How many NFL teams have made playoffs with a losing record? Panthers join short list originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Carolina Panthers finished the 2025 NFL regular season with a losing record — and they still made the playoffs.

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The Panthers’ 8-9 record was enough for them to clinch their first NFC South title since 2015 and their first playoff berth since 2017. The NFC South saw three teams finish at 8-9 in the Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Atlanta Falcons, and the three-way tiebreaker went to Carolina.

The Panthers had a chance to claim the division crown with a winning record on the penultimate day of the regular season, but they fell to the Buccaneers 16-14 on the road. The result kept the Bucs’ playoff hopes alive and meant the division title would come down to a game between the Falcons and the New Orleans Saints — both of whom had already been eliminated from playoff contention — on the final day of the regular season.

Carolina needed the Falcons to win at home, while Tampa Bay needed a Saints upset. The game was tightly contested, but the Falcons held on for a 19-17 victory.

The Panthers now enter the postseason as the NFC’s No. 4 seed and will host MVP candidate Matthew Stafford and the No. 5 Los Angeles Rams on Wild Card Weekend. The playoff game will come over a month after the Panthers turned Stafford over three times en route to a 31-28 home victory.

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Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time the Panthers have reached the playoffs with a losing record. Here’s a look at the small group of sub-.500 playoff teams in NFL history:

Has a team ever made the NFL playoffs with a losing record?

There have been a handful of teams to make the NFL playoffs despite posting a losing record.

Who was the last team to make the NFL playoffs with a losing record?

Prior to the 2025 Panthers, the Buccaneers had been the most recent team to qualify for the postseason with a sub-.500 record. The Tom Brady-led Bucs won the NFC South in 2022 with an 8-9 record, before losing to the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card Round.

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How many teams have made the NFL playoffs with a losing record?

The Panthers are just the fifth team in a non-strike season to ever make the playoffs with a losing record. All five were division winners, with three coming from the NFC South. And Carolina is now the first team to ever make the playoffs with a losing record multiple times:

2025: Carolina Panthers: Won NFC South at 8-9, playing in Wild Card Round

2022 Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Won NFC South at 8-9, lost in Wild Card Round

In the strike-shortened 1982 season, the Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions reached the playoffs with 4-5 records. They then both lost in the Wild Card Round.

The 2010 Seahawks and 2014 Panthers are the only teams with a losing record to win a playoff game. A sub-.500 team has yet to advance past the Divisional Round.

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Editor’s note: The original version of this story was posted on Dec. 29, 2025.