Of course, the Falcons could still complicate things in that scenario.
And again, it’s the NFC South, and we can’t discount it.
If the 6-9 Falcons win their final two games of the season (against the Rams on Monday Night Football and in Week 18 against the Saints, both at home), they could force a three-way tie atop the division, with everyone staring at 8-9 records.
If that happens, the first tiebreaker is head-to-head among the three teams. In that instance, the Panthers would win based on sweeping the Falcons to give them a 3-1 mark in those games, while the Falcons and Bucs split their games, leaving the Bucs at 2-2 in that scenario.
That’s the most NFC South result possible, but no one in Carolina would be apologizing for that.
The time and date of the Week 18 game is expected to be announced Sunday night, and given the win-and-in implications, it’s likely to be played in a standalone window.
There are two solo games on Saturday, along with the Sunday night game.
The Panthers are 3-2 all-time in prime-time games against the Buccaneers. They beat the Bucs on Monday Night Football here in 2006 and 2008, and on Thursday Night Football in Tampa in 2013. They lost to the Bucs on a Monday in 2016 and a Thursday in 2019.