Did the Panthers set NFL's most embarrassing record?
There have been three winless NFL teams since the merger in 1970 — the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 2008 Detroit Lions and 2017 Cleveland Browns.
Yet the title for the most pathetic season in league history may just go to the 2023 Carolina Panthers, who despite their 2-15 record, became the first team in NFL history to go a full season without holding one fourth-quarter lead, via CBS Sports.
That’s 255 minutes of either being tied or playing from behind. Both of Carolina’s wins — Week 8 against Houston and Week 15 against Atlanta — came via Eddy Pineiro field goals as time expired.
The Panthers had six other opportunities to take a fourth-quarter lead but failed to:
- Week 2: They trailed New Orleans by three points with 1:16 left but lost 20-17.
- Week 3: They trailed Seattle by two points with 14:55 left but lost 37-27.
- Week 4: They trailed Minnesota by one point with 3:58 left but lost 21-13.
- Week 10: They trailed Chicago by three points with 11:06 left but lost 16-13.
- Week 13: They trailed Tampa Bay by three points with 5:02 left but lost 21-18.
- Week 16: They were tied with Green Bay with 4:05 left but lost 33-30.
The ’76 Bucs held one fourth-quarter lead that season, a 9-7 advantage over the Buffalo Bills in Week 3. They eventually lost 14-9.
The Lions actually had four fourth-quarter leads during the 2008 season, all against division rivals. The closest they came to a win was against the Vikings in Week 6 when they led for 59:48 of the fourth quarter before losing on a Ryan Longwell field goal with 12 seconds left.
The other three fourth-quarter leads came against the Packers in Week 2 (led 25-24, lost 48-25), the Bears in Week 9 (led 23-20, lost 27-23) and the Vikings again in Week 14 (led 13-10, lost 20-16).
The ’17 Browns actually took a 21-7 lead into the fourth quarter against the Packers in Week 14 before Brett Hundley engineered a two-touchdown comeback that included hitting Davante Adams for the tying touchdown with just 17 seconds left in the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime. Green Bay won 27-21 on Hundley’s third touchdown pass of the game with 5:05 left in OT.
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