5 times an NFL team made the playoffs with a losing record

Two more NFL division winners entered with a losing record

Fozzy Whittaker's 39-yard touchdown reception gave Carolina the lead for good (Photo: Getty)

-2014 Carolina Panthers (7-8-1)

Carolina hardly resembled a playoff team entering the December of the 2014 NFL season, sitting at 3-8-1 with four games to go. However, holiday magic emerged in the form of a four-game winning streak capped off by a 34-3 demolishing of Atlanta that afforded them the NFC South title.

In the Wild Card round against the reeling Arizona Cardinals (who were missing starting quarterback Carson Palmer), the Panthers allowed only 78 yards of offense, an NFL playoff record. Arizona lingered thanks to a strong defensive effort of its own, even holding a 14-13 lead in the third quarter.

But the Panthers took the lead for good on Fozzy Whittaker's 39-yard touchdown grab of a pass from Cam Newton. Newton later found Mike Tolbert for a one-yard score after Carolina recovered the ensuing kickoff. The Panthers would eventually win the game 27-16. However, they eventually fell to the defending champion Seahawks in the Divisional round.

Combined with the 14 wins they had earned to start the ensuing season, the Panthers went on to amass an 18 game regular-season winning streak, tied with the 2003-04 New England Patriots for the third-longest of all-time. They would face the Cardinals in the following year's NFC title game, crushing them 49-15 en route to Super Bowl 50.

-2020 Washington Football Team (7-9)

In their first post "Redskins" season, Washington created deja vu all over again for head coach Ron Rivera, who coached the aforementioned Panthers to their division title and win over Arizona in the 2014-15 season. Anchored by a 5-2 win streak to end the year (and a dreadful NFC East), Washington earned a division title with a 7-9 record.

The season was notable for the emergence of Defensive Rookie of the Year Chase Young, as well as the inspiring return of injured quarterback Alex Smith, who was later named the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year.

Few gave Washington a chance against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Wild Card game in Landover. Anchored by the surprising play of quarterback Taylor Heinicke, Washington kept things respectable against the eventual Super Bowl champs, losing 31-23.