Panthers Ridiculously Tumble in Power Rankings Despite Enjoying Week Off

The Carolina Panthers are coming off the bye week, and it couldn't have gone better. Their next opponent, the Philadelphia Eagles, traveled to London and lost a demoralizing heartbreaker. They also lost two offensive linemen prior to that.

Aside from the now 1-4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the divisional threats to Carolina both lost, so the Panthers are still in first. It was a great bye week. We recently covered how it even led to a boost in their Super Bowl odds and their Power Ranking placement.

Elsewhere, though, the Panthers weren't as fortunate. CBS Sports analyst Pete Prisco, who has notably not been kind to the Panthers all season (or historically), docked the Panthers in his rankings, even though they did nothing to deserve it.

Panthers slip in Pete Prisco's rankings after bye week

Detroit Lions defensive end DJ Wonnum (98) tackles Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Pete Prisco has picked the Panthers to lose every single week. Twice, he's been made to look foolish, especially on Sunday Night Football in Week 4, when Carolina upset the Detroit Lions thanks to a sterling offensive outing.

He has spent a lot of time in the last few years criticizing Bryce Young, and he's even been a little hesitant to give Young credit this year. He was always critical of Cam Newton, even when he was literally the NFL's best player.

So perhaps it's not all that surprising that the Panthers slipped down in his weekly NFL Power Rankings despite not doing anything to hurt their standing. Previously, the Panthers were 18th after their upset win over the Lions.

Now, they're 20th. "They come off their bye atop the NFC South standings. Their road game this week at Philadelphia isn't as daunting as it looked a few weeks ago," he wrote.

Sometimes, teams move up in the Power Rankings despite not playing. If a team is ranked 21st, and the teams ranked 17th-20th all lost in ugly fashion, then it stands to reason that the 21st team would move up despite not playing.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) and tight end Mitchell Evans (84) celebrate | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Now, the inverse can also be true, but it's less common. Still, that's what happened here, although in Prisco's rankings, the three teams immediately ahead of the Panthers also lost, and some of them lost ugly games.

The good news is that despite Prisco's seeming inability to credit the Panthers, he has them ranked as the best team in the NFC South, ousting the Atlanta Falcons after they lost to the Lamar Jackson-less Baltimore Ravens.

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