The Panthers Just Got Insanely Disrespected in NFC South Predictions

The Carolina Panthers surprised everyone by winning the NFC South last year. It's not as if going 8-9 and having a negative point differential was shocking; that was actually a plausible outcome after going from two to five wins in 2023 and 2024.

What was surprising was that it was enough to win the division. Plenty believed that the Panthers would take a step forward and be ready to fight for a playoff spot in 2026. Instead, they enter 2026 as the defending champions.

Most of the NFL world believes the NFC South is the most wide-open division. That's probably a fair assessment, since there was a three-way tie last year and any of the four teams coming away with a playoff berth would be unsurprising.

Yet, when NFL.com analysts were polled, there was an alarming lack of support for the Panthers to win. In fact, not a single analyst predicted a repeat champion.

Not a Single NFL Insider Voted for Panthers to Defend NFC South Crown

New Orleans Saints quarterback Taysom Hill (7) avoids being tackled by Carolina Panthers linebacker Christian Rozeboom | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

They say the NFC South is totally wide open. Yet, only one division had a stronger tilt to the perceived favorite. 17 of 19 voters picked the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win it. 18 picked the Los Angeles Rams to win the NFC West.

To make matters even worse, the New Orleans Saints got the other two votes. There were no votes for the Panthers despite having a really good offseason and being the literal defending champion. It's curious, to say the least.

We could complain all day about the belief in the Saints and Buccaneers. The Bucs cratered last season, are getting older quickly, have a bad coaching staff, and lost Mike Evans.

The faith in the Saints is based on a five-game sample size from a very old rookie QB. In other words, it isn't the most sound logic.

But, as we admitted above, any of the four teams could win the South and it wouldn't be a shock. That obviously includes the Panthers, who we just can't believe didn't get a single vote here.

The Panthers do have a very hard schedule, but does no one remember that they had to play a borderline top-10 hardest schedule last year? Preseason expectations mean nothing, so the schedule could end up being easy or hard.

The Panthers had the single best offseason of any NFC South team. No unit in the division improved as much as the Panthers' defense did, and they might end up with a slightly stronger offense, too.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) hands the ball off to Carolina Panthers running back Jonathon Brooks | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Tetairoa McMillan could get even better, and a full season of Jalen Coker will be helpful. There's immense talent to offset the injuries to the offensive line.

Sure, losing Nic Scourton and Chris Brazzell II stings and will hurt them this year. But enough to completely and utterly count them out of the division they won with a worse team just a year ago? Nonsense.

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