# List of Carolina Panthers seasons

The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football club based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They play in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Panthers were founded in 1993, when they joined the NFL as an expansion team. The team home field and headquarters is Bank of America Stadium in Uptown Charlotte. The Panthers are supported throughout the Carolinas; although the team has played its home games in Charlotte since 1996, they played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina during its first season in 1995. In the 29 seasons the team has played, it has a record of 223–260–1 (a winning percentage of .474), with two Super Bowl appearances, six division titles, and eight playoff appearances.
The Carolina Panthers inaugural season was in 1995, where team played as members of the NFC West division. Dom Capers was the franchise's first head coach. In their first season, they recorded a record of 7–9, the best record for an expansion team in NFL history. In their second season, they won the NFC West and reached the NFC Championship game, where they lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers; Capers won the Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year Award. The Panthers would fail to reach the playoffs in 1997, and in 1998, Capers was fired after a 4–12 finish. George Seifert was hired to replace him as head coach, but failed to reach the playoffs in any of his three seasons. His final season as head coach was in 2001, when the Panthers finished with a league-worst 1–15 record. John Fox was hired as head coach in 2002. In his nine seasons as head coach, the Panthers made the playoffs three times and won two NFC South division titles (in 2003 and 2008). They reached Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2003, the NFC Championship game in 2005, and the Divisional round in 2008.
Fox was not retained as head coach following a 2–14 finish in 2010, and was succeeded by Ron Rivera. Rivera's tenure as head coach was the most successful in team history. The Panthers reached the playoffs four times under Rivera, and won three straight division titles from 2013 to 2015. In 2015, the Panthers recorded their most successful regular season, finishing with a league-best 15–1 record; quarterback Cam Newton received MVP and Offensive Player of the Year honors. However, the team lost Super Bowl 50 24–10 to the Denver Broncos. The team last recorded a playoff appearance in 2017, when they recorded an 11–5 record but lost to the New Orleans Saints in the Wild Card round. Since then, the team has failed to record a winning season and has fired three head coaches (Rivera in 2019, Matt Rhule in 2022, and Frank Reich in 2023). In their most recent season, the team finished with a league-worst 2–15 record. As of 2024, the Panthers have never had consecutive seasons where they finished above .500, though they have had multiple cases of following an above-.500 finish one year with a .500 season the next.

## Seasons

Key :
| Conference champions # | Division champions † | Wild Card berth ^ |
Carolina Panthers records by season :
| Season | Team | League | Conference | Division | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Postseason results | Awards | Head coach | Refs. |
| Season | Team | League | Conference | Division | Finish | W | L | T | Postseason results | Awards | Head coach | Refs. |
| 1995 | 1995 | NFL | NFC | West | 4th | 7 | 9 | 0 | | | Dom Capers | |
| 1996 | 1996 | NFL | NFC | West † | 1st † | 12 | 4 | 0 | Won Divisional playoffs (Cowboys) 26–17 Lost NFC Championship (at Packers) 13–30 | Dom Capers (COTYTooltip NFL Coach of the Year Award) | Dom Capers | |
| 1997 | 1997 | NFL | NFC | West | 2nd | 7 | 9 | 0 | | | Dom Capers | |
| 1998 | 1998 | NFL | NFC | West | 4th | 4 | 12 | 0 | | | Dom Capers | |
| 1999 | 1999 | NFL | NFC | West | 2nd | 8 | 8 | 0 | | | George Seifert | |
| 2000 | 2000 | NFL | NFC | West | 3rd | 7 | 9 | 0 | | | George Seifert | |
| 2001 | 2001 | NFL | NFC | West | 5th | 1 | 15 | 0 | | | George Seifert | |
| 2002 | 2002 | NFL | NFC | South | 4th | 7 | 9 | 0 | | Julius Peppers (DROTYTooltip National Football League Rookie of the Year Award) | John Fox | |
| 2003 | 2003 | NFL | NFC # | South † | 1st † | 11 | 5 | 0 | Won Wild Card playoffs (Cowboys) 29–10 Won Divisional playoffs (at Rams) 29–23 (2OT) Won NFC Championship (at Eagles) 14–3 Lost Super Bowl XXXVIII (vs. Patriots) 29–32 | | John Fox | |
| 2004 | 2004 | NFL | NFC | South | 3rd | 7 | 9 | 0 | | | John Fox | |
| 2005 | 2005 | NFL | NFC | South | 2nd ^ | 11 | 5 | 0 | Won Wild Card playoffs (at Giants) 23–0 Won Divisional playoffs (at Bears) 29–21 Lost NFC Championship (at Seahawks) 14–34 | Steve Smith (CPTOYTooltip National Football League Comeback Player of the Year Award) | John Fox | |
| 2006 | 2006 | NFL | NFC | South | 2nd | 8 | 8 | 0 | | | John Fox | |
| 2007 | 2007 | NFL | NFC | South | 2nd | 7 | 9 | 0 | | | John Fox | |
| 2008 | 2008 | NFL | NFC | South † | 1st † | 12 | 4 | 0 | Lost Divisional playoffs (Cardinals) 13–33 | | John Fox | |
| 2009 | 2009 | NFL | NFC | South | 3rd | 8 | 8 | 0 | | | John Fox | |
| 2010 | 2010 | NFL | NFC | South | 4th | 2 | 14 | 0 | | | John Fox | |
| 2011 | 2011 | NFL | NFC | South | 3rd | 6 | 10 | 0 | | Cam Newton (OROTYTooltip National Football League Rookie of the Year Award) | Ron Rivera | |
| 2012 | 2012 | NFL | NFC | South | 2nd | 7 | 9 | 0 | | Luke Kuechly (DROTYTooltip National Football League Rookie of the Year Award) | Ron Rivera | |
| 2013 | 2013 | NFL | NFC | South † | 1st † | 12 | 4 | 0 | Lost Divisional playoffs (49ers) 10–23 | Luke Kuechly (DPOTYTooltip AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award) Ron Rivera (COTYTooltip National Football League Coach of the Year Award) | Ron Rivera | |
| 2014 | 2014 | NFL | NFC | South † | 1st † | 7 | 8 | 1 | Won Wild Card playoffs (Cardinals) 27–16 Lost Divisional playoffs (at Seahawks) 17–31 | Thomas Davis (WPMOTYTooltip Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award) | Ron Rivera | |
| 2015 | 2015 | NFL | NFC # | South † | 1st † | 15 | 1 | 0 | Won Divisional playoffs (Seahawks) 31–24 Won NFC Championship (Cardinals) 49–15 Lost Super Bowl 50 (vs. Broncos) 10–24 | Cam Newton (MVPTooltip National Football League Most Valuable Player Award, OPOTYTooltip AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award) Ron Rivera (COTY) | Ron Rivera | |
| 2016 | 2016 | NFL | NFC | South | 4th | 6 | 10 | 0 | | | Ron Rivera | |
| 2017 | 2017 | NFL | NFC | South | 2nd ^ | 11 | 5 | 0 | Lost Wild Card playoffs (at Saints) 26–31 | | Ron Rivera | |
| 2018 | 2018 | NFL | NFC | South | 3rd | 7 | 9 | 0 | | | Ron Rivera | |
| 2019 | 2019 | NFL | NFC | South | 4th | 5 | 11 | 0 | | | Ron Rivera (5–7) Perry Fewell (0–4) | |
| 2020 | 2020 | NFL | NFC | South | 3rd | 5 | 11 | 0 | | | Matt Rhule | |
| 2021 | 2021 | NFL | NFC | South | 4th | 5 | 12 | 0 | | | Matt Rhule | |
| 2022 | 2022 | NFL | NFC | South | 2nd | 7 | 10 | 0 | | | Matt Rhule (1–4) Steve Wilks (6–6) | |
| 2023 | 2023 | NFL | NFC | South | 4th | 2 | 15 | 0 | | | Frank Reich (1–10) Chris Tabor (1–5) | |
| 2024 | 2024 | NFL | NFC | South | 3rd | 5 | 12 | 0 | | | Dave Canales | |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 219 | 264 | 1 | All-time regular season record (1995–2024) | All-time regular season record (1995–2024) | All-time regular season record (1995–2024) | All-time regular season record (1995–2024) |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 9 | 8 | — | All-time postseason record (1995–2024) | All-time postseason record (1995–2024) | All-time postseason record (1995–2024) | All-time postseason record (1995–2024) |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 228 | 272 | 1 | All-time regular & postseason record (1995–2024) | All-time regular & postseason record (1995–2024) | All-time regular & postseason record (1995–2024) | All-time regular & postseason record (1995–2024) |