By Dennis Cox
1.) This team bounces back from losses: The Carolina Panthers haven’t lost back-to-back games since the first two games of the season, losing 26-10 at Jacksonville, and 27-22 at Arizona to begin the season. Since then, every time the Panthers have lost a game they’ve responded the next week with a win, while beating some good teams in the process. They defeated the Green Bay Packers on the road, 16-13, in Week 9 after an embarrassing 40-9 home loss to the Buffalo Bills the week prior. And the responded to an underwhelming performance in a 20-9 loss at San Francisco on Monday Night Football in Week 12 with a 31-28 win at home over the Los Angeles Rams.
2.) I still don’t know if the Panthers are a good football team: To build off of the team bouncing back from losses, they don’t stack wins together. The only time the Panthers have won consecutive games this season was between Weeks 5 and 7, beating Miami, Dallas, and the New York Jets. In the eight games since, the Panthers have alternated wins and losses, including two losses to the New Orleans Saints. Offensively, the Panthers have not scored 20-plus points as a team in back-to-back games since beating Miami and Dallas in Weeks 5 and 6. A mark of a good team is consistency, which is something this Panthers team hasn’t been at any point this season. Speaking of that 20-point mark, Carolina has reached that total seven times this year, and they’re 6-1 in those contests.
Yes, they’re 8-7 and at the top of the NFC South after beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but on the season, they’re 6-3 against teams currently out of the playoff picture going into Week 17, and 2-4 against teams currently in the playoffs. And their winning percentage of .533 puts them at 15th in the NFL, and they’re minus-50 in point differential this season, which is 21st in the league. So, are they good? It’s yard to say ‘yes.’ But, I can’t say they’re ‘bad,’ either.
3.) The 2025 draft class is a true building block: From first-round Tetairoa McMillan’s solid rookie season, to the growth and impact of second-round Nic Scourton on the defensive front, to getting a big interception from fourth-round pick in safety Lathan Ransom, the rookie class for the Carolina Panthers has found ways to contribute in big ways throughout the year, and several rookies were prevalent in their win over Tampa Bay.
McMillan had six catches for 73 yards and TD, Scourton was in the backfield including a tackle for loss (and a half-sack that was taken away and awarded fully to Derrick Brown, though Scourton was there), Ransom had the game-winning INT, sixth-round WR Jimmy Horn Jr. had one of the biggest offensive plays of the day on a 25-yard end around, fifth-round TE Mitchell Evans chipped in three catches for 23 yards (both third highest on the Panthers in the game), while fourth-round RB Trevor Etienne continues to be productive in the return game. And there’s still potential from third-round pick from OLB/Edge Princely Umanmielan, and fifth-round pick DT Cam Jackson has been getting snaps in recent weeks as a depth player on the defensive front.
Also, undrafted rookie kicker Ryan Fitzgerald has four game-winning field goals this season, and let’s also not forget about undrafted CB Corey Thornton before his season-ending injury a few weeks ago.
Overall, this has been a good season for the rookie class, and Panthers general manager Dan Morgan has done a good job of putting together two good draft classes since taking over as the team’s GM.