A division crown is just on the edge of possible
The Panthers best path to the playoffs is to win the NFC South. Amazingly, after last weeks’ loss and the Saints dominant 8-1 record, a division crown is still in reach for the Panthers. It is possible, but only just. The team that lost to the Steelers 52-21 last Thursday isn’t going to to do it, but a team motivated by that loss might.
It’s no secret that the Saints are having a hell of a year off the venerated arm of Drew Brees and the lightning, Christian McCaffrey-esque talent of Alvin Kamara. Their only loss came to the season opening appearance of Fitzmagic. To catch up, the Panthers have to win out —including two wins against the Saints— to guarantee a division title. They will need the Saints to lose in kind for any more losses the Panthers suffer this year.
The problem with that is the Saint’ schedule. Going forward, it doesn’t look terribly frightening. They play the Eagles, the Falcons, the Cowboys, the Bucs, the Panthers twice, and the Steelers. The difference of home or away doesn’t seem to matter much for them this year.
Pittsburgh is easily the best team left on their schedule and nobody is ranking them over the Saints right now. If ever location were going to make a difference for the Saints then it might have been in this game. Unfortunately for the Panthers, the Steelers will be traveling to New Orleans.
Obviously, Carolina still needs to at least split with New Orleans to have any hope even if the Saints do lose to the Steelers. Rooting for any other team to beat the Saints is a combination of hoping for divisional shenanigans or crossing your fingers and chanting ‘any given Sunday.’ That is the NFL equivalent of standing in a crosswalk and hoping that runaway truck’s brakes will start working again.
The Panthers best hope is to win out. That would likely tie each team with a 13-3 record. In this scenario, the Panthers would have the tiebreaker over the Saints because of both head-to-head and divisional records.
Beating the Saints once this year is a task of which few NFL teams seem to be capable. Beating them twice in three weeks is the kind of resume that recommends a team to Super Bowl odds makers. To do that, the Panthers will have to overcome their terrible record on the road this season and then overcome the red hot division rival who gave them fits in three games last year.
That’s a tough road, but it is still technically possible. It is also the only way the Panthers will likely see a playoff game at home.
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