In 2015, the Carolina Panthers seemed unstoppable. They went 15-1 behind eventual MVP award winner Cam Newton; they had the league’s best offense, turnover differential, and point differential; and they were having an incredible season on their way to their second Super Bowl in the franchise’s 22-year history.
However, since a sobering loss to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50, the Panthers have never looked the same.
They finished the 2016 season dead last in the NFC South for the first time in the Newton era, with a 6-10 record. Recording nine fewer wins than in 2015, the Panthers tied for the second largest single-season decline in NFL history.