The NFC South hasn’t crowned a true power in years. Instead, it’s become a weekly exercise in survival. And last season was the clearest example yet.
No team reached double-digit wins. Three teams finished 8-9. And the Carolina Panthers backed into the postseason only after tiebreakers sorted out a mess created by a chaotic Week 18.
It wasn’t pretty, but it was revealing.
The division is no longer about chasing an elite standard. It’s about who can stabilize first. That reality is exactly why the Panthers enter the 2026 offseason staring at a wide-open opportunity.
Carolina Panthers must embrace the increasing NFC South chaos to thrive
Every team in the NFC South has reasons for optimism. Every team also has reasons for doubt.
The New Orleans Saints believe Tyler Shough might finally be the post-Drew Brees answer, but he’s still a second-year quarterback with fewer than a full season of starts. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have Baker Mayfield, but injuries and offensive regression exposed how fragile that setup can be. The Atlanta Falcons look good defensively, yet remain stuck in limbo at quarterback as Michael Penix Jr. rehabs another ACL injury.
Sure, the Panthers aren’t pretending Bryce Young is a finished product yet. The numbers don’t allow for that. His QBR ranked 22nd league-wide. His performances swung wildly from franchise record highs to weekly lows. The inconsistency remains real, and general manager Dan Morgan acknowledged as much even as he committed to his fifth-year option.
But here’s the distinction: the Panthers are developing Young inside a framework now, not hoping he becomes the framework. To make matters better, rookie sensation Tetairoa McMillan’s 70 catches for 1,014 receiving yards and seven touchdowns fundamentally altered the trajectory of his quarterback's development.
For the first time, Young had a receiver who dictated coverage, threatened defenses vertically, and punished mistakes. That alone raises Carolina’s floor in a division where no one else has separation.
The NFC South is going to be electric in 2026. Rivalries are getting louder (and messier). Mayfield’s lingering resentment toward Carolina, his open disdain for New Orleans, and his very public drama and history with new Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski have poured gasoline on already bitter rivalries.
That’s the environment the Panthers are staring down. Not a juggernaut. Not a rebuild waiting to fail. But a chaos-fueled race where stability, development, and timing matter more than star power.
And for the first time in years, Carolina looks built to win it.