We’ve all heard the urban legends about the coincidences surrounding Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. Kennedy had a secretary named Lincoln and Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy. They were born and elected President of the United States exactly a century apart from one another. Both of their successors were named Johnson. One assassin ran from a theater and was caught in a warehouse, the other from a warehouse into a theater.
Coincidences can be interesting, and it was the familiar nature of last week’s preseason events that had me thinking about them and similarities.
Two joint practices in which the Panthers seemed to be overmatched and outplayed by their opponents. An up-and-coming quarterback looking dominant during his limited action of the second preseason game. The defense allowing the first-string offense to march up and down the field, only a happenstance keeping the team from being down by 20 points in the first quarter. The offense looking sluggish and turnover-prone, causing fans to assume the worst about the team heading into the season.
I’m not talking about last week in Nashville, when the Panthers were outplayed in a joint practice on Thursday and then during the portions of the game when the first string offense and defense were on the field, falling down 17-0 and only reaching the first down marker with their final play of the first quarter. I’m talking instead about the joint practice and game in the second week of the 2015 preseason against the Miami Dolphins.
You probably remember those joint practices as the sessions in which wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin tore his ACL and was lost for the season, or for the minute-long scrum between the Panthers offensive line and the Dolphins defensive line, or even the Miami Herald report that head coach Ron Rivera asked the Dolphins to dial back their pass rush so the Panthers could work on their no huddle offense. While the sessions in Nashville didn’t have quite the same activities, the similarities remain. Second year defensive tackle Vernon Butler, who was expected to make contributions in his second year after a promising rookie season, did not participate in the practices or the game in Nashville after suffering and injury in Week one of the preseason; much like Kelvin Benjamin, who was expected to be a top-tier receiver after a promising rookie campaign. While the offensive line was dominated by the Dolphins front four, it was the opposite in Nashville, with the Titans offensive line pushing the Panthers around up front and allowing the Titans to march up and down the field during move-the-ball drills and continuing into the first quarter of the preseason game.
The beginning of the Dolphins game in 2015 was just as frustrating for Panthers fans, with quarterback Cam Newton unable to string any momentum together, with the future MVP finishing 4-of-10 for 42 yards and an interception that was returned to the Panthers’ one yard line. That would have resulted in a touchdown had Dolphins running back Damien Williams not fumbled out of the back of the end zone. The Panthers only ran six offensive plays in the first quarter, and Newton’s first play of the second was the interception with the Panthers down 14-0, leading Ron Rivera to send the first team offense back out onto the field where they were finally able to put together a sustained drive, eventually failing to score from inside the five yard line.
In Tennessee, fans began to sound the alarm on Twitter when, with Cam Newton unavailable, Derek Anderson finished 7-for-12 for 88 yards and an interception in the shadow of his own end zone after wide receiver Devin Funchess fumbled the ball away on the first play of the game. The next possession, in which the Panthers went three-and-out would have resulted in a punt return touchdown by Adoree Jackson had the Dolphins not committed a holding penalty. The Panthers only ran nine plays in the first quarter, and after they were down 17-0, had an extended drive that ended with a Christian McCaffrey touchdown.
The 2015 Carolina Panthers lost in the second week of the preseason to the Miami Dolphins and went on to finish 15-1 in the regular season before reaching the Super Bowl, defeating the Tennessee Titans on November 15th of that season. The 2017 Carolina Panthers lost in the second week of the preseason to the Tennessee Titans and will be facing the Miami Dolphins on November 13th.
Both Kennedy and Lincoln have seven letters.
