CHARLOTTE — The Carolina Panthers have been hard to root for this season — that’s not new. What is different is that we actually have a chance of making the playoffs this year.
Actually, we had a chance of securing a playoff berth last week, but we blew it with a 27-10 loss Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks.
If the Panthers beat or tie the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this week, they will lay claim to the NFC South and host a playoff game for the first time since Cam Newton’s 2015 squad.
I get it. The ebbs and flows of an NFL season test your mettle and loyalty as a sports fan. But there comes a point where I have no idea what to think about this team, and I feel myself slowly losing faith each week.
The Panthers will make the postseason with a win on Saturday against the Bucs or a win from the Atlanta Falcons over the New Orleans Saints, which means I get to be a Kirk Cousins fan and a Bryce Young fan this weekend (wish me luck).
With multiple permutations for a playoff appearance, I am somewhat hopeful we will at least get in, but there’s no real expectation of the Panthers doing anything in the postseason. It’s been nearly 10 years since their last playoff win. And with the amount of question marks throughout the roster, as well as the sometimes head-scratching playcalling, a postseason win feels highly unlikely.
On paper, having a quarterback that’s about the same size as a high school point guard seems like a really bad strategy to win pro football games (it feels like every Panthers graphic shows him dwarfed by his offensive tackle), and it doesn’t give me confidence with this franchise’s ceiling moving forward.
However, as soon as I, along with other talking heads, count out Young and the Panthers, they find a way to pull out a win, albeit teetering between victory and defeat every week.
The Bucs have lost seven of their last eight games and are clearly trending in the wrong direction — but I’ll be honest: I really respect Baker Mayfield.
The dude is a dog. Multiple highlights this season show him shrugging off much more menacing defenders and still finding a way to make a play downfield. He’s downright electric at QB and his headstrong qualities and level of swagger definitely give me reason for concern. If I were the Panthers GM and I could somehow trade Young for Mayfield straight up ahead of this game, I would.
If I were a betting man, I would stay far clear of this game. As it stands now, the oddsmakers favor Tampa Bay as the Panthers enter a potential elimination game on the road as three-point underdogs.
There’s a lot to be nervous about right now if you’re a Carolina fan. Is Bryce Young going to show up in clutch time as he did against the Los Angeles Rams when he threw two touchdowns on fourth down? Or is it going to be like last week, where he posted a career-low 54 yards passing?
Armchair experts like Ryen Russillo don’t believe a football team led by Young can be successful in this league, and it’s hard to disagree, especially after Sunday’s performance. It’s nearing the end of his third season, and he still hasn’t shown enough to garner hope for this era of Panthers football.
As it all comes down to this, the Week 18 quarterback matchup looms large in a must-win game for both teams.
Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. Saturday, with the game airing on ABC and ESPN.