Merely two years since the team was
instituted, they won in their division and qualified to compete at the playoffs
in the 1996 season. Never had any other expansion NFL team were able to achieve
success that early. The year before, they won seven games-the most number of
wins by an expansion team Clay Matthews Jersey . Panthers owner and founder Jerry Richardson was
awarded a new NFL franchise in 1993, the first one after 1976 when the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks were given a franchise.
The 2001 NFL season was a disaster for the
Carolina Panthers. In fact, it was their worst year. They would go down in
history for having the most consecutive losses in NFL record, losing 15
straight games and finishing with a 1-15 record. Two seasons later, under the
wing of head coach John Fox, they were able to reverse their fortunes and
finished the regular season with an 11-5 record. They continued on to the
playoffs after winning the South Division Title of the National Football
Conference and went on to compete at the Super Bowl XXXVIII against the New
England Patriots. They could have won that season but four seconds on the
clock, their chances of winning were undone by the Patriots' Adam Vinatieri who
kicked a 41-yard field goal leading to the Panthers' defeat.
Dom Capers, former Pittsburgh Steelers
Assistant coach, was the Panthers' first head coach. In their first season in
1995, they lost their first five games but recovered pretty well during their
last 11 games, winning seven games in all, thanks to Panthers receivers Willie
Green and Mark Carrier. The Panthers defeated the San Francisco 49ers, which
was the defending league champion during that time-again, the first ever
instance in NFL history for an expansion team. In 1996, the Panthers proved its
professional status yet again by winning 12 games in the NFL and getting the
North Western Division Title in the NFC. At that time, the Panthers had put
together an impenetrable team including running back Anthony Johnson and
quarterback Kerry Collins; Pro Bowl linebackers Lamar Lathon, Kevin Greene, and
Sam Mills, which made up the the second-best defense in the NFC; Placekicker
John Kasay who converted 37 field goals on a league record; and league's top
kickoff returner Michale Bates who averaged 30.2 yards per return. Dom Capers
was named coach of the year. After defeating the Dallas Cowboys during the
playoffs Packers pro shop, the Panthers lost to the Green Bay Packers pro shops who went on to
become that season's Super Bowl Champions.
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