Smolar
The Carolina Panthers have endured an interesting 2024 season, to say the least. In a campaign where nobody expected anything good out of the Panthers, they have already surpassed last year’s win total. Granted, that bar wasn’t exactly a high one as Carolina only picked up two victories in a miserable 2023 season.
Dave Canales was brought over as head coach from Tampa Bay and the receiving core was revamped with the additions of Xavier Legette and Diontae Johnson, who has since been traded to the Baltimore Ravens. They also drafted Jonathon Brooks, who has yet to play a snap this year but should be returning sooner rather than later.
Two blowout losses to start the season led to Bryce Young getting benched for Andy Dalton and more people laughing at how bad the trade up for Young looked. Fast forward to the bye week and Young is back under center and has led Carolina to consecutive wins for the first time since 2022, even if those wins came against two bottom feeders in the New Orleans Saints and the New York Giants.
At 3-7, the Panthers face a difficult second half schedule and extremely long odds to accomplish anything of note this season. Still, with Adam Thielen set to return out of the bye week and Brooks’ debut looming, dare I say vibes are high in Charlotte? During the team’s bye week, let’s take a re-guess at how the final seven games of the season will play out, with my pre-Week 1 guesses available here: Smolar: game by game predictions for 2024 Panthers season ahead of week 1 | Laurinburg Exchange.
Week 12: vs Kansas City Chiefs (9-0)
Loss (3-8): The back-to-back defending champs are still undefeated even if they have looked beatable at times and have arguably the toughest game left on their schedule this week in Orchard Park against the Bills. The Panthers are also as healthy as they’ve been all season and will be rested coming out of their bye week with confidence suddenly at an all-time high. Let’s not kid ourselves though, this would be the biggest shock of the 2024 NFL season if Carolina somehow pulled this off.
Week 13: vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-6)
Loss (3-9): The Bucs have struggled badly since starting the season 3-1 and are getting a much-needed bye week this week with injuries piling up in a hurry. It appears Mike Evans will be back by the time Carolina meets the Buccaneers, who have owned the Panthers in recent years with a 7-1 record since the start of the 2020 season. Until Carolina proves they can beat Tampa Bay consistently I can’t pick the Panthers to beat what will be a desperate Bucs team looking to save their season.
Week 14: at Philadelphia Eagles (7-2)
Loss (3-10): Philly is hot right now, having picked up five straight wins and will be fighting for NFC East supremacy at home on Thursday Night Football against Washington this week. The Eagles will play in Baltimore the week before this game and host the Steelers the week after, making this a possible letdown spot. Still, Philadelphia is one of the most hostile environments in football and has the better team by far.
Week 15: vs Dallas Cowboys (3-6)
Win (4-10): The Cowboys have lost four straight games after starting the season 3-2 and have now lost Dak Prescott for the rest of the season to a hamstring injury. They were just blown out at home by the Eagles and are watching any playoff hopes they might’ve had disintegrate fast. This currently looks like the easiest game left on Carolina’s schedule, and it’s at home.
Week 16: vs Arizona Cardinals (6-4)
Loss (4-11): The Cardinals has been one of the more pleasant surprises of the season to this point and are very much in the thick of the NFC playoff picture as the current NFC West division leaders. They still have four division games left on their schedule and a matchup with the Vikings to make a statement. This is a game they can’t afford to lose, and they won’t.
Week 17: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-6)
Loss (4-12): If Carolina can’t beat them at home, they won’t beat them on the road.
Week 18: at Atlanta Falcons (6-4)
Win (5-12): The Falcons will almost certainly win the NFC South as they are two games clear of Tampa Bay, the current second-place team in the division and own the head-to-head tiebreaker thanks to winning both regular season matchups. Losing to the Saints last week was a bad loss for Atlanta but shouldn’t hurt them too much in the long run. This projected win is based on the assumption that Atlanta is already locked into a playoff seed and will thus have nothing to play for as they rest key players for the postseason. If the Falcons need to win this game, it’s hard to think Carolina would beat them on the road after losing by 18 at home in Week 6.
Final thoughts: 5-12 is not a good record by any means but it would still be a step in the right direction. Earlier in the season most of the media would say Carolina was unquestionably the worst team in football, which is not the case anymore. Only time will tell how they do over their last seven games, which is filled with tough tests.