Carolina Panthers Playoff Picture 2017: Tiebreaker Scenarios For NFC South, First-Round Bye

The Carolina Panthers are firmly in the 2017 NFL playoff picture, but they’ve still got plenty to play for in Week 17. Cam Newton and Co. can still clinch the NFC South and possibly a first-round bye.

Carolina enters Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons with the conference’s first wild-card spot. They can’t finish worse than the No.5 seed, and they have their eyes on passing the New Orleans Saints in the divisional race. Landing the No.2 seed over the Minnesota Vikings is possible because they own the tiebreaker, though the Panthers would need a lot of help to get to that scenario.

The NFC South race is simple. Carolina and New Orleans both share the same record, but the Saints own the tiebreaker because they have two wins over the Panthers. Carolina needs to win and New Orleans needs to either lose or tie in order for the Panthers to clinch first place. A Carolina tie and a New Orleans loss would also do the trick.

Finding their way into the No.2 seed is much more difficult. The Panthers needs the Vikings to lose, and that isn’t likely with Minnesota hosting the 5-10 Chicago Bears. Since Minnesota and Chicago play at 1 p.m. EST, Carolina could be eliminated from contention for a bye when their game kicks off at 4:25 p.m. EST.

Even if the Vikings come up short, the Panthers would still be a long-shot to get the No.2 seed. In addition to beating Atlanta, Carolina would need both New Orleans and the Los Angeles Rams to either lose or tie.

New Orleans is a heavy road favorite against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Los Angeles has a much more difficult task, hosting the surging San Francisco 49ers. The Rams don’t have much to play for since they’ve already clinched the NFC West and can’t get a first-round bye. Both the Saints and Rams will kick off at 4:25 p.m. EST.

The Panthers own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Vikings because they defeated Minnesota by a touchdown in Week 14. Carolina is one of the NFL’s hottest teams, having lost just once since Week 8.

Only one of Carolina’s losses has come against a losing team. They’ve been defeated twice by the Saints and once by the Philadelphia Eagles, who have the NFL’s best record.

It was just two years ago that the Panthers won the NFC South with a 15-1 record and made it all the way to the Super Bowl. Carolina reached the playoffs in the 2013 and 2014 seasons, as well, each time coming up short in the divisional round.