CHARLOTTE, N.C. (FOX Carolina) – The word that kept coming up during the Panthers’ season was “battle.”
The 2025 season was full of twists and turns, but the road took Carolina to its first postseason appearance in eight seasons. The team’s last playoff game was in 2017.
After a promising end to 2024, the start of year two of the Dave Canales era came with potential. But after losses to the Jaguars and the Cardinals, the Panthers started 0-2 for the fourth-straight season.
Early season turnaround
Carolina wiped away any memory of those first two losses with a home-opening, 30-0 shutout of the Falcons. It marked the team’s first shutout win in five seasons.
The momentum faltered momentarily in New England, with Carolina suffering a 29-point lost at the hands of the Patriots, but picked right back up at Bank of America Stadium in Week 5. Former Gamecock running back Rico Dowdle sparked a 17-point comeback, and eventual win, against Miami.
Dowdle followed up his 206-yard day against the Dolphins with 183 more rushing yards against his former team, the Dallas Cowboys the following week. His 473 scrimmage yards set a franchise record for the most in a two-game span.
Alternating wins and losses
The Panthers picked up another win against the Jets to cap their longest winning streak of the season at three games, but starting quarterback Bryce Young suffered an ankle injury while in New York.
Carolina had to play their next game without him and with back up quarterback Andy Dalton leading the offense. The ensuing 40-9 home loss against the Bills dropped Carolina back to .500 on the season.
For the next 10 weeks, the Panthers alternated wins and losses. They were unable to find a consistent footing but still found plenty of bright spots, like beating the Packers in legendary Lambeau Field as two-touchdown underdogs. Undrafted rookie Ryan Fitzgerald made a game-winning 49-yard field goal as time expired.
Another bright spot came on the road in Atlanta. Bryce Young engineered a career day in an overtime win against the Falcons, where he set a franchise record and career-high 448 yards to go with his three touchdowns.
For all the bright spots, there were also bumps in the road, like falling against the 49ers and former Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey on Monday Night Football, despite forcing three first-half turnovers.
Carolina followed that up with one of the season’s signature wins, a 31-28 defeat of the NFC’s top team at the time, the Los Angeles Rams. Three turnovers for the Panthers’ defense complimented three scores from Young.
Playoff push
Then in Week 15, with the NFC South divisional picture coming into view, Carolina lost to the Saints for the second time. The Panthers would need to beat the Buccaneers twice in their next three games or get some help to win the division and make it into the playoffs.
In Carolina’s first meeting with Tampa Bay, it leaned on kicker Ryan Fitzgerald again, who nailed another game-winning field goal and put the Panthers in the division’s driver’s seat.
In Week 16, the Panthers had a chance to clinch the division and a playoff spot by beating the Seattle Seahawks and seeing a Buccaneers lost. Tampa Bay lost to the Dolphins, but the Panthers also lost, falling 27-10 against the Seahawks.
In their final chance to clinch the division in the regular season finale in Tampa Bay, the Panthers fell 16-14. Their playoffs hopes were then out of their control and in the hands of the other two teams in the division, the Falcons and the Saints, who played the following day.
Division title decided
An Atlanta win would give Carolina the South, and a New Orleans win would give it to Tampa Bay. The Falcons won the late-game thriller 19-17, giving the NFC South to Carolina for the first time in 10 years and punching the Panthers’ first playoff ticket in eight seasons.
Playoff heartbreak
The excitement was tangible in Charlotte ahead of the home playoff game it had waited so long for. The No. 4 Panthers hosting a team they had already beaten in the No. 5 Rams. Carolina brought back Panthers legend and former NFL MVP quarterback Cam Newton to “Pound the Drum” ahead of the game.
The NFC Wild Card game between the Panthers and Rams was a back-and-forth battle. Carolina came back from being down 14-0 to take a fourth-quarter lead twice, but a walk-off touchdown with under a minute to play won it for the Rams, 34-31. Mixed emotions filled the locker room as the season came to a close.
Panthers QB Bryce Young’s press conference following Wild Card loss at home to Rams
“We’re all human, right now it’s fresh,” Young said. “I love this team, love this organization, I’m super excited for us.”
“This is the standard now,” defensive tackle Derrick Brown said following the loss.
“Just showing people that we aren’t the old Panthers,” cornerback Mike Jackson said. “We just showed people who we was and we’ve got a lot to build on.”
WATCH: Panthers head coach Dave Canales’ press conference following loss to Rams in Wild Card Playoff game
Getting the Panthers into this spot is part of the reason Dave Canales took the head coaching job. There are moves to make, like decisions surrounding Bryce Young’s rookie contract, but things are only trending in a positive direction as Carolina begins the offseason.
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