The NFL is most definitely a week-to-week league, and you don’t need to look any further than the Carolina Panthers for proof of that.
Just seven days removed from perhaps the most impressive win that the franchise has celebrated in nearly a decade, the Panthers allow the New Orleans Saints to waltz into Bank of America Stadium and hand deliver an equally crushing loss.
Carolina dropped to 5-5 on the season and holds a 1-1 record within the NFC South division. Despite the loss being a painful result, one Panthers leader isn’t waving any white flags because of it.
Carolina Panthers Still Hold the Keys to Their Destiny
Pro Bowl defensive lineman and locker room leader, Derrick Brown, spoke to reporters in the locker room following the loss on Sunday. When Brown was asked whether he felt as if the Panthers could still make the playoffs, he replied:
“We want to win the division and we’re sitting at .500. If we mess it up, it’s on us. We got to go out there and do what we got to do in order to make those things come true.”
Four of the remaining regular-season games for the Panthers are against division opponents. Brown is correct that they technically hold the keys to their destiny, with that being the case.
However, what’s the likelihood of winning all, or just enough, of the remaining contests en route to a postseason berth?
According to PFSN’s NFL Football Playoff Meter (FPM), the Panthers have a 23.1% chance of making the NFL Playoffs, with a 13.4% probability of winning the division.
The Week 10 loss at home against the New Orleans Saints decreased Carolina’s postseason likelihood by 11.9%, but only resulted in a 1.7% decrease in their prospects of claiming the NFC South title.
Looking a bit closer at each remaining game, the Panthers will only be “expected” to win one of them. Ironically, that game is the Week 15 rematch against the Saints in New Orleans (53.4% chance of winning).
The second-best chance (43.7%), according to PFSN’s Playoff Predictor, will be this upcoming week on the road against the Atlanta Falcons. The last time the two teams met, Carolina put a 30-0 shutout on the scoreboard in Week 3.