The Carolina Panthers needed help. They got it.
After losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 18, all eyes were on the Mercedes-Benz Stadium to see if the Atlanta Falcons could do head coach Dave Canales' squad a favor by beating the New Orleans Saints. A win for their bitter rivals would see them finish atop the NFC South via a three-way tiebreaker, which is a fitting end to the most chaotic division in football.
It was a nail-biter right until the very end, but the Falcons held on for dear life to pick up the victory. And now, the 8-9 Panthers have a home playoff game next weekend after clinching the NFC South championship for the first time in a decade.
Carolina Panthers are in the playoffs, and it's all that matters
And when it's all said and done, stumbling over the finishing line is still finishing.
After so much hardship in recent years, no Panthers fan will care about how Carolina got into the knockout rounds — their first appearance since 2017. They are more used to being on rock bottom, the laughingstock of the league under team owner David Tepper's leadership. It's been a rollercoaster ride, but they got there in the end.
Getting help from elsewhere doesn't detract from the progress being made. The Panthers will be heavy underdogs at home, and that's fine. The experience alone will be enough to take general manager Dan Morgan's exciting long-term project forward, making it an even more attractive destination for free agents around the league.
The Panthers are now playing with house money, too. Nobody expected them to get this far, and all the pressure will be on whoever they play at Bank of America Stadium. That means they can seize the moment, play with a sense of freedom, and think about pulling off another massive surprise when everyone writes them off.
That's worked for the Panthers against some NFL heavyweights this season. Whether it happens again is debatable, but just experiencing playoff football again will be a magnificent feeling for fans after so much abject misery.
It'll be the Los Angeles Rams or San Francisco 49ers in Carolina's path. They beat the Rams and were blown out by the Niners, so neither is going to be an easy out.
But the Panthers made it. And the Buccaneers, Saints, and Falcons will be watching from home.
That's a good feeling. One that this long-suffering fan base richly deserves.