With the win, they finished the regular season with a .500 winning-percentage.
Now the Panthers go into the off-season with several issues that need to be addressed.
The first one has to be what is John Fox's future with Carolina.
Fox inherited a Panthers bunch in 2002 that was coming off a dismal 1-15 season and saw them lose the last 15 games of that season.
His second year there, along with rarely-known Jake Delhomme (who I'll address later), the 54-year old Fox guided Carolina to just their second post-season appearance and the franchise's first and only Super Bowl appearance.
Along with that magical 2003 season, Fox has accumulated a 71-57 record (.550 win percentage) in eight seasons with Carolina.
Despite winning no less than seven games during those years, he has just three post-season appearances to show for the success he's had. The others came in 2005 and 2008.
Like alot of other franchises on what is traditionally called "Black Monday", where most coaches getting handed the pink slip, Fox has been on the hot seat for most of the season, but three straight wins to end the season, gave him job security for another year.
Like alot of others, I wonder that if Fox had pulled the triggered and inserted Matt Moore into the starting lineup a few weeks earlier than he did, quite possibly the Panthers may have been in the playoff hunt and had a shot at one of six NFC playoff spots that were up for grabs.
Fox now enters the final year of his contract and you have to wonder, what's going to happen to probably the most successful coach in the franchise's 15-year history.
The last game of the 2008 season must've felt like a bad dream to Delhomme after throwing five interceptions in a loss to eventual NFC champion, the Arizona Cardinals.
This past season was just a complete nightmare for the former Louisiana-LaFayette Rajin-Cajun'.
Delhomme saw his 2009 campaign come to an end courtesy of a season-ending finger injury.
The ailment caused him to miss the final five games of the season and if you saw any of the games this season, he looked off all year and could never find his rhythm while he attempted to play through the injury.
The famous Delhomme to (Steve) Smith connection that propelled the Panthers in year's past, never really got on track and it led to Carolina's dismal start to the season.
After the success of Moore to close out the season, the former NFL Europe star now has to wonder whether his days of starting for the Panthers are numbered.
Despite Fox's confidence in sticking with Delhomme, he's thrown 30 interceptions compared to just 23 touchdown strikes over the last two seasons. He's also been sacked 43 times.
The one crutch that prevents the Panthers from releasing Delhomme is that he is stilled owed $127 million in guaranteed money, which could prevent the Panthers from getting Moore, who finished the season 4-1, the money that could keep him in Carolina.
Last season, Julius Peppers wanted out of Carolina so bad that he couldn't stand it.
As a result, the Panthers franchised tagged him (so he couldn't be traded) and made the five-time Pro Bowl pick the highest-paid player in all of the NFL to make sure that he stayed with them at least one more season.
At times this season, Peppers looked like he wanted nothing to do with the team. Though once the season was winding down, Peppers upped the intensity of play to the level that the former no.1 draft pick is known for playing with.
Now that the teams have departed for the off-season. The Panthers management has alot of tough decisions to make between now and when training camp opens up in late July.
Fitting send-off for Bowden
I have to admit when Bowden requested to have his final game as head coach played in the state of Florida, I thought it was a fitting way to end a career.
Now when I heard that the Seminoles would face West Virginia in the Gator Bowl, I thought that you couldn't have scripted it better if you'd try.
Before Bowden made a name for himself in Tallahassee, he spent his first six years of coaching with the Mountaineers.
During his time there, West Virginia played as a Division- I independent while transitioning from the Southern Conference to the Big East, where they currently play.
Florida State played their hearts out for their coach's final game and knocked off the Mountaineers in a 33-21 win, sending the coach out on top.
Say what you want about Bowden's final years with the Seminoles. Despite the controversy, the man put the program and that university on the map, now that's leaving a legacy right there.
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