5 games that will define the Carolina Panthers 2021 season

Carolina Panthers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Buffalo Bills will offer the Carolina Panthers a chance to compete against one of the most complete teams in the AFC. But perhaps it is the matchup three weeks later that will be the most telling of how their 2021 campaign has gone.

The Panthers will play the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers twice in the final three games of the regular season, with the finale scheduled to take place on the road – a tall task for one of the league’s youngest teams.

Unlike ever before, the 2021 NFL season will feature 17-game slates for each club. For the second year, seven teams from each conference will make the postseason – three of those being wild-cards.

With that being said, the Panthers could roll into Tampa with a lot on the line.

If the defense continues to develop and work toward fulfilling its potential, and Darnold proves to be the answer at quarterback, then they may very well find themselves in the thick of the playoff race, even if it means competing for one of the final wild-card spots.

Looking at the NFC as a whole, there is reason to think that Carolina could sneak into the playoffs. Perhaps the only two teams from the NFC East that appear to potentially be playoff-caliber ones are the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Football Team.

The NFC North has three solid teams in the Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears, and Minnesota Vikings. However, all three are currently facing major quarterback questions.

Aaron Rodgers may or may not be back in Green Bay, Kirk Cousins continues to display incredibly inconsistent play in Minnesota, and the Bears may very well be forced to start a rookie quarterback at some point during the season.

The NFC West is good from top-to-bottom, but with so much talent in one division, the competition is almost surely going to negatively impact the regular-season records of one or two teams.

Then finally, the NFC South – Carolina’s division – features the Bucs, New Orleans Saints, and Atlanta Falcons.

Tampa is without question the favorite to take the division, expectations for Atlanta are not very high and the Saints will have to face life without one of the best quarterbacks to ever play.

Now I say all that to say this: there are definitely a handful of teams that should be “locks” to make the playoffs. If things go the Panthers way and they pull out a victory or two that maybe they weren’t supposed to get, then there could be a spot for them in the postseason.

The NFL season is a long one for sure – especially with the extra game this year – but perhaps none other will have as much riding on the line as the Week 18 showdown with the division rival Buccaneers.