 carries for 78 yards in this game were huge. He was a key ingredient of the Panthers outmuscling the Seahawks, particularly in the red zone. Both Stewart's touchdown runs came in the second half with Carolina dearly needing sixes, not threes.

This also marked the first of eight straight games in which Stewart carried the football at least 20 times. When Stewart got hurt in Atlanta in Week 15, the streak stopped. Ditto the Panthers' unbeaten streak. Don't misunderstand, Newton certainly deserved the league MVP. But there was an underrated MVP on this outfit, named J-Stew. He fell just short of 1,000 yards, despite playing in only 12.5 games.

With Marshawn Lynch retired, and Eddie Lacy fighting through conditioning issues, Stewart might be the best true power back in the league.

[Saca312]

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Then 75-year-old Jerricho Cotchery caught a pass to put the Panthers at the Seahawk 26.

Man, younger than I thought. He looked at least 80.