Our best players on the offense are Steve Smith and Mishin Muhammad.

Let's get them to the ball and let's get them the ball downfield.

It's February 2004, Panthers versus Patriots and Super Bowl 38.

This is Remember That Game, the podcast about sporting events that take you on a journey,

and maybe chart the path of the zeitgeist.

I'm your host Thomas Emmerich, and my guest is the ringer's Stephen Ruiz.

We talked Panthers Rams divisional last time we got together, Steve Smith's walkoff in

double O.T. Now fast forwarding three weeks to a thriller in Houston against Mike Brable and

the New England Patriots. In the present Super Bowl 60s rolling up, we get a Patriots Seahawks rematch, but Stephen is Patriots Panthers a more proper analog for LX?

I can definitely see that.

I think you have the element of two teams that weren't expected, or the Panthers weren't expected to be there.

And then you have on one side an offense that I think has been built on old school philosophy

and the Patriots, like getting under center, having fullbacks on the field, running the

football, even if it's not the most efficient way of moving the football, especially for them.

And then on the other side, you have a defensive genius.

I think there's almost role reversal here where Mike McDonald's in the role of Bill Belichick

and the Panthers are playing the role of the Patriots.

It's a fascinating matchup.

It was a fascinating matchup 22 years ago, too, so I'm excited to dig in.

Yeah, and we'll sprinkle in some of those parallels throughout this episode.

2025-26 has been the season of the shifting meta

and a reminder of the NFL's cyclical nature in a lot of ways.

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