For a young franchise the Panthers got good in a hurry and stayed dangerous in January longer than anyone expected. Born in 1995, they reached the NFC Championship Game in just their second season, a stunning early arrival. It set a tone. For a couple of decades Carolina in January was a team nobody wanted to face, even if the trophy never quite came.

Two runs to the edge

They reached the Super Bowl after the 2003 season, losing one of the great shootouts on a last-second kick. They got back after the 2015 season behind a 15-1 juggernaut and an unstoppable Cam Newton, only to be stopped a step from the title. Two trips to the biggest stage, two near-misses, with a stack of competitive Januarys in between.

The drought and the return

Then came a long fallow stretch, years on the outside as the roster was torn down and rebuilt. It broke this past season, when a young Carolina team won the NFC South and returned to January, losing a wild-card game to the Rams 34-31. Not a deep run, but a pulse, and a sign the rebuild is turning.

An early arrival, two Super Bowl runs, a drought, and a fresh return. Panthers fans, your franchise has packed a lot of January into not many decades, the highs genuinely high. The trophy has stayed just out of reach each time. But a team this young being back in the dance is the right kind of problem to have.