Lawyerly Sports Takes

This year has been one of ups and downs, this Carolina team has won the most games this year as being the projected underdog, with a total of 6 wins (all of their wins this year). The Panthers have now had three go ahead field goal wins, against the Dolphins, Cowboys, and two ago against the Falcons in Overtime. The panther’s defense is currently ranked 18^th overall in the league, with a 16^th rank pass defense and 19^th ranked rush defense.

The Panthers do not have the least points against them, nor the highest points scored but they have the tendency, with their 6-6 record to grit out a victory, unfortunately that did not happen in their prime-time Monday Night Football game against the 49ers. The biggest concern for the panthers is inconsistency in the offense, I think there needs to be a proper ratioing of the run game versus the pass game. After the week 11 game against the Falcons, there was an initial hope on my end that play calling will shift to allow for Bryce Young more pass attempts and discretion, we saw Bryce Youngs first 400-yard game in week 11 against the Falcon, which has been coined “the ankle game.”  But week 12 was not the best performance because it seemed to be a wide pendulum swing from the run game to the pass game. We have seen strong targets and receptions when they are needed most from Tetairoa McMillan, Xaviar Legette, Jalen Coker, and even Rico Dowdle. Then we have Chuba Hubbard and Rico Dowdle in the full back position, who consistently help to build a strong run game. I think as the season has progressed, we have seen moments of a Super Bowl caliber team. I won’t pretend that the week 10 loss and the week 12 loss didn’t almost make me almost scrap this whole take, but I believe with consistency and an even ratio of pass and run could see this Carolina team secure themselves a seeded spot or will be fighting for contention for a wild.

As of week 12, the Panthers are ranked 2^nd in the NFC South, 9^th in the NFC, and 20^th in the overall league purely based on overall wins and losses. That being said, the Panthers will likely be the underdogs for the majority if not all of their regular season games. Now time for an end of post disclosure, because you may not have read this if I told you at the beginning, I am a Panthers fan, raised in and still live in the Carolinas. Keep Pounding, Panthers!!!

P.S. I understand I am posting while the game against the Rams is on, I just have been sitting on this for 2 weeks and had to re-edit last week and will not re-edit this post so here it is.

Citations
https://www.foxsports.com/articles/nfl/2025-nfl-defense-rankings-team-pass-and-rush-stats
https://www.statmuse.com/nfl/ask/team-won-the-most-games-as-underdogs-this-year
https://www.nfl.com/standings/league/2025/REG