All Panthers

Panthers ranked one spot behind Buccaneers as NFC South push heats up

The hard-to-figure-out Carolina Panthers moved up in the latest NFL Power Rankings, and the first-place Tampa Bay Buccaneers are certainly hearing footsteps.
Russell Baxter|
Dec 29, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) great Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) after a game at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Dec 29, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) great Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) after a game at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

In this story:

Carolina Panthers

It’s a reigning division champion followed by an intriguing team. That would be the 7-5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers and 7-6 Carolina Panthers in the latest NFL Power Rankings via Eric Edholm of NFL.com. Todd Bowles’s club moved up three spots from No. 20 to No. 17. Meanwhile, Dave Canales’s squad sits at 18th, up one notch 19th after Week 12.

The Panthers have alternated wins and losses in their last seven games, which leads us to Edholm’s analysis of Canales’s club.

“I’m not sure if there’s a stranger team résumé—or one that is more difficult to interpret—than that of Carolina. The Panthers could end up as an 11-win team, yet their point differential currently sits at minus-50. And look at the results of their past three home games: a 31-point loss to the Bills, a 10-point loss to the Saints…and an upset win over the red-hot Rams—nominally the best team in a completely wide-open field—with Carolina missing two offensive linemen and three key defenders.”

The three-point victory over Sean McVay’s club saw Carolina run a season-high 40 times (for 164 yards) and a defense that forced Rams’ quarterback Matthew Stafford into a season-high three turnovers—one of those an interception that cornerback Mike Jackson returned 48 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter. The Panthers put an end to Los Angeles’ six-game winning streak.

“Over the past three weeks,” explained Edholm, “Bryce Young went from red hot against the Falcons to ice cold at San Francisco, then back to hot in the win over Los Angeles. Did I mention Sunday’s 31-point output was Carolina’s highest of the season? I’d ask someone to make it make sense, but we’re well past that point."

"Right now," added Edholm, "the Panthers are a total wild card finally taking their bye, but the one thing we can make sense of is that their playoff chances almost wholly depend on how they fare against the Bucs in Weeks 16 and 18. The rest can be figured out by someone smarter than I am.”

- Enjoy more free Panthers coverage with Carolina Panthers on SI -

Carolina Panthers studs & duds from a shocking win over the LA Rams

Major takeaways from the Panthers’ huge upset win over visiting Rams

Arch Manning among 3 potential Bryce Young replacements in 2026 draft

Analyst states the obvious about Rico Dowdle and the Carolina Panthers

Published
Russell Baxter
RUSSELL BAXTER

Russell S. Baxter has been writing and researching the game of football for more than 40 years, and on numerous platforms. That includes television, as he spent more than two decades at ESPN, and was part of shows that garnered five Emmy Awards. He also spent the 2015 NFL season with Thursday Night Football on CBS/NFLN.