By: Lucas Meyer
There we were, sitting at 6-2 and looking like a real contender to win the South and compete with New Orleans. Now, five weeks later we are 6-7 and looking for a complete game or just a 4th quarter like we had in Philly. Recently, it’s been a tale of two halves for this team. Offense is rolling but the defense isn’t. Defense is getting turnovers and stops but the offense can’t muster up any points.
With another loss Sunday it looked like our playoff hopes were long gone but then the Giants put an absolute beating on the Mark Sanchez-or-Josh Johnson-or-whoever their QB is now led-Redskins. Then, the Dallas vs Philadelphia game came on and Dallas took care of business and put the Eagles at 6-7. All we needed was the Seahawks to beat the Vikings to stay .5 behind the Vikings for the last wildcard spot. After an ugly game Monday night the Seahawks won and put the Vikings at 6-6-1.
As much of a must-win game SUNDAY was for the Panthers, we didn’t lose any ground. Unfortunately, we didn’t gain any ground either. In all reality, if we want to guarantee that we get that last playoff spot, we have to win out. With a tough Saints team coming up twice, it looks almost impossible.
The good news is that Cam Newton is 5-1 on Monday night football and 3-0 at home. This could be the perfect trap game for the Saints. They haven’t been playing lights out football as of late and have already locked up the South. Next, we have a struggling Falcons team at home which we should be able to win. Week 17 in New Orleans is probably the biggest hurdle for the Panthers. If things go as planned and we are riding a 2 game win streak, it could be a shootout. One thing we could see is the Saints bench Drew Brees and other big-hitting players if they have the 1 or 2 seed locked up. First thing is first though, we must win Monday night.
Now our chances to make the playoffs don’t come without a little bit of help. Let’s start with the Eagles; they have a tough schedule coming up and need even more help than we do. They will have to travel to LA and face the Rams this week, then play the red-hot Texans at home. My guess is they lose both those games and their last game at Washington won’t matter much.
Next is the Redskins; they have two away games against Jacksonville and Tennessee and finishing their season hosting Philadelphia. The Redskins hold the tiebreaker over us, but if Josh Johnson somehow is able to get the Redskins into the playoffs, they deserve to be there. However, I do not think they will get through the next three games with all W's, resulting in the end of the Redskins season.
Last but not least, is our biggest roadblock...the Minnesota Vikings. They’re in the driver seat as of right now. They don’t have a slouch of a schedule coming up though. They'll be hosting the Dolphins this week, playing at Detroit next week, and finishing the season against the Bears at home. I predict they will lose two of those games and finish the season at 7-8-1. Kirk Cousins is 4-24 against teams with a winning record. I could see them losing all three but if they pull off a win against a 7-6 Dolphins team or at Detroit I wouldn’t be surprised. The Vikings just fired their OC and promoted another coach to do the play calling, I think that helps us as well because teams usually struggle at first with a new OC.
To me, Seattle pretty much has the 5th spot locked in. They still play the Chiefs at home but have games against San Francisco and Arizona left. I think they win both of those and lose to the Chiefs and ending their season at 10-6.
My predictions for the wildcard spots are as follows:
5th seed- Seahawks (10-6)
6th seed- Panthers (8-8)
Just missed:
Vikings (7-8-1)
Packers (7-8-1)
Eagles (7-9)
Redskins (6-10)
Bucs (6-10)
Its not over yet! KEEP POUNDING Panther Fans!
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