The Carolina Panthers punched themselves right back into the playoff field on Sunday, thanks to a massive 23-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Their victory gave them a one-game lead in the NFC South—with a chance, as soon as next week, to capture their first division title since 2015.
Head coach Dave Canales talked about the feeling in the locker room after the feel-good triumph.
“Hope. Belief. Everything’s right in front of us, still,” Canales told reporters. “And to give ourselves a chance to continue to play meaningful football this time of year, they’ve earned that. They’ve earned that because of the work, they’ve earned that because of being accountable to each other and really having a great week of preparation.
“Just the focus this group had this week and understanding what’s in front of us. My message to them was like, ‘We’ve been playing playoff football for a really long time.’ Because of our record early on, every single one of those games, for the last month, have been so critical for us to be in this spot.”
Carolina’s clutch performance also caught some attention from around the rest of the NFL world.
Here are some of the best reactions to the Panthers’ big win . . .
At some point I got to give up on Tampa and believe in Carolina!
— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) December 21, 2025
Hearing that Carolina crowd in it in a December game that matters. That’s pretty cool.
— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) December 21, 2025
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