The Jets have shown up a lot in Panthers history. Take a look before they meet again on Sunday.

Not since 2010 have the New York Jets graced the playoffs. They posted their only winning record since then in 2015, when Ryan Fitzpatrick and new head coach Todd Bowles led them to 10-6. 

However, the Jets, who play the Carolina Panthers Sunday, Nov. 26, show up surprisingly often in a few key inflection points along Panthers’ history.

First win in franchise history

Carolina’s inaugural season did not start great. They lost the first five, including a heart-breaking opening-day overtime loss to the eventual rival Atlanta Falcons.

It all started to change on Oct. 15, 1995, when the Panthers welcomed the Jets to Clemson Stadium. It was Kerry Collins’s third game in charge, taking over for the ineffective Frank Reich after two blowout losses to the Bills and St. Louis Rams. It was a good move overall, as Collins would lead the Panthers to the NFC Championship Game in 1996, but it made almost no difference on this relatively cool South Carolina day.

Instead it was another Panthers’ legend who stepped up. Down 12-6 late in the second quarter, Sam Mills, whose statue watches over Bank of America Stadium, burst into the backfield to intercept Bubby Brister’s shovel pass and take it 36 yards into the end zone.

The Panthers never looked back, adding a rushing touchdown and two John Kasay field goals for their first-ever win as a franchise. The Jets game ended up sparking a four-game winning streak that culminated in one of the biggest upsets in franchise history, a 13-7 win over the defending Super Bowl Champion San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park.

Kris Jenkins’s revitalization

Today’s Panthers defense is stingy, aggressive, and mean, with Luke Kuechly calling out the other quarterbacks’ plays, Kawann Short terrorizing opponents’ backfields, and Kurt Coleman’s secondary shutting down talented receivers.

An excellent defense has been a Panthers hallmark since the John Fox days, and it all started with a fierce defensive line anchored by Kris Jenkins. No defensive line in Panthers’ history struck more fear into quarterbacks than the quartet of Jenkins, Julius Peppers, Mike Rucker and Brentson Buckner.

Unfortunately, after two first-team all-pro years in 2002 and 2003, injuries began to zap Jenkins’s effectiveness, leading Marty Hurney to deal his significant contract to the Jets for two draft picks after the 2007 season. Jenkins went on to make one more All-Pro team and key a defensive line that led the Jets to two consecutive AFC Championship Games in 2009 and 2010.

Jake Delhomme’s final pass

While the 1995 game began an era, the 2009 game ended another.

Jake Delhomme was never the same after a crushing home playoff loss to the Cardinals on his birthday, a game in which he threw five picks and fumbled. Any optimism for the 2009 season was crushed almost immediately when he nearly repeated the feat against the Eagles on opening day.

But the final gasp came against these Jets at the Meadowlands. Both the Panthers and Jets were 4-6, hanging on the fringes of playoff contention. The opening drive started well enough for the Panthers, as DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart took turns converting third-and-longs before Delhomme’s pass to Dante Rosario brought them into Jets’ territory.

Then came one of the most bizarre plays in Panthers history. Delhomme’s third-down pass to Steve Smith somehow ricocheted off Smith’s heel into the hands of Darrelle Revis. A befuddled Revis took the ball 67 yards the other way.

The Panthers would only gain 179 yards that day, losing 17-6. Jake Delhomme, the most successful quarterback in Carolina history to that point, would throw his final pass as a Panther that day. Delhomme was cut the following offseason, leading to the drafting of Jimmy Clausen, a 2-14 season, and the drafting of one Cam Newton.

Vinny Testaverde’s swan song

The Jets have been playing professional football since 1960, yet only once in their history have they won 12 or more regular season games. That was back in 1998, when Vinny Testaverde led them to the AFC Championship Game. Testaverde himself had played 12 seasons in the NFL before that magical 1998 season, only making the playoffs once with the Bill Belichick-led Cleveland Browns in 1994.

Testaverde, along with running back Curtis Martin and receivers Keyshawn Johnson and Wayne Chrebet, led the Jets to three winning seasons in four years after a nearly decade of futility.

Testaverde’s long and storied career was thought to be over after a spell backing up Tom Brady. It turned out he had one more stop. The Panthers were desperate for quarterback help early in the 2007 season. Jake Delhomme was out undergoing Tommy John surgery while backup David Carr was plain bad.

So five days before Carolina’s week 6 tilt with the Cardinals, Marty Hurney called up a 44-year-old Testaverde to start. It went well, as he hooked up with Steve Smith on a long touchdown pass to provide the winning score late in the fourth quarter.

The win brought the Panthers to 4-2, but the magic ran out quickly as Carolina quickly lost five in a row. Still though, they turned in a respectable 7-9, culminating in a week 17 game where Testaverde took the last snap of his NFL career — a kneel-down to seal a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the team that had drafted him first overall 20 years earlier.

Cam’s first ten-win season

Coming off a streak-breaking loss in the Superdome late in the 2013 season, Cam Newton and the Panthers were suddenly in playoff jeopardy again with Geno Smith’s surprising New York Jets coming to town. And despite a spectacular catch-and-run by DeAngelo Williams, the Jets were within three points and the ball going into the fourth quarter.

But then the floodgates finally broke. The Panthers forced a quick three-and-out and blocked the punt, setting up an easy Mike Tolbert touchdown to go up ten. Captain Munnerlyn sealed Cam’s first-ever 10-win season in the NFL with a 4th-quarter pick-six on the next possession.

Source: Stats and playlogs were found on pro-football-reference.com.

Photo: Steve Nesius/AP

This story was originally published November 21, 2017 at 8:00 PM with the headline "The Jets have shown up a lot in Panthers history. Take a look before they meet again on Sunday.."