The Carolina Panthers are quietly emerging as a potential wild-card team in the ultra-competitive NFC. Nobody in the national media is paying much attention, but head coach Dave Canales' squad has won three straight and four of its last five contests after a rocky start.
Positivity is growing among the fan base. The Panthers believe they can be competitive against anybody right now. This will be put to the test in Week 8 when the Buffalo Bills visit Bank of America Stadium.
This will be a tremendous measuring stick. The Bills have their problems, but they are coming off a bye and remain among the Super Bowl favorites. Carolina is also reportedly going to be without quarterback Bryce Young, who is dealing with a high ankle sprain suffered in Week 7 against the New York Jets.
Carolina Panthers defense is spearheading their on-field renaissance
However, according to Sayre Bedinger from NFL Spin Zone, it's not Young spearheading the Panthers' resurgence. Ejiro Evero's defense has undergone a remarkable turnaround after a historically poor 2024 campaign. That is the driving force above all else.
"Ejiro Evero might have that unit turning things around after the past few weeks, and the Panthers did something else important in Week 7: They got their first win of the season on the road. Carolina is creeping up a little bit right now. Bryce Young was knocked out of the game against the Jets, so that will be something to monitor going forward, but this team is quietly now 4-3 and making some noise in the loaded NFC."Sayre Bedinger
It didn't look like the Panthers' defense was capable of making these adjustments early in the campaign. The offense wasn't giving them much of a chance, in fairness. But once everything became more balanced, the improvements were immediate.
Carolina's gone from conceding more than 3,000 yards on the ground last season to one of the NFL's most formidable run defenses. They've gone from giving up the most single-season points in league history to ranking 13th at 21.7 per game. It's an astonishing development — one that vindicates the faith shown in Evero by Canales and general manager Dan Morgan when most fans were calling for change.
Evero deserves tremendous credit. He stuck to his principles, confident the scheme would work once the personnel improved. More importantly, he's been willing to make adjustments, which hasn't always been the case since he joined the Panthers.
It's working. And if the same trend continues, the Panthers aren't going to be an easy proposition to overcome for anybody.