For the Carolina Panthers, the road back to relevance has been long, uneven, and often humiliating. They’ve cycled through quarterbacks, coaches, you name it. But they are finally on the right path.
And to secure a long-awaited spot in the playoffs, they'll have to confront ghosts from a disastrous era.
With three games left, the Panthers find themselves in an almost poetic spot. Their path to the postseason runs directly through two of the most painful chapters of the franchise’s recent past: Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold.
Both were once viewed as solutions in Carolina, and neither lasted. Now, both stand as the final obstacles between the Panthers and their first appearance in the knockout rounds since 2017.
Carolina Panthers musrt overcome Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold to book their playoff spot
The Panthers selected Bryce Young No. 1 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft in an effort to finally end the quarterback chaos. And at the time, moving on made sense. Mayfield was inconsistent, and Darnold was just as bad, so Carolina needed a reset. What they didn’t anticipate was the revival that would follow.
Mayfield resurrected his career after being waived, first stabilizing the Los Angeles Rams during Matthew Stafford’s absence, then becoming the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' long-term answer under center. He has since led Carolina's rival to back-to-back NFC South titles and a playoff win, and he enters this week still holding the division’s most essential tiebreakers over the Panthers.
Darnold’s resurgence has been even more startling. After leading the Minnesota Vikings to a 14-3 record in 2024, he landed a big-money deal with the Seattle Seahawks and elevated himself even further. Through 14 games, the former USC star has thrown for over 3,400 yards and 22 touchdowns, leading Mike Macdonald's team toward the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
Meanwhile, Young has been inconsistent. His efficiency on throws of 20-plus yards ranks among the league’s best, but against the New Orleans Saints, the signal-caller threw for just 163 yards.
When Young protects the football and the run game is functional, Carolina looks capable of beating anyone. When that balance disappears, they look like a team still searching for itself. To move forward, the Panthers not only need the Heisman Trophy winner to play his best football, but they must also overcome the reminders of what went wrong in their past.
They must outplay Mayfield, the quarterback who found stability the moment he left Charlotte. They must survive Darnold, the former castoff who became everything Carolina hoped he might be… Just elsewhere.
Only then can the Panthers finally close the book on a torrid era and write a new chapter.
The path is narrow. The ghosts are real. And the next three weeks will determine whether Carolina is genuinely ready to escape them.