page_title: 2001 Carolina Panthers season
hierarchical_section_title: 2001 Carolina Panthers season
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: American Football (Charlotte 2002 Patriots-Panthers)
context_page_description: The 2001 Carolina Panthers season was the franchise's 7th season in the National Football League and the 3rd and final under head coach George Seifert. They tried to improve upon their 7–9 record in 2000, and make it to the playoffs for the second time in franchise history; however, the season was a wreck. Not only were the Panthers unable to improve over their previous season, but they deteriorated even further dropping to 1–15, losing 15 straight after beating the Minnesota Vikings in their opening game of the season. No other team before or since has lost fifteen straight after opening the season with a big win: the only other teams in NFL history to win their opener and lose the remainder of their games are the 1936 Philadelphia Eagles and the 1969 Pittsburgh Steelers, both in the pre-Merger era and before the league expanded to a 16-game schedule in 1978. The only teams to nearly suffer the same fate as the 2001 Panthers include the 2013 Houston Texans, the 2014 Tennessee Titans, and the 2016 San Francisco 49ers, all of whom had won their season openers but finished 2–14 respectively.
context_section_description: The 2001 Carolina Panthers season was the franchise's 7th season in the National Football League and the 3rd and final under head coach George Seifert. They tried to improve upon their 7–9 record in 2000, and make it to the playoffs for the second time in franchise history; however, the season was a wreck. Not only were the Panthers unable to improve over their previous season, but they deteriorated even further dropping to 1–15, losing 15 straight after beating the Minnesota Vikings in their opening game of the season. No other team before or since has lost fifteen straight after opening the season with a big win: the only other teams in NFL history to win their opener and lose the remainder of their games are the 1936 Philadelphia Eagles and the 1969 Pittsburgh Steelers, both in the pre-Merger era and before the league expanded to a 16-game schedule in 1978. The only teams to nearly suffer the same fate as the 2001 Panthers include the 2013 Houston Texans, the 2014 Tennessee Titans, and the 2016 San Francisco 49ers, all of whom had won their season openers but finished 2–14 respectively.
  The Panthers consequently beat the record for most consecutive losses during a single NFL season shared by the 1976 Buccaneers, the 1980 Saints, the 1981 Colts and the 1990 Patriots. This has since been broken by two winless teams: the 2008 Detroit Lions and 2017 Cleveland Browns.
  By the end of the season, the Panthers had become so incapacitated that only about 16,000 fans showed up to see them play in their finale against the New England Patriots, who shockingly went on to win Super Bowl XXXVI over the 14–2 Rams. Coincidentally, the Panthers would face the Patriots 2 seasons later in Super Bowl XXXVIII, which saw the Panthers lose 32–29. Following their terrible season, head coach George Seifert was fired and replaced by John Fox.
  The 2001 Panthers became the seventh of eight teams to finish 1–15 after last year's Chargers, the 1996 Jets, 1991 Colts, 1990 Patriots, 1989 Cowboys and the 1980 Saints. The 2007 Dolphins, 2009 Rams, and 2016 Browns would eventually become the next 3 teams after the Panthers to finish only one win as of 2019.
caption: The  New England Patriots at Carolina in Week 17 on January 6, 2002
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