page_title: Luke Kuechly
section_title: 2015: Super Bowl appearance
hierarchical_section_title: Luke Kuechly / Professional career / 2015: Super Bowl appearance
caption_attribution_description: English: New Orleans Saints vs Carolina Panthers, December 6, 2015, Tammy Anthony Baker, Photographer
context_page_description: Luke August Kuechly is a former American football middle linebacker who played all eight seasons of his professional career with the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Panthers ninth overall in the 2012 NFL Draft. Kuechly played college football at Boston College where he was recognized twice as a consensus All-American.
  Kuechly had an immediate impact his rookie season, as he led the NFL in tackles and won the Associated Press 2012 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award, becoming the third youngest recipient in its history. In 2013, Kuechly became the youngest recipient of the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award in its history.
  After retiring following the 2019 season, Kuechly rejoined the Panthers as a pro scout.
context_section_description: On September 10, 2015, Kuechly signed a five-year, $62 million extension with the Panthers, becoming the NFL's highest-paid middle linebacker by annual average salary. During the season opener, Kuechly suffered a concussion during a game against the Jacksonville Jaguars and left the game. He missed the first game of his NFL career in the following week when the Panthers defeated the Houston Texans. Kuechly returned to the field during the Panthers Week 6 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle. During the game, he recorded 14 tackles and eight defensive stops. Kuechly continued to play in form during the Panthers victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, recording 11 defensive stops, one tackle-for-loss, one pass defensed, and one quarterback hit. Despite missing three games through the first seven weeks, Kuechly graded as PFF's best linebacker in the NFL.
  Kuechly tied a season high 14 tackles during a Monday Night Football victory over the Indianapolis Colts. He also had three passes defended and an interception in overtime to set up a Graham Gano game-winning field goal. Kuechly followed up his impressive performance the following week during the Panthers 37-29 victory over the Green Bay Packers, where he recorded a team-high nine tackles and four stops to go along with his fifth pass defensed of the season. The following week, Kuechly forced a fumble for just the second time in his career during the Panthers 27-10 victory over the Tennessee Titans. The next week, during the Panthers 44-16 victory over the Washington Redskins to move them to 10-0, Kuechly recorded 4 tackles, 1 forced fumble, and a fumble recovery. The next week, Kuechly recorded 7 tackles, 2 passes defenses, and 2 interceptions for 49 yards and a touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys in a 33-14 win, which helped Carolina reach 11-0. During the game, Kuechly became the first player with picks on back-to-back plays from scrimmage since 1997 and upped his career total to 10, most among all linebackers since 2012. Additionally, his pick 6 was the first of his NFL career and the first one since his junior season at Boston College. He was awarded the All-Iron Award and NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance during the game; it was his fourth such honor in his career, setting a new Panthers' franchise record.
  According to PFF through the first 12 weeks of the season, Kuechly's 17.6 run-stop percentage ranked first for any defensive player regardless of position with at least 100 snaps against the run. Further, Kuechly was one of seven linebackers with 30 or more tackles in the run game, and just one missed tackle. In coverage, Kuechly had three interceptions and four passes defended with no touchdowns allowed. He also allowed the second-lowest passer rating among all linebackers when targeted in coverage at 47.4 and is the one of just three linebacker with more than 25 tackles in coverage, and only one missed tackle. During the Panthers week 14 victory over the Atlanta Falcons, Kuechly recorded his fourth interception of this season against quarterback Matt Ryan. His 11 career interceptions are the most by any linebacker since he came into the league in 2012. During the Panthers thrilling 38-35 victory over the New York Giants to move them to 14-0, Kuechly recorded 15 tackles, his highest total since 2014 Week 5. Kuechly was the winner of PFF's inaugural Dick "Night Train" Lane Award, given to the defender who performed the best in pass-coverage over the course of the season. Kuechly led all linebackers in allowing a passer rating of just 48.7 into his coverage (playoffs included).
  In the Panthers' 31–24 win over the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Divisional Round, Kuechly intercepted Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson early in the first quarter and returned the pick 14 yards for a touchdown to give the Panthers a 14–0 lead. He added another "pick six" late in the Panthers' 49–15 win over the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship. On February 7, 2016, Kuechly was part of the Panthers team that played in Super Bowl 50. In the game, he recorded 1
caption: Kuechly playing against the New Orleans Saints in 2015.
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