In lieu of a Sunday Night Football game, the NFL has decided to move multiple games from 1p to 4:25p so that all games with playoff implications will be played at the same time. This includes both the Falcons/Panthers matchup and the Saints/Buccaneers matchup, both originally slated to be played during the early round of games.

This will be the first time since 1977 the NFL season has not ended with a night game.

The Panthers and Saints have matching 11-4 records with the Saints holding the tiebreaker over the Panthers after sweeping the season series; a Panthers win coupled with a Saints loss would give the Panthers the NFC South crown, while a Saints win over the 4-11 Buccaneers would give them the division title.

“We felt that both from a competitive standpoint and from a fan perspective, the most fair thing to do is to schedule all Week 17 games in either the 1 p.m. or 4:25 p.m. ET windows,” said NFL Senior Vice President of Broadcasting Howard Katz. “This ensures that we do not have a matchup on Sunday Night Football on New Year’s Eve that because of earlier results has no playoff implications for one or both of the competing teams.”

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Complicating the picture is that the Falcons will be fighting for their playoff lives as they can clinch a playoff berth with a win over the Panthers or a Seattle Seahawks loss; a loss to the Panthers coupled with a Seahawks win would have the 2016 Super Bowl NFC representative on the outside of the playoffs looking in.

While the Panthers have clinched a playoff berth with their 22-19 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they will not know where they’ll land in the tournament until all of the dust settles on Sunday; the Panthers can still get a first-round bye and slot in as the #2 seed with a win over the Falcons and losses by the Saints, Vikings, and Rams.

A win for the Panthers coupled with a Saints loss give the Panthers the NFC South crown; a Rams or Vikings loss would make the Panthers the #3 seed, but if Los Angeles and Minnesota both win, the Panthers would be the #4 seed and host the #5 Saints.

If the Saints win or the Panthers lose, the Panthers would be the #5 seed and would visit the #4 seed in the first round. In this case, the Panthers would play the Saints if the Rams win; they’d travel to Los Angeles to face the Rams if Jimmy G continues his magic and leads the 49ers to an upset victory in Week 17. That would have the Saints ending the season at 12-4 and the Rams at 11-5.

You’re probably confused, but the bottom line is this: the Panthers are in the playoffs.

And your New Year’s Eve is available for partying.

Josh Klein on Twitter
Josh Klein
Editor-In-Chief at The Riot Report
Josh Klein is Editor-In-Chief of The Riot Report. His favorite Panther of all time is Chad Cota and he once AIM chatted with Kevin Greene. Follow Josh on Twitter @joshkleinrules.