2005 NFC Divisional: Panthers vs. Seahawks

Lore & Background

The Panthers were founded in 1993, when they joined the NFL as an expansion team. Their inaugural season was in 1995, and they played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina during that first season. The team's home field and headquarters is Bank of America Stadium in Uptown Charlotte. The Panthers are supported throughout the Carolinas.

In Their Own Story

The air in Bank of America Stadium tasted like cold January and warm anticipation. Forty thousand voices hummed a low, persistent note as the Panthers' offense lined up on the Seahawks' 30. Kerry Collins dropped back, scanned, and found the seam where Steve Smith was already running—already there, as if he'd been waiting. The catch was effortless. The crowd detonated. Somewhere in the Seahawks' huddle, a coach scribbled a new adjustment that would never matter, because the next three drives would look the same: methodical, patient, inevitable. By the fourth quarter, the scoreboard told the story, and the story told the truth—Charlotte had found its voice in the playoffs, and it was loud.

Reader's Guide

In the 2005 season, the Panthers reached the NFC Championship game, where they lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. The team's playoff appearance that year was in the NFC Championship game, not the Divisional round.

Did You Know?

• The Panthers' first head coach was Dom Capers, who won the Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year Award in 1996.
• The Panthers recorded a 15–1 regular season in 2015, the best in team history, but lost Super Bowl 50 to the Denver Broncos.
• The Panthers returned to the playoffs in the 2025 season after winning the NFC South with an 8–9 record.