The Carolina Panthers still have a perception problem. It's hard to imagine that in a little more than a month, we could have three teams finish an NFL regular season undefeated and untied: 1972 Miami Dolphins, 2007 New England Patriots and ... 2015 Carolina Panthers? It's possible. With just five games left, the Panthers' chase for perfection is close enough that we can start to talk about it seriously. And the remaining schedule isn't tough. They play at New Orleans, vs. Atlanta, at the Giants, at Atlanta and at home against Tampa Bay to finish it. The toughest team Carolina has left is the Falcons, and they haven't played well in almost two months. However, does this seem like a historically great team? Does Carolina even seem like a Super Bowl favorite this year? Be honest, would you pick the Panthers right now to win it all (people in the Carolinas aren't allowed to answer)? Again, this might just be a perception problem. Listen to Yahoo Sports' Grandstanding podcast for more: Grandstanding: A Yahoo Sports podcast Subscribe via iTunes or via RSS feed The Panthers weren't favored by oddsmakers last week against the Dallas Cowboys, who were 3-7. Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight site declared the Panthers the worst 11-0 team ever , and even the Panthers' Twitter feed had to take notice. k https://t.co/9NdnO8qesz — Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) November 30, 2015 Being the worst 11-0 team ever is kind of like being the worst movie to ever win "Best Picture," in that it's still not a bad list to be on no matter what spot you occupy. But still, it's a strange story. Carolina is 11-0 and completely under-appreciated. The Panthers deserve to be the No. 1-ranked NFL team. They have won all 11 games (ask New England how tough that can be) and have won eight of them by at least a touchdown. They have won their last three games by an average of 21.3 points, and that's not supposed to happen in the NFL. It's a team with an MVP candidate quarterback in Cam Newton and a defense that doesn't have many holes and superstars like cornerback Josh Norman and linebacker Luke Kuechly. Whatever we thought about the Panthers before this season or over the first few weeks doesn't matter anymore. They're legit. The beauty of the NFL is there's no committee that decides which teams deserve to play for a championship. If the Panthers keep winning, their place in history will be undeniable. Perception won't matter much then. Here are Shutdown Corner's power rankings after Week 12: 32. Cleveland Browns (2-9, LW: 31) Let's be honest: Losing that game, ultimately, is better for the Browns. They'll likely get a better draft pick as a result. But wow, that's just brutal. 31. Tennessee Titans (2-9, LW: 29) The Titans have lost 11 straight home games. That's an amazing streak of futility. 30. San Francisco 49ers (3-8, Last week: 32)
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