The 2004 Carolina Panthers season was the franchise's 10th season in the National Football League and the 3rd under head coachJohn Fox. It was also the team's 8th season at Bank of America Stadium. They failed to improve upon their record in 2003, a year when they finished the regular season 11–5 and ultimately fell 29–32 in Super Bowl XXXVIII to the New England Patriots and they finished 7–9. Their collapse to a 1–7 record start was because of key injuries to their starters including wide receiver Steve Smith Sr., through the first eight games. Despite their late-season rally, they failed to make the playoffs since 2002. They would suffer another collapse in 2016 to a 6–10 record that year after appearing in Super Bowl 50 the previous season.
^ abcSt. Louis clinched the NFC #5 seed instead of Minnesota or New Orleans based on better conference record (7–5 to Minnesota’s 5–7 to New Orleans’ 6–6).
^ abMinnesota clinched the NFC #6 seed instead of New Orleans based on head-to-head victory.
^ abcdeDetroit finished ahead of Arizona and New York Giants based upon head-to-head record (2–0 versus Arizona’s 1–1 and New York Giants’ 0–2). Division tiebreak was initially used to eliminate Dallas and Washington.
^ abcNew York Giants finished ahead of Dallas and Washington in the NFC East based on better head-to-head record (3–1 to Dallas‘ 2–2 to Washington’s 1–3).
^ abDallas finished ahead of Washington in the NFC East based on head-to-head sweep.
^ abTampa Bay finished ahead of Chicago based upon head-to-head victory.
^When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest-ranked remaining team from each division.
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