2005 Carolina Panthers season The 2005 Carolina Panthers season was the 11th season for the team in the National Football League . They improved on their 7 - 9 record from 2004 , going 11 - 5 , and made it to the playoffs for the first time since 2003 . It is also the only time to date the Panthers earned a playoff spot as a wild - card team . They eventually fell to the NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks 34 - 14 in the NFC Championship Game . Postseason results . Wild Card playoffs . The Panthers forced five turnovers , limited the Giants to only 109 yards of total offense , and became the first club to shut out a home playoff team since the Los Angeles Rams shut out the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1980 NFC Championship Game . Although the Giants entered the game with Pro Bowl er Tiki Barber starting at running back , the Panthers running game , featuring DeShaun Foster and Nick Goings , outgained the Giants 223 yards to 41 on the ground . Carolina wide receiver Steve Smith caught 10 passes for 84 yards and scored two touchdowns , a 22 - yard reception and a 12 - yard run , while kicker John Kasay added three field goals and Foster rushed for 151 yards . Meanwhile , quarterback Eli Manning threw three interception s in his first playoff start . After the first five possessions of the game ended with punts , Carolina drove 77 yards in 12 plays and scored with Jake Delhomme ' s 22 - yard touchdown pass to Smith . On Carolina ' s next possession , they were forced to punt , but New York safety Gibril Wilson muffed the kick and Panthers defensive back Dante Wesley recovered the ball at the Giants 15 - yard line , setting up a 31 - yard Kasay field goal to increase the lead to 10 - 0 . Carolina dominated the second half , intercepting Eli Manning three times . Midway through the third quarter , Ken Lucas intercepted a pass from Manning and returned it 14 yards to the Giants 12 - yard line , setting up Delhomme ' s 12 - yard touchdown pass to Smith on the next play . On New York ' s next drive , a 17 - yard pass interference penalty on Lucas nullified his second interception and gave the Giants a first down at the Panthers 43 - yard line . But two plays later , Manning ' s pass was intercepted by Marlon McCree at the 18 . On the Panthers ensuing drive , Foster rushed three times for 44 yards , and Delhomme completed a 25 - yard pass to Keary Colbert , moving the ball to the Giants 27 - yard line where Kasay ' s 45 - yard field goal made the score 20 - 0 . Then five plays after the kickoff , McCree recorded his second interception on the Panthers 44 - yard line . Carolina subsequently closed out the scoring with a 14 - play , 55 yard drive that ended with Kasay ' s third field goal with 2 : 40 left in the game . Divisional playoffs . The Panthers recorded 434 yards of total offense , and avenged a 13 - 3 regular season defeat by the Bears , to advance to their third NFC Championship Game in their eleven - year existence . Carolina receiver Steve Smith caught 12 passes for 218 yards and 2 touchdowns , the first coming 55 seconds into the contest , and rushed for 26 yards . Panthers kicker John Kasay contributed three second - quarter field goals , while quarterback Jake Delhomme threw for 319 yards and 3 touchdowns . Although the Panthers lost key running back DeShaun Foster to a broken ankle in the third quarter , the team managed to hold off the Bears . The Panthers got the ball first and scored quickly . Jamal Robertson returned the opening kickoff 34 yards to the 40 - yard line , and one play later , Delhomme threw a 58 - yard touchdown pass to Smith . Later on , Smith ' s 46 - yard reception set up a 20 - yard field goal on the first play of the second quarter , increasing their lead to 10 - 0 . On their next drive , Carolina had a chance to increase their lead even more after Delhomme completed passes to Drew Carter for gains of 14 and 29 yards , moving the ball to the Bears 23 - yard line . But linebacker Brian Urlacher ended the drive by intercepting a pass from Delhomme at the 10 . However , the Panthers forced another punt and scored with a second field goal from Kasay . Bears quarterback Rex Grossman completed 5 passes for 62 yards on a 67 - yard drive that ended with a 1 - yard touchdown run by Adrian Peterson cutting the score to 13 - 7 . But Carolina stormed right back , driving 51 yards and scoring with Kasay ' s third field goal on the last play of the first half . After the second half kickoff , a 24 - yard run by Bears halfback Thomas Jones moved the ball to the Panthers 41 - yard line . Then Grossman went to work , completing two passes to Bernard Berrian for 29 yards before finishing the drive with a 1 - yard touchdown pass to tight end Desmond Clark . But after an exchange of punts , Delhomme threw a 39 - yard touchdown pass to Smith , and the Panthers retook their 9 - point lead . Early in the fourth quarter , Chicago ' s Jason McKie scored a 3 - yard touchdown run to cut their deficit to 23 - 21 . But Delhomme led the Panthers right back , completing five passes for 45 yards and scoring with a 1 - yard touchdown pass to tight end Kris Mangum . After an exchange of punts , the Bears drove into Carolina territory , but defensive back Ken Lucas put the game away by intercepting a pass from Grossman on the Panthers 22 - yard line . Conference championships . The Seahawks forced four turnovers , and allowed only 36 rushing yards and 14 points , as they advanced to their first Super Bowl trip in the team ' s 30 - year history . Meanwhile , running back Shaun Alexander , coming off his divisional round injury , rushed for a franchise playoff record 134 yards and 2 touchdowns . Midway through the first quarter , the Seahawks drove 57 yards in five plays , featuring a 28 - yard reception by Seneca Wallace , and scored with quarterback Matt Hasselbeck ' s 17 - yard touchdown pass to Jerramy Stevens . Then three plays after the ensuing kickoff , linebacker Lofa Tatupu intercepted a pass from Jake Delhomme and returned it 22 yards to the Panthers 20 - yard line , setting up a field goal from Josh Brown . The next time Carolina got the ball , Delhomme was intercepted again , this time by Marquand Manuel , who returned it 32 yards to the Panthers 17 - yard line , setting up Alexander ' s 1 - yard touchdown run that increased Seattle ' s lead to 17 - 0 on the first play of the second quarter . The Panthers eventually cut the score to 17 - 7 on Steve Smith ' s 59 - yard punt return for a touchdown with 9 : 56 left in the first half . The Seahawks scored another 17 unanswered points . On their first drive after the punt return touchdown , that moved the ball 57 yards and scored with a 39 - yard field goal from Brown . Brown missed a field goal on the Seahawks next possession , but on the first drive of the second half , they score with Hasslebeck ' s 20 - yard touchdown pass Darrell Jackson . Then in the fourth quarter , they put the game completely out of reach with a 53 - yard drive that ended with Alexander ' s second touchdown . Carolina responded with a 47 - yard touchdown pass from Delhomme to receiver Drew Carter , cutting the score to 34 - 14 , but by then there was only 5 minutes left in the game .