Panthers Make Second Super Bowl Appearance in Team History
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PANTHERS.COM / @PANTHERS / @PANTHERSPR 2015 SEASON IN REVIEW PANTHERS MAKE SECOND SUPER BOWL APPEARANCE IN TEAM HISTORY 2015 PANTHERS SEASON HIGHLIGHTS STATISTICAL SNAPSHOT • Carolina made the second Super Bowl in team history. Carolina previ- Below are the final 2015 regular season averages and rankings ously played in Super Bowl XXXVIII following the 2003 season. for Carolina in key statistical categories: • Head coach Ron Rivera was named the AP NFL Coach of the Year. Rivera has been named Coach of the Year twice in the past three NFL NFC seasons (2013, 2015). OFFENSE Avg. Rank Rank • Quarterback Cam Newton was named the AP NFL Most Valuable Total Yards Per Game 366.9 11th 7th Player, the first Panther to win the award. Newton was also named AP Rushing Yards Per Game 142.6 2nd 1st Offensive Player of the Year. Rushing Yards Per Attempt 4.3 10th 6th • Carolina finished the regular season with a franchise-record 15 wins to earn the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. Passing Net Yards Per Game 224.3 24th 11th • The Panthers won the NFC South for the third consecutive season. Sacks Per Pass Play 6.2% 21st 11th • Including the playoffs, Carolina won all 10 games played at Bank of Sacks Allowed 33 11th(t) 8th(t) America Stadium. Carolina holds the longest active home winning Third Down Efficiency 42.4% 7th 7th streak in the NFL at 13 games. Points Per Game 31.3 1st 1st • An NFL-best and franchise record 10 Panthers were named to the Pro Bowl and a team-record eight Panthers earned AP All-Pro honors. NFL NFC • The Panthers went 4-1 in the regular season in December/January, improving Ron Rivera's December/January record to 19-5, tied for the DEFENSE Avg. Rank Rank best in the NFL since 2011. Total Yards Per Game 322.9 6th 3rd • Prior to Carolina's Week 16 loss at Atlanta (12/27/15), Carolina won 18 Rushing Yards Per Game 88.4 4th 2nd consecutive regular season games, the longest streak in NFC history. Rushing Yards Per Attempt 3.9 7th 3rd • Carolina has rushed for 100 or more yards in 27 consecutive regular Passing Net Yards Per Game 234.5 11th 6th season games, the longest active streak in the NFL. Sacks Per Pass Play 6.3% 14th 7th • Carolina set team records and led the NFL with 500 points scored and Sacks 44 6th 1st 59 total touchdowns. The Panthers also produced a team-record 357 first downs. Third Down Efficiency 37.9% 13th 7th • Carolina joins Seattle as the only two teams to field a top 10 defense Points Per Game 19.3 6th 3rd in each of the last four seasons. • Carolina led the NFL in interceptions (24), total takeaways (39), points FINAL NFC SOUTH STANDINGS off turnovers (148) and turnover differential (+20). • Quarterback Cam Newton led the NFL with 45 total touchdowns and The Panthers finished the regular season with a 15-1 record, the produced a career-high 99.4 passer rating. best record in the NFL and the most wins in franchise history, en • Running back Jonathan Stewart ranked eighth in the NFL with 989 route to winning the team's third consecutive NFC South title. rushing yards, earning a Pro Bowl selection. Carolina became the fourth team in the Super Bowl era to start a • Wide receiver Ted Ginn, Jr. (10) is the first Panthers wide receiver with 10+ touchdowns since Steve Smith had 12 in 2005. season 14-0, joining the 1972 Miami Dolphins, 2007 New England • Tight end Greg Olsen tallied a career-high 1,104 receiving. He is just Patriots and 2009 Indianapolis Colts. the seventh tight end in NFL history with consecutive 1,000-yard The Panthers finished with an 8-0 home record and a 7-1 record seasons. on the road. The Panthers finished the season with a 5-1 division • Kawann Short's 11 sacks are the most by a defensive tackle in record, splitting the series with Atlanta. Panthers history. • Linebacker Thomas Davis became the Panthers all-time leading tack- FINAL 2015 NFC SOUTH STANDINGS ler with 954 career stops. W L T PCT. PF PA • Kicker Graham Gano set the Panthers franchise record with 146 Carolina 15 1 0 .938 500 308 points, second-most in the NFL in 2015. Atlanta 8 8 0 .500 339 345 New Orleans 7 9 0 .438 408 476 Tampa Bay 6 10 0 .375 342 417 PANTHERS FREE AGENTS 2015 PANTHERS SCHEDULE Unrestricted (13) PRESEASON (3-1) Pos Player ‘15 GP/GS Friday Aug. 14 @ Buffalo W, 25-24 QB Joe Webb 16/0 Saturday Aug. 22 MIAMI W, 31-30 FB Mike Tolbert 16/3 Friday Aug. 28 NEW ENGLAND L, 17-16 WR Jerricho Cotchery 14/3 Thursday Sept. 3 @ Pittsburgh W, 23-6 C Fernando Velasco 10/1 G Chris Scott 13/0 REGULAR SEASON (15-1) G Amini Silatolu 9/3 (IR) Sunday Sept. 13 @ Jacksonville W, 20-9 T Tyronne Green 0/0 (IR) Sunday Sept. 20 HOUSTON W, 24-17 DT Kyle Love 15/2 Sunday Sept. 27 NEW ORLEANS W, 27-22 CB Josh Norman 16/16 CB Charles Tillman 12/12 (IR) Sunday Oct. 4 @ Tampa Bay W, 37-23 CB Cortland Finnegan 5/0 Sunday Oct. 11 BYE S Roman Harper 16/16 Sunday Oct. 18 @ Seattle W, 27-23 P Brad Nortman 16/0 Sunday Oct. 25 PHILADELPHIA W, 27-16 Restricted (3) Monday Nov. 2 INDIANAPOLIS W, 29-26 (OT) Pos Player ‘15 GP/GS Sunday Nov. 8 GREEN BAY W, 37-29 WR Stephen Hill 0/0 (IR) Sunday Nov. 15 @ Tennessee W, 27-10 T Mike Remmers 16/16 Sunday Nov. 22 WASHINGTON W, 44-16 DE Frank Alexander 0/0 (IR/Suspended) Thursday Nov. 26 @ Dallas W, 33-14 Exclusive Rights (1) Sunday Dec. 6 @ New Orleans W, 41-38 Pos Player ‘15 GP/GS Sunday Dec. 13 ATLANTA W, 38-0 LB Ben Jacobs 16/0 Sunday Dec. 20 @ New York Giants W, 38-25 Sunday Dec. 27 @ Atlanta L, 20-13 MEDIA INFORMATION / CONTACTS Sunday Jan. 3 TAMPA BAY W, 38-10 Panthers.com – For the most up-to-date information on the Carolina Panthers, please visit the team’s official web site at POSTSEASON (2-1) . Updated daily, the web site has the most www.panthers.com Sunday Jan. 17 SEATTLE W, 31-24 extensive information on upcoming games and the most compre- Sunday Jan. 24 ARIZONA W, 49-15 hensive news on the Panthers. Sunday Feb. 7 Super Bowl 50: Denver L, 24-10 Panthers Communications Department CAPS = HOME GAMES Steven Drummond, Communications Director (704) 358-7448 [email protected] Ryan Anderson, Communications Manager (704) 358-7473 [email protected] Chelsea Parker, Communications Coordinator (704) 358-7093 [email protected] Media Website – The Panthers media website can be accessed at http://media.panthers.com or by going to Panthers.com and clicking on “Media Only” in the News section. It is password pro- tected and will be available to the media and others to whom are provided the username and password. URL – http://media.panthers.com Username – panthersmedia (all lowercase) Password – carolina (all lowercase) Twitter – Follow the Panthers communications department on Twitter at @PanthersPR. 2016 DRAFT ORDER PAST 10 No. 30 OVERALL SELECTIONS The NFL Draft will kick off in primetime for the seventh consecu- 2015 Green Bay CB Damarious Randall Arizona State tive year. The first round will start on Thursday, April 28 with the Played in 15 games with nine starts in his rookie campaign, lead- second and third rounds on Friday, April 29 followed by rounds ing the Packers with four interceptions, including one returned for four through seven on Saturday, April 30. The 2016 Draft will be a touchdown. Added 16 passes defensed. Named NFL Defensive held in Chicago. Rookie of the Month for November. 2015 FIRST ROUND DRAFT ORDER 2014 San Francisco DB Jimmie Ward Northern Illinois Strength of Has played in 25 games with eight starts, all in 2015. Scored the # Team W L T Win Pct. Schedule 49ers only defensive touchdown in 2015, returning an intercep- 1. Tennessee 3 13 0 .188 .492 tion 29 yards for a score. Added 65 tackles, a sack and six passes 2. Cleveland 3 13 0 .188 .531 defensed. 3. San Diego 4 12 0 .250 .527 4. Dallas 4 12 0 .250 .531 2013 St. Louis LB Alec Ogletree Georgia 5. Jacksonville 5 11 0 .313 .473 A 2013 PFWA All-Rookie team selection, Ogletree led the Rams 6. Baltimore 5 11 0 .313 .508 in tackles in each of his first two seasons, starting all 32 games 7. San Francisco 5 11 0 .313 .539 played, before a broken leg limited him to four games in 2015. 8. Miami 6 10 0 .375 .469 2012 San Francisco WR A.J. Jenkins Illinois 9. Tampa Bay 6 10 0 .375 .484 Played in 28 games with three starts in three seasons with San 10. New York Giants 6 10 0 .375 .500 Francisco (2012) and Kansas City (2013-14). Notched 17 catches 11. Chicago 6 10 0 .375 .547 for 223 yards. Did not play in 2015. 12. New Orleans 7 9 0 .438 .504 13. Philadelphia 7 9 0 .438 .508 2011 New York Jets DT Muhammad Wilkerson Temple 14. Oakland 7 9 0 .438 .512 A two-time second-team AP All-Pro, Wilkerson has started 75 of 77 15. Los Angeles 7 9 0 .438 .527 games in his five-year career, totaling 36.5 sacks.