Will The NFL's Carolina Panthers Finish The Season Undefeated?

The Carolina Panthers are currently sitting at 13-0 and are trying to become the 5th team to finish the NFL's regular season undefeated, and possibly become the 2nd team to finish the entire NFL season undefeated..

Almost everyone knows that the 1972 Miami Dolphins are the only NFL Team to complete a Perfect Season in the NFL.  However is is less well know that there were three teams in that finished with a Perfect Regular Season. The 1934 Chicago Bears, the 1942 Chicago Bears, and most recently the 2007 New England Patriots. 

How They Got To 13-0

Despite the fact that Cam Newton is having a much improved season (he currently is the #8th ranked passer in the league  and #11 in Total QBR) the Panthers have gotten to 13-0 by playing the 6th easiest schedule in the league. Their most impressive wins have been over the injury riddled Green Bay Packers and a Seattle Seahawks team that was struggling when they played earlier in the season.  Several of their other games against weaker opponents were alarmingly close.

Three Remaining Regular Season Games- Will They Rest Their Starters?

The Panthers have three remaining regular season games left against:

• The 6-7 N.Y. Giants
• The 6-7 Atlanta Falcons
• The 6-8 Tampa Bay Bucks 

Unless the Panthers decide to rest their best players it is not likely that the Falcons, who the Panthers just beat on December 13th 38-0, or the Bucks, who the Panthers beat 37-23 in week 4, will give them much trouble. This leaves the NY Giants as the only opponent with the talent to beat a full strength Carolina Panthers team.

The Giants have 7 losses, but 6 of those losses have been by 6 points or less. Many because of questionable coaching decisions, or clock mismanagement. Anyone who has watched the Giants can see that they are better than their record would suggest. Then if you add the unpredictability of the NFL's best receiver Odell Beckham, anything can happen.  As we all know, the Giants have a recent history of beating undefeated teams.

In my opinion, their is a decent chance the Panthers could finish the regular season undefeated, However, even if the Panthers beat the Giants this Sunday, the Panthers will have a much more difficult time when they reach the playoffs and start playing better teams who are playing their best football.