The Carolina Panthers might have been playing on Sunday to clinch the NFC South title and a home game in the first round of the NFL playoffs. But after stunning the Los Angeles Rams 31-28 on Nov. 30, the Panthers lost their next game to the New Orleans Saints 20-17 on Dec. 14.

That likely means instead of making the postseason by beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, Carolina will have to beat the Bucs again on Jan. 4 to make the playoffs.

“We started this process, like I said, all the way back in April,” Carolina Panthers defensive lineman Derrick Brown said. “So, I mean, now just being able to go out there and do that and, you know, everything we preach in the spring and being able to have it come to fruition right now, I mean, it’s an exciting time.”

The Panthers and Buccaneers will square off at noon CST Sunday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, carrying identical 7-7 records.

If Carolina loses on Sunday, only one path to the NFC South crown will exist for the Panthers – Tampa Bay would have to lose to the Miami Dolphins while Carolina beats the Seattle Seahawks on Dec. 28, then wins the rematch with the Bucs on the final Sunday of the regular season.

If the Panthers win on Sunday, they could lock up the division crown by beating Seattle while Tampa Bay loses to Miami.

If Carolina wins on Sunday and the teams match results on Dec. 28, the Panthers would have to beat Tampa Bay on Jan. 4 to take the NFC South title.

The problem for the Panthers is they cannot finish tied with the Buccaneers.

The first tiebreaker is the to-be-determined head-to-head results, but if there’s a sweep, there won’t be a tie.

The second tiebreaker is division record, and both teams went 2-2 against the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints.

The third tiebreaker is record against common opponents. Tampa Bay has a 6-5 record while Carolina is 5-6 in those games.

“I think the task ahead of us, it’s a hard challenge, right?” Brown said during an appearance on “Up and Adams” on FanDuel TV. “It’s hard enough to beat somebody once, but to go out and have to do it two times in three weeks, I mean, it’s a tough challenge. But that’s what we live for. We’re going to have to go out here and execute it all to the fullest and then turn around and execute again.

“That’s one of those interesting things where you play somebody once and they kind of get a bead on you, and then you turn around and play them again and you got to change everything up. So I think it’ll be interesting. It’s something that I feel like we’re in position to handle in the sense of this opportunity that we have, so I’m excited about it.”

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Carolina cornerback Jaycee Horn said Brown’s return this season had played a big part in the Panthers’ push for the playoffs. Brown missed all but game in the 2024 season because of a knee injury.

Last season, the Panthers yielded 534 points, the most scored against one team in one season in NFL history. This season, Carolina has given up 317 points, which ranks 14th among the NFL’s 32 teams.

“It’s made a big difference,” Horn said. “He’s one of the best at his position in the league, if not the best. So whenever you get a guy like that back, you get more splash plays, you get more pressure on the quarterback. The run game, we done played it a lot better this year — not just thanks to him, but, you know, the whole D-line, just the way they jelled together and the way they play together.

“But, yeah, DB, he a hell of a player. And whenever you get a guy like that back, it makes everything easier.”

After joining Carolina from Auburn as the seventh selection in the 2020 NFL Draft, Brown missed one game in his first four seasons before suffering a meniscus injury in the opening contest of the 2024 campaign. He’s returned to start every game in 2025.

The Panthers have not won more than seven games in a season during Brown’s tenure with the team.

“Just a combination of wanting to get back and be back with this team so bad,” Brown said of his 2025 season, “and just trying to do my job within the role of the scheme and try to be a difference-maker.

“For us, it’s been many daunting years, to say the least, of where we haven’t got the result we wanted to. And then now to be able to be in a position to still be playing meaningful football, like, I mean, it is a feeling like no other.”

A Pro Bowl selection in 2023, Brown has come back with 49 tackles, four sacks, seven passes defended and one forced fumble in 2025.

Brown is among the six defensive interior linemen with at least 49 tackles and four sacks this season, but his seven passes defended put him in a class by himself.

Brown’s ability to knock down passes at the line of scrimmage has resulted in 28 during his career. Cameron Heyward of the Pittsburgh Steelers, with 34, is the only defensive lineman with more since Brown entered the NFL, and Heyward has played in 10 more games than Brown.

“It’s just trying to mirror the (quarterback’s) hand,” Brown said, “and, like, putting your hand up and praying to God that you get your hand on it. It’s one of those things where, like, I can almost kind of tell where the trajectory of the ball is going, so let me just put my hand that way. And I’ve been fortunate to catch more than a few this year, so it’s been a good thing. So I just throw them up there and hope they hit.”