The Panthers joined the 1984 San Francisco 49ers, 1985 Chicago Bears (for whom Rivera played as a linebacker), 1998 Minnesota Vikings, 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers, 2007 New England Patriots (who were a perfect 16–0 in the regular season) and the 2011 Green Bay Packers as the only teams to accomplish this feat.

A week later, however, Carolina routed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to finish 15–1, giving the Panthers home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

The Panthers then blew out the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship game by a score of 49–15 to reach their second Super Bowl appearance in franchise history.

Running backs (RB) Wide receivers (WR) Tight ends (TE) Defensive linemen (DL) Defensive backs (DB) Special teams Reserve Throughout the offseason, regular season, and postseason, the 2015 Carolina Panthers were subjected to large amounts of criticism from the national media.

NBC Sports analyst Rodney Harrison, a former Super Bowl-winning safety, in particular criticized the Panthers throughout the season for what he believed to be a lack of good wide receivers although he acknowledged he did not hate the team as a whole.

[3][4] A major criticism-turned media story during the year was the 'Tennessee Mom letter', where a Tennessee mother wrote to Cam Newton after being offended at his dancing during a week 10 victory against the Titans.

In a close contest the Saints, with backup QB Luke McCown starting in place of an injured Drew Brees, almost stole the victory.

On the Saints last drive, McCown's 4th quarter end zone heave was intercepted by Josh Norman, sealing the win for Carolina.

[15] Mere hours later, in front of a capacity crowd at CenturyLink Field, Carolina overcame a slow first three-quarters, including giving up a reverse flea flicker TD pass, to stun the Seahawks in the 4th.

The drive concluded at around half a minute to play, when Newton found TE Greg Olsen wide open in the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown.

It was also in this game that Cam Newton debuted the 'dab' touchdown dance after a rushing TD, which was quickly imitated by other players around the NFL and in college football.

Carolina got a break when Colts QB Andrew Luck threw his third interception, which was picked off by Kuechly on the game's 154th play, according to ESPN play-by-play man Mike Tirico.

A few plays later, Panthers kicker Graham Gano hit a 52-yard field goal, his longest of the season, to give Carolina the win early Tuesday morning.

However, LB Thomas Davis intercepted an Aaron Rodgers pass on 4th down inside the red zone, ensuring the win for Carolina.

The Panthers intercepted three passes from Dallas QB Tony Romo, the first one less than a minute into the game by DB Kurt Coleman, who returned it for a touchdown.

Romo was later injured by a sack from Panthers LB Thomas Davis at the end of the third quarter and would leave the game, being replaced by Matt Cassel.

With the New England Patriots' overtime loss to the Denver Broncos on November 29 during Sunday Night Football, the Panthers became the last undefeated team in the NFL, and would remain so for the following month.

In the end, Carolina needed a 4th quarter game-winning touchdown drive from the offense (including a 4th down conversion), and a last-second defensive stand to seal it.

The Panthers looked to stay hot and undefeated as they traveled to MetLife Stadium to take on the Giants, led by two-time Super Bowl winning QB Eli Manning and star WR Odell Beckham Jr., who both had strong performances in a Monday Night shootout at Miami a week earlier.

Carolina led 35–7 late in the third quarter, but the Manning-led Giants stormed back with four touchdowns (the last of which was a pass to Beckham) to tie the game with just under two minutes remaining.

It also made them the fourth team, along with the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the 2007 New England Patriots, and the 2009 Indianapolis Colts to start a season 14–0 in NFL history.

Carolina started off well with a Newton rushing TD, but Atlanta proved to be too much at home, culminating in a long touchdown pass from Falcons QB Matt Ryan to WR Julio Jones.

The Panthers entered the day needing either a win against the Buccaneers, or an Arizona Cardinals loss to the Seahawks to secure the top seed in the NFC.

With the win, the Panthers clinched home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs for the first time in franchise history, although the Cardinals' simultaneous loss to the Seahawks would've allowed Carolina to remain as the #1 seed either way.

Tickets were sold out in under five minutes[16] and all Panthers fans in attendance were given white towels to twirl, matching Carolina's all-white uniforms.

The Panthers forced seven turnovers from the Cardinals, six from QB Carson Palmer and one from cornerback Patrick Peterson on a punt return, despite losing Thomas Davis to an arm injury early.

In the aftermath of Kuechly's pick-six, with the victory fully secured, the stadium itself began shaking due to the crowd noise and energy.

This was noticed on air by Fox Sports' Joe Buck, who, after the cameras showed almost thirty seconds of exuberant Panthers fans dancing in the stands, stated: "This booth is literally bouncing."

With the blowout win, the Panthers would improve to 17–1 overall and would head onto the Super Bowl, their first appearance in twelve years and their second in franchise history.

Carolina ultimately committed 4 costly turnovers though, including two strip sacks from QB Cam Newton, one of which immediately resulted in a touchdown for the Denver Broncos.