Panthers 2009-2010 Outlook

It was bittersweet for the Carolina Panthers during the 2008-9 NFL season.  The Panthers put together one of the bext regular seasons in franchise history by going 12-4 to win the NFC South title (after missing out on the playoffs for 2 consecutive seasons).  But the euphoria surrounding the regular season success quickly came to a crashing halt as the NFC West division winner Arizona Cardinals - led by Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald - stormed into Charlotte crushing the Pantehrs 33-13 in the divisional round of the playoffs.  Despite the loss, the Panthers are confident that they can learn from the playoff experience and make a run at another successful winning season and a 2nd straight NFC South title.  Panthers tickets will surely be hard to come by during the 2009-2010 NFL schedule.

Veteran Quarterback Jake Delhomme retunred to form in 2008-9 by throwing for 3,288 yards, 15 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, good for a 84.7 passer rating.  Delhomme started all 17 Panthers games in 2008-9 after missing time with injuries in the previous 2 seasons.  Running Back DeAngelo Williams exploded onto the scene with a breakout year - 1,515 rushing yards on only 273 attempts.  Williams also scored 18 touchdowns and did not fumble once in the Panthers' 17 games.  2nd-year running back Jonathan Stewart proved that he could contribute at the NFL level as well.  Stewart rushed for 836 yards on 184 carries and scored 10 touchdowns.  The Williams-Stewart running back tandem forms one of the best rushing attack duos in all of football.  Delhomme will likely target Steve Smith as his primary passing threat as usual, but he also re-acquainted himself with Muhsin Muhammad who played for the Panthers from 1996 through 2004.  Delhomme and Muhammad connected for 923 yards and 5 touchdowns during the 2008-9 NFL season and it was clear that Muhammad clearly thrived in an offense where he was not the quarterback's primary target.  3rd year receiver Dwayne Jarrett from USC will also continue to develop and grow as an NFL receiver with Delhomme at the helm.  The Panthers will continue to control the football by rushing the football with their dynamic Williams-Stewart duo.  And after lulling opposing teams’ defenses to sleep with the consistent rushing attack, Delhomme has the capability of striking at will with an explosive aerial attack.  Trying to keep all of these offensive weapons at bay will be a significant problem for most NFL defenses.    

John Fox will make sure that the Carolina Panthers defense controls the line of scrimmage on the defensive side of the football.  Defensive Ends Julius Peppers and Tyler Brayton will form one of the best defensive line duos in the NFL.  The Panthers added Na'il Diggs to work with Jon Beason and Thomas Davis in the linebacking corps.  The trio will patrol the middle of the field with both superior size and speed and should be able to make big plays on a consistent basis.  And veteran cornerback Chris Gamble will continue to anchor a strong secondary that should be able to keep opposing teams’ passing attacks in check and help young safeties Nate Salley and Charles Godfrey continue to adjust to the quickness of the NFL game.  The Carolina Panthers defense should keep most games low-scoring, and when the Carolina Panthers offense is clicking on all cylinders, the Carolina Panthers will be one of the toughest teams to beat week in and week out this season.  The Carolina Panthers should battle the Atlanta Falcons all season long for the NFC South crown as each team has a good shot at making a return appearance to the playoffs during the 2009-2010 NFL season.  Get your Panthers NFL tickets Bank of America Stadium before it's too late.

Panthers TV/Radio

All Carolina Panthers football games can be seen on one of the following television broadcasts depending on the team they are playing:  Fox Sports, CBS, or ESPN.  Tune into the Carolina Panthers flagship stations WBT 1110 on your AM dial or WBT 99.3 on your FM dial to catch each Carolina Panthers football game on the radio.

The Carolina Panthers have played in 2 different stadiums during their existence.  While construction on their permanent home was being completed, the Carolina Panthers played their first year in the NFL in Clemson University’s Memorial Stadium.  Construction of the Bank of America Stadium was finally completed in time for the 1996 NFL regular season.  Originally, the stadium opened as Carolinas Stadium, before a Swedish telecom company purchased the naming rights to the stadium when it was called Ericsson Stadium.  Bank of America purchased the naming rights in 2004 for a 20-year term. 

Bank of America Stadium sits on a little over 33 acres of land in Charlotte, North Carolina and holds a seating capacity of 73,298 loyal Panthers fans.  It was one of the first NFL stadiums to utilize the concept of PSL’s – personal seat licenses – for its season ticket holders.  The significant number of PSL’s issued to season ticket holders was a large factor in the NFL granting the expansion NFL franchise to the Charlotte, North Carolina area.  Bank of America Stadium is a state-of-the-art stadium and several other NFL stadiums built since 1995 have used concepts developed during the construction of Bank of America Stadium. 

The Carolina Panthers are a professional football team in the National Football League (the NFL).  The Carolina Panthers play in the National Football Conference (NFC) South Division with three other teams: the Atlanta Falcons, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New Orleans Saints.  The Carolina Panthers have not won any Super Bowl Championships.  Bank of America Stadium, located in Charlotte, North Carolina hosts all Carolina Panthers home games. 

In 1995, the NFL granted an NFL expansion franchise to the City of Charlotte.  A buzz had taken hold of the Charlotte, North Carolina area following the 1987 establishment of the NBA basketball team Charlotte Hornets.  At that time, Richardson Sports Group, run by former professional football player Jerry Richardson, started a campaign to bring a professional football team to the area and announced a plan to construct a privately financed outdoor stadium that would seat up to 70,000 fans.  Local businessmen and politicians worked closely with Richardson Sports to prove to the NFL that the area could afford and aggressively support a professional football team in the Charlotte area.  In 1992, the NFL began its search and after much deliberation and in-fighting, the NFL granted the 29th franchise to Charlotte, North Carolina.  Charlotte became the first new franchise in the NFL since 1976.  An amazing 40,000 individuals purchased private seat licenses to enable the Charlotte plan to proceed without over-extending the burden to the public.  That same year, the NFL awarded the 30th franchise to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Carolina Panthers first head coach was Dom Capers.  The first team consisted of players signed through free agency, players drafted through an NFL expansion draft consisting of NFL players who were left “unrestricted” by their current NFL teams, and players drafted through the traditional NFL draft.  As expected the Carolina Panthers had a losing record in their first season, but in their second season, the Carolina Panthers finished in first place in the NFC West with a 12-4 record.  The Carolina Panthers made it to the playoffs for the first time in their history and defeated the Dallas Cowboys 26-17 in the Divisional round of the playoffs to advance to the NFC Championship Game.  Unfortunately, the surprise season came to an end when the Carolina Panthers lost to the Green Bay Packers 30-13.  Ironically, that same season, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the other team granted an NFL franchise in 1995, lost in their Conference Championship game to the New England Patriots 20-6.  Both losses precluded the opportunity for the Super Bowl to match up two 2nd year NFL franchises.  For the next 6 seasons, the Carolina Panthers did not record a winning season.  The low point came in 2001 when they won only 1 game the entire season.  After that disappointing season, the Carolina Panthers fired head coach George Seifert, the former San Francisco 49ers head coach, and hired the talented young defensive coordinator from the New York Giants, John Fox.  Fox immediately turned things around by building a solid athletic defense that would keep the Carolina Panthers in many low-scoring affairs.  And although the team still finished with a losing 7-9 record in 2002, the foundation was laid for a team that was rising to the top.  In 2003, the Carolina Panthers solid defensive play was again the focus of the team.  But the Panthers added some weapons on offense in the off-season – Quarterback Jake Delhomme, Running Back Stephen Davis and Wide Receiver Ricky Proehl – which allowed the team to perform more consistently on offense each and every week.  After a thrilling 4th quarter comeback victory in the first game of the season, the Carolina Panthers played with newly instilled confidence and started the season with 5 straight wins.  The Carolina Panthers finished atop the NFC South with an 11-5 record and made the playoffs for the second time in the team’s short history.  In the playoffs, the Carolina Panthers defeated the Dallas Cowboys 29-10 in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.  The Carolina Panthers then met the high-powered St. Louis Rams offense in the Divisional round of the playoffs.  After blowing an 11- point 4th quarter lead and surviving the first 15 minute overtime period without a score, the Carolina Panthers scored on the first offensive play of the 2nd overtime period when Jake Delhomme fired a strike to Steve Smith to win the game 29-23.  The next week, the Carolina Panthers defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 14-3 in the NFC Championship Game, which ended the Philadelphia Eagles season in the NFC Championship Game for the 3rd consecutive year.  That victory enabled the Carolina Panthers to advance to their first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history.

In Super Bowl XXXVIII, the New England Patriots defeated the Carolina Panthers 32-29, when Adam Vinatieri kicked a 41-yard field goal with only 4 seconds left to break the 29-29 tie. After an uneventful 3 quarters of play, both offenses exploded in the 4th quarter when they exchanged leads numerous times.  The Carolina Panthers completed the longest offensive play in NFL Super Bowl history when Jake Delhomme hit Muhsin Muhammad for an 85-yard touchdown pass, which gave the Panthers a 22-21 lead.  The Patriots answered with a touchdown and 2-point conversion of their own, to give the Patriots a 7 point lead.  Jake Delhomme led the Panthers back down the field to tie the game at 29 with a touchdown pass to Ricky Proehl.  When, Carolina Panthers kicker John Kasay kicked the ball out of bounds on the ensuing kickoff, it gave the Patriots excellent field position, from which they easily moved down the field to set up Adam Vinatieri’s game winning kick.    

Although Super Bowl XXXVIII was a fun and exciting game to watch for its play on the field, it will be most remembered for the halftime show when Janet Jackson exposed her breast during her song and dance routine.  That “wardrobe malfunction” caused much unwanted publicity for Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake and CBS, the network that broadcast the event.  CBS was sanctioned for allowing that incident to occur on public television, and the “wardrobe malfunction” resulted in numerous calls for stricter laws controlling “immoral behavior and acts” shown on public television.

The Carolina Panthers finished with a losing record in 2004.  But they returned to the post-season the following year when they finished with an 11-5 record.  After stunning both the New York Giants 23-0 in the Wild Card round of the playoffs in Giants Stadium and the Chicago Bears 29-21 in the Divisional round of the playoffs in Soldier Field, the Carolina Panthers ran out of steam.  A third straight road victory at Seattle was not in the cards, and their season came to an abrupt end by the score of 34-14 at Qwest Field.

During the 2006-7 NFL season, the Carolina Panthers struggled to an 8-8 record.  Despite acquiring legendary Wide Receiver Keyshawn Johnson in the off-season, injuries to Quarterback Jake Delhomme and Wide Receiver Steve Smith proved too difficult to overcome as the Carolina Panthers did not qualify for post-season play.  Although the team was expected to compete for a playoff berth in 2007-8, a season-ending injury to Quarterback Jake Delhomme in the 3rd week of the season sealed the fate of the Carolina Panthers.  The Carolina Panthers finished with a 7-9 record and failed to make the playoffs for the 2nd straight season.

Hall of Famers

The only player inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame who wore a Carolina Panthers jersey was legendary Defensive Tackle Reggie White.  In 2000, Reggie White played his final NFL season with the Carolina Panthers.  Reggie White passed away in December 2004 and he was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2006.  The Carolina Panthers have a “Hall of Honor” in which the following people are honored:  Linebacker Sam Mills, who retired in 2005 (his #51 jersey is no longer used by the Carolina Panthers in honor of Mills), Executive Manager and General Manager Mike McCormack, and all PSL owners.

2007 Panthers
2008 Panthers