Losing to the Falcons on Thursday night was a significant blow for the Panthers’ chances of making the NFL playoffs. Heading into Week 9 (not counting Monday night’s game), Carolina’s odds of making the postseason are in bad shape. According to FiveThirtyEight’s prediction model, the team is projected to finish the year 6-10 with a -57.1 point differential. Their chances of making the playoffs are 3%.
The schedule isn’t doing them any favors, either. On Sunday they will visit the 7-1 Chiefs, followed by the (currently) 5-2 Buccaneers, who already beat them back in Week 2. Scoring an upset over Kansas City seems pretty impossible, so we can assume Carolina will go into Week 10 with a 3-6 record.
Beating Tampa at home won’t be easy, but it’s not unthinkable given how close the last matchup was even with three turnovers from Teddy Bridgewater. If the Panthers can somehow pull off a win there, they’ll keep their (admittedly slim) hopes alive.
Their next two opponents after the Bucs are the Lions and the Vikings, both beatable teams. Beating Tampa, Detroit and Minnesota would put this team at 6-6 going into their bye week. That might give them an outside shot to earn the extra wild card spot down the stretch.
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