CHARLOTTE — The Panthers have already set a record today.
With a game-time temperature of 20 degrees, Saturday's game against the Lions is officially the coldest home game in Panthers franchise history.
The previous record for a home game was 30 degrees at kickoff on Jan. 3 2010, against the Saints to close the 2009 season. (A day that was highlighted by a 67-yard touchdown run by Jonathan Stewart and a 30-yard touchdown pass from Matt Moore to Dwayne Jarrett).
It's far colder in many other places, but it's still the third-coldest game in Panthers franchise history overall.
The coldest was the 3 degrees at the kickoff of the 1996 NFC Championship Game (Jan. 12, 1997) in Green Bay, followed by the 12 degrees in Minnesota in 2014 when the Vikings played outdoors at the University of Minnesota's stadium. The Panthers lost both of those games.
The coldest kickoff temperature at which the Panthers have won a game was 25 degrees in Cleveland on Dec. 1, 2002, in which Rodney Peete's 24-yard pass to Wesley Walls was the only touchdown of the day in a 13-6 win. That game also broke an eight-game losing streak and sparked a hot streak down the stretch in 2002, in which the Panthers won four of their final five games before they made a Super Bowl run the following year.
View photos of the Panthers arriving in their winter gear for today's final home game of the regular season against Detroit.
