Predicting the Carolina Panthers 2021 season game by game

Carolina Panthers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• Week 18 (Sunday, January 9, 2022)
• 1 pm
• FOX

The ideal situation here as far as the Carolina Panthers are concerned is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers having nothing to play for in their final game and the luxury of resting the majority of their starters ahead of the playoffs. This would improve their chances of winning dramatically and if Bruce Arians decided to sit Tom Brady in favor of rookie Kyle Trask, they might even be favorites for the contest.

Whether this pans out or not will be dependant on whether the Bucs can perform to a similar standard we saw from them throughout the 2020 playoffs with a bigger bullseye on their backs. This is also a final opportunity for the Panthers to get a winning record for the first time since 2017, which would be seen as a step in the right direction after consecutive 5-11 campaigns.

Prediction: Win

We’ll go on the premise that Tampa Bay will give most of their primary players the day off, or at least most of it. Carolina should see off their second-string comfortably and finish an eventful season on a high note.

Carolina Panthers 2021 record projection: 9-8

After an astonishing 6-1 start in this projection, which the Panthers are more than capable of if everything clicks into place right away, settling for a 9-8 record to finish might be seen as a disappointment. However, it’s important to keep the bigger picture in mind and this would be a massive confidence boost for a young roster who hasn’t experienced meaningful football down the stretch collectively before this season.

Whether this would be enough for a playoff berth, only time will tell. But few would say the Panthers weren’t heading on the right path under Matt Rhule and Scott Fitterer regardless of whether they made the postseason or not.