Panthers are 1st team since 2008 to be shut out in back-to-back games

When you find yourself in the same company as the Cleveland Browns, it’s usually not for a good reason.

The Carolina Panthers closed up shop on their embarrassing 2023 season with a 9-0 loss to the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. That shutout defeat turned back the clock by fifteen years, as the Panthers are now the first team since the 2008 Browns to put up zero points in back-to-back games.

Carolina’s output, or lack thereof, was spoiled by another sick bit of symmetry from last Sunday. As they did in their 26-0 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 17, the Panthers amassed just 67 passing yards.

On a wider scale, the sour ending moves the team into a 2-15 record to finish the campaign—which ties them for the most losses in franchise history. This Week 18 result also makes them just the second franchise to register multiple 15-loss seasons.

The first . . . ? You guessed it—the Cleveland Browns.