After an outright shellacking of Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Carolina Panthers have put themselves in a surprisingly advantageous position at this point in the NFC South race.
Over the past few weeks, Carolina was considered nationally down and out—firing their head coach, selling off two of their three best offensive weapons and, seemingly, building towards having the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft. Interim head coach Steve Wilks and company, however, pumped the breaks on that perception on Sunday.
With their shocking triumph over the 3-4 Bucs, along with Week 7 losses from the 3-4 Atlanta Falcons and 2-5 New Orleans Saints, the 2-5 Panthers sit just one game behind first place. And now, with a 2-0 record in the division, a win over Atlanta and another Tampa Bay loss would—by virtue of that divisional mark—would put them atop the NFC South by the end of next weekend.
This is simply a swift reminder of how quickly things can change in the NFL, and how fast narratives can be thrown into the trash. There is little doubt that the Panthers are pushing for every win they can get this season, and fighting for their leader in Wilks.
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