Panthers Flip Meek Mill’s “Dreams And Nightmares” To Troll Eagles

Meek Mill’s “Dreams and Nightmares” became a Carolina Panthers punchline Sunday, when the team turned the Eagles’ victory anthem into a taunt after beating Philadelphia on its home field.

After beating Philadelphia 25-14 at Lincoln Financial Field, Carolina posted “No dreams, just nightmares” on its official X account alongside an image and a link to game highlights. The line flipped the title of Meek’s 2012 song, which became part of the Eagles’ first Super Bowl championship run.

The Panthers also went after another piece of Philly pride. A separate post pictured quarterback Bryce Young as the Rocky Balboa statue and carried the message, “Yo Adrian, we did it!” ESPN included both posts in its roundup of the weekend’s NFL taunts.

Carolina left Philadelphia with a 3-2 record, while the Eagles fell to 2-4. The music reference gave the score a sting beyond the standings. The Panthers had borrowed a song Eagles players and fans used to celebrate some of their biggest wins, then removed the dreams from it.

That connection reached a national audience in February 2018, when the Eagles entered Super Bowl LII to “Dreams and Nightmares” before facing the New England Patriots. After winning the franchise’s first Super Bowl, players played the song again in their locker room.

The record had already been part of the team’s playoff buildup, including warmups before its NFC championship win over the Minnesota Vikings. Meek was incarcerated during that run, and players’ support for the hometown rapper gave the anthem another layer of meaning beyond getting ready for kickoff.

The Eagles’ bond with the song lasted well beyond that championship. Meek performed it at Lincoln Financial Field before Philadelphia played the Dallas Cowboys in October 2022, bringing the rapper himself into a setting where his record had become familiar.

Then, during the Eagles’ January 2023 NFC championship celebration, “Dreams and Nightmares” played as the team finished its 31-7 win over the San Francisco 49ers. Meek attended that game and turned the celebration into more music, sharing a freestyle over Tupac Shakur’s “Hit Em Up” after the win. He also offered to perform the song at a free party in the city: “I will host a free party tonight and perform intro lol somebody open a club up.”