text: 1996 season: Playoff Debut In the 1996 NFL draft, the Panthers used their first pick on running back Tim Biakabutuka, and their second pick on wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad, both players would have successful careers with the team. During the off-season, they also picked up quarterback Steve Beuerlein, tight end Wesley Walls, and linebacker Kevin Greene. After playing their home games in Clemson, South Carolina during their first season, the Panthers began play at the newly completed Ericsson Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina starting in September. The team's second year proved even better than the first; following a 5–4 start, the players found a groove and rattled off a seven-game winning streak to end the season with a record of 12–4. They ended up winning the NFC West division for the first and only time in franchise history.
  In their first ever playoff game, they beat the defending Super Bowl XXX champion Dallas Cowboys 26–17 in the NFC Divisional Playoffs at Ericsson Stadium. The following week, however, they fell to the eventual Super Bowl XXI champion Green Bay Packers 30–13 in the NFC Championship Game. Their fellow second-year expansion team, the Jacksonville Jaguars, played in the AFC Championship against the New England Patriots but lost 20–6; the NFL nearly had an all-expansion Super Bowl. Following the successful season, the Panthers were represented at the Pro Bowl by eight players, including Kerry Collins, John Kasay, Sam Mills, and Michael Bates among others. Capers also won NFL Coach of the Year, becoming the first Panthers coach to win the award.