1995 Carolina Panthers season
The 1995 Carolina Panthers season was the franchise's inaugural season in the National Football League and the 1st under head coach Dom Capers. They went 7–9, the best debut year for any expansion franchise since the NFL's inception. The Panthers played their first season's home games at Clemson University because Bank of America Stadium was still under construction after a deadline point in 1995 for scheduling Carolina's first set of NFL games.
| 1995 Carolina Panthers season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Jerry Richardson |
| Head coach | Dom Capers |
| General manager | Bill Polian |
| Home field | Memorial Stadium (Clemson, South Carolina) |
| Results | |
| Record | 7–9 |
| Division place | 4th NFC West |
| Playoff finish | Did not qualify |
| Pro Bowlers | None |
Offseason
The Panthers were jokingly called "Buffalo Bills South" because of the large number of former Bills on the roster. Quarterback Frank Reich, wide receiver Don Beebe, tight end Pete Metzelaars and linebacker Carlton Bailey had played key roles in the Bills' run of four consecutive Super Bowls earlier in the 1990s and were on the Panthers' inaugural roster. Furthermore, the team's general manager was longtime Bills GM and executive Bill Polian. (See also the 2001 San Diego Chargers season, in which a similar situation arose when John Butler brought several former Bills with him to San Diego after being fired.)
Expansion draft
^ Made roster. [1]
NFL Draft
| 1995 Carolina Panthers draft | |||||
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Kerry Collins * | QB | Penn State | |
| 1 | 22 | Tyrone Poole | CB | Fort Valley State | |
| 1 | 29 | Blake Brockermeyer | OT | Texas | |
| 2 | 36 | Shawn King | DE | Louisiana–Monroe | |
| 4 | 132 | Frank Garcia | C | Washington | |
| 5 | 135 | Michael Senters | WR | Northwestern | |
| 5 | 171 | Andrew Peterson | OT | Washington | |
| 6 | 188 | Steve Strahan | DT | Baylor | |
| 6 | 191 | Jerry Colquitt | QB | Tennessee | |
| 7 | 209 | Chad Cota | SS | Oregon | |
| 7 | 249 | Michael Reed | SS | Boston College | |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career | |||||
Personnel
Staff
Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
|
Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
Strength and conditioning
| |||||
Roster
Schedule
Preseason
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOF | July 29 | at Jacksonville Jaguars | W 20–14 | 1–0 | Fawcett Stadium | 24,625 |
| 1 | August 4 | at Chicago Bears | L 15–18 | 1–1 | Soldier Field | 50,300 |
| 2 | August 12 | Denver Broncos | W 19–10 | 2–1 | Memorial Stadium | 57,017 |
| 3 | August 19 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 10–17 | 2–2 | 3Com Park | 51,185 |
| 4 | August 26 | New York Giants | W 6–3 | 3–2 | Memorial Stadium | 49,114 |
Regular season
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 3 | at Atlanta Falcons | L 20–23 (OT) | 0–1 | Georgia Dome | Recap | ||
| 2 | September 10 | at Buffalo Bills | L 9–31 | 0–2 | Rich Stadium | Recap | ||
| 3 | September 17 | St. Louis Rams | L 10–31 | 0–3 | Memorial Stadium | Recap | ||
| 4 | Bye | |||||||
| 5 | October 1 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 13–20 | 0–4 | Memorial Stadium | Recap | ||
| 6 | October 8 | at Chicago Bears | L 27–31 | 0–5 | Soldier Field | Recap | ||
| 7 | October 15 | New York Jets | W 26–15 | 1–5 | Memorial Stadium | Recap | ||
| 8 | October 22 | New Orleans Saints | W 20–3 | 2–5 | Memorial Stadium | Recap | ||
| 9 | October 29 | at New England Patriots | W 20–17 (OT) | 3–5 | Foxboro Stadium | Recap | ||
| 10 | November 5 | at San Francisco 49ers | W 13–7 | 4–5 | Candlestick Park | Recap | ||
| 11 | November 12 | at St. Louis Rams | L 17–28 | 4–6 | Trans World Dome | Recap | ||
| 12 | November 19 | Arizona Cardinals | W 27–7 | 5–6 | Memorial Stadium | Recap | ||
| 13 | November 26 | at New Orleans Saints | L 26–34 | 5–7 | Louisiana Superdome | Recap | ||
| 14 | December 3 | Indianapolis Colts | W 13–10 | 6–7 | Memorial Stadium | Recap | ||
| 15 | December 10 | San Francisco 49ers | L 10–31 | 6–8 | Memorial Stadium | Recap | ||
| 16 | December 17 | Atlanta Falcons | W 21–17 | 7–8 | Memorial Stadium | Recap | ||
| 17 | December 24 | at Washington Redskins | L 17–20 | 7–9 | Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium | Recap | ||
Season summary
Week 7 vs Jets
Week Seven: New York Jets (1–5) at Carolina Panthers (0–5)
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jets | 0 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 15 |
| Panthers | 3 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 26 |
at Memorial Stadium • Clemson, South Carolina
- Date: October 15
- Game time: 4:00 p.m. EDT
- Game weather: 60 °F (16 °C) • Wind 10 miles per hour (16 km/h; 8.7 kn)
- Game attendance: 52,613
- Referee: Mike Carey
- TV: NBC
- Pro-Football-Reference.com, The Football Database
| Game information | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Players dumped Gatorade on Dom Capers after the win. [4]
| Scoring summary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Standings
| NFC West | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK | |
| (2) San Francisco 49ers | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 457 | 258 | L1 |
| (6) Atlanta Falcons | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 362 | 349 | W1 |
| St. Louis Rams | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 309 | 418 | L3 |
| Carolina Panthers | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 289 | 325 | L1 |
| New Orleans Saints | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 319 | 348 | W1 |
Records
- Most victories by an expansion team (7)[5]
- First expansion team to have a winning record at home (5–3)[5]
- First expansion team to have a four-game winning streak (weeks 7–10)[5]
- First expansion team to defeat a defending Super Bowl champion in its inaugural season (13–7 over the San Francisco 49ers in San Francisco)[5]
References
- "NFL Expansion Draft". Hartford Courant. February 16, 1995. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
- "NFL Draft — Team by Team". Hartford Courant. April 24, 1995. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
- "Assistant Coaches". Panthers.com. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
- "Panthers earn first victory." Gainesville Sun. 1995 Oct 16. Retrieved 2019-Sep-17.
- NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p. 92
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.