The most important thing for the Carolina Panthers that could happen in Week 15 is still possible – they can still beat the New Orleans Saints and return to .500 on Monday Night Football; but unlike the past two weeks, where it seemed as if every team the Panthers were competing with for one of the two wild-card slots in the NFC continued to lose alongside the Panthers, their opponents for the final ticket to the playoffs were not as kind this weekend.
The Panthers came into Sunday needing a loss from both the Vikings and Redskins at some point over the final three weeks, and while both teams got the win on Sunday – the Vikings blew out the Dolphins 41-17 to get to 7-6-1 and the Josh Johnson-led Washington eked out a victory over Jacksonville 16-13 to move to 7-7 – a win over the Saints would keep the Panthers only a half-game behind Minnesota for the final playoff spot.
That win over Miami means the Vikings are still in the sixth spot in the NFC, a half-game ahead of the Redskins, who also hold a tiebreaker over the Panthers; so the Panthers will need a loss from both of those teams at the very least to jump into the sixth spot – that’s in addition to winning their remaining three games if the Redskins and Vikings lose only a single game each; the Panthers (6-7) can get in with a 2-1 record down the stretch if both the Vikings and Redskins were to drop both of their games to finish the season.
The Vikings still have games at Detroit and against the 10-4 Chicago Bears; the Redskins head to Tennessee next week before closing out the season against the Eagles. The Eagles face off with the 10-4 Houston Texans in Week 16.
And yes, victories by the Eagles (7-7) and Redskins coupled with a Cowboys (8-6) loss throw the NFC East into flux and with it, the tiebreaker situations for the final wild-card, but all of this postulating and scenario checking will be moot if the Panthers can’t get a victory over the Saints – a loss on Monday night would make their chances to reach the postseason after starting the season 6-2 purely mathematical.
“Challenge accepted,” said tight end Chris Manhertz last week. “Seriously. We still have an opportunity to control what we need to control on our end and have a chance – that’s all we can ask for in this situation.”
Standings Via NFLGSIS
