The similarities are startling.
In 2004, the year after the Carolina Panthers went to their first Super Bowl, they lost a loud and extremely talented player early and started the season 1-7.
In 2016, the year after the Carolina Panthers went to their second Super Bowl, they lost a loud and extremely talented player early and started the season 1-5.
The current Panthers will try to veer off this road to oblivion Sunday, in a 1 p.m. home game against Arizona. And Jake Delhomme – the quarterback for those Panthers teams in both the Super Bowl year of 2003 and the disappointment of 2004 – said this squad has a better chance of doing so than his team a dozen years ago.