NFL Power Rankings Roundup: Where the Panthers rank in the Wild Card round

The Carolina Panthers are one of 14 NFL teams still standing. But not all 14 of these teams are created equal.

With an 8-9 record and backing their way into the playoffs in a less-than-impressive fashion,

there are plenty of Panthers skeptics out there. There are probably plenty of Panthers skeptics here, too, but for now Carolina is alive in the postseason and that’s all that matters.

An annual tradition among football writers is to take the playoff contenders and rank them from top to bottom, so we’re going to celebrate that tradition this year with the Panthers included. Here’s where some of the more prominent NFL sites rank the 14 teams in the playoffs, and not surprisingly they’re not very kind to Carolina.

NFL.com

Eric Edholm of NFL.com calls this year’s playoffs “one of the more wide-open postseasons in years.” His view is this a number of teams could win this year’s Super Bowl with some of the annual postseason studs like Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson watching from their couches. But when listing the contenders, the Panthers are looking up from the bottom in Edholm’s rankings.

1. Seattle Seahawks
2. New England Patriots
3. Jacksonville Jaguars
4. Denver Broncos
5. Buffalo Bills
6. Houston Texans
7. Los Angeles Rams
8. Chicago Bears
9. San Francisco 49ers
10. Philadelphia Eagles
11. Los Angeles Chargers
12. Pittsburgh Steelers
13. Green Bay Packers
14. Carolina Panthers

CBS Sports

Zachary Pereles of CBS Sports ranks the Panthers 14th – dead last – among all playoff contenders. But we Panthers fans shouldn’t take it personally. Pereles said the No. 14 spot was reserved for the NFC South winner, which fortuitously was Carolina. Pereles goes on to note that the last playoff team with a losing record to win were our very own Carolina Panthers back in 2014. But he doesn’t expect a repeat upset victory this year, especially with the Panthers opponent, the Los Angeles Rams, coming out as No. 1 in his rankings.

1. Los Angeles Rams
2. Seattle Seahawks
3. Jacksonville Jaguars
4. Denver Broncos
5. Philadelphia Eagles
6. New England Patriots
7. Buffalo Bills
8. Houston Texans
9. Los Angeles Chargers
10. Chicago Bears
11. San Francisco 49ers
12. Green Bay Packers
13. Pittsburgh Steelers
14. Carolina Panthers

Fox Sports

Ralph Vacchiano oversaw Fox Sports’ power rankings and it has something in common with most of the others:

The Panthers are ranked dead last.

But the Vacchiano goes on the insult our favorite team by claiming, “Hard to imagine they won’t be one and done in the playoffs.”

Frankly, Mr. Vacchiano, I find that statement very insulting regarding my imagination. It was easy for me to imagine hundreds of situations in which the Panthers win on Sunday. In my imagination Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua are abducted by space aliens. Or perhaps there’s an Angels in the Endzone experience (the less popular sequel to Angels in the Outfield) where Carolina gets some divine intervention. Or maybe one of the officials owes a massive gambling debt to the Italian mafia and the Cosa Nostra happen to be big Panthers fans because of all of Carolina’s games in Europe.

Never lose the faith! Any given Sunday!

1. Seattle Seahawks
2. New England Patriots
3. Jacksonville Jaguars
4. Denver Broncos
5. Los Angeles Rams
6. San Francisco 49ers
7. Houston Texans
8. Buffalo Bills
9. Chicago Bears
10. Philadelphia Eagles
11. Los Angeles Chargers
12. Green Bay Packers
13. Pittsburgh Steelers
14. Carolina Panthers