Panthers bring statistical oddity into playoff clash with Rams

Dave Canales’s team finished below .500 this season but still won the NFC South. It simply adds up to a case of déjà vu for the division champion Panthers.

Nov 30, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) is sacked by Carolina Panthers defensive end Derrick Brown (95) during the fourth quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Kinser-Imagn Images | Scott Kinser-Imagn Images

This Saturday afternoon at Bank of America Stadium, the Carolina Panthers will host a playoff contest for the first time since Cam Newton and company blew out the Arizona Cardinals, 49-15, in the 2015 NFC Championship Game.

Although Dave Canales’s team dropped its final two regular-season games, including last Saturday’s 16-14 setback at Tampa to the Buccaneers, the 8-9 Panthers are NFC South champions, and will actually be making their first postseason appearance since 2017.

This week’s first-round opponent is the Los Angeles Rams. Sean McVay’s club finished 12-5 and in second place in the NFC West, with four more wins than Carolina. However, Canales’s club is a division champion, and will host the wild card Rams. It’s actually the second time in four seasons that an NFC South champion finished 8-9, which was the case for the 2022 Buccaneers.

Meanwhile, this is also the second time that the Panthers have won this division with a sub-.500 record. In the midst of a three-year run which saw then-head coach Ron Rivera lead the club back-to-back-to-back first-place finishes, Carolina endured a troubling 2014 campaign which resulted in a 7-8-1 finish. That team opened with a pair of victories, won just one of its next 10 games (1-8-1), then closed out the season with four consecutive victories.

Jan 3, 2015; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (1) reacts during the fourth quarter against the Arizona Cardinals in the 2014 NFC Wild Card playoff football game at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Rivera’s team took a lot of momentum into a wild card clash with the visiting Arizona Cardinals, and came away with a 27-16 win.

On to Saturday. The visiting Rams are actually making their second appearance in Charlotte this season. Back in Week 13, the Panthers came away with an impressive 31-28 triumph in which they turned over Rams’ quarterback Matthew Stafford three times.

Yes, it was actually just over a decade ago that Carolina won an NFC South title with a losing record and went on to post a playoff victory. Will history repeat itself this upcoming weekend?

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