From the outside, the Carolina Panthers’ 2025 season looks like a breakthrough. An NFC South title. A playoff appearance. A wild-card postseason game that came down to the final minutes against a Los Angeles Rams team that nearly reached the Super Bowl.
Inside NFL circles, however, the reaction has been far more complicated.
Brad Gagnon of The Bleacher Report handed the Panthers a B- grade for their 2025 campaign, a mark that acknowledges improvement while also flashing several warning signs about where this franchise truly stands.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves based on that somewhat flukey playoff berth in a terrible division,” Gagnon wrote. “Carolina’s minus-69 scoring margin is the fourth-worst points differential total for a playoff team in NFL history. This remains a rebuilding team, and it really still could go either way for quarterback Bryce Young. Still, progress was made in 2025.”
Carolina finished 8-9 and backed into the postseason via a three-way tiebreaker after losing its final two games. This was not a team that steadily climbed throughout the year.
Early turnovers. Midseason run game miracles. Late-season offensive collapses. Bryce Young’s best game came one week before one of his worst. The Panthers’ season was defined less by growth than by volatility. Carolina finished 27th in scoring offense yet still won the division.
Young remains the axis point of the entire evaluation. The Panthers can talk playoffs all they want, but nothing about 2025 mattered more than whether the signal-caller answered long-term questions.
On the surface, Young’s numbers were solid: 3,011 passing yards, 23 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, plus modest rushing production. He also authored the best statistical game of his career in Week 11, shredding the Atlanta Falcons for 448 yards in an overtime win.
But zoom out, and the picture changes. According to Pro Football Focus, Young’s overall grade dropped from 74.4 in 2024 to 70.5 in 2025.
This is why NFL insiders are still skeptical. Yes, the Panthers proved they’re no longer a punchline. They proved they can compete. And they proved they can steal games. What they didn’t prove is that their foundation is settled.
Young still needs a defining season. Several young skill players are already trending in the wrong direction. And a division title built on inconsistency doesn’t buy patience; it accelerates expectations.
Carolina’s 2025 season wasn’t meaningless progress. It was conditional progress. But in the NFL, conditional progress is often the most dangerous kind.
Because it convinces teams that they are closer than they actually are.