Now that the dust has settled on the 2025 NFL season, it’s time to take a look at the results of those weekly confidence surveys we had y’all take throughout the season. It was a season of ups and downs across the league and at home for the Carolina Panthers and that is well reflected in the data.
First, let’s take a look at how Panthers fans fared compared to the rest of the NFC South. The Panthers famously defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Atlanta Falcons, and New Orleans Saints in a tight, technically
competitive race for the NFC South crown. That result was a surprise to many in the Carolinas, but let’s see how the race looked across the division.
This looks about right to me. The Panthers rough start rocked their fanbase for a few weeks. Their recovery was slow, but did trend upwards overall as did fan confidence. The Bucs, favorites to win the division, saw their fan confidence fall off of a cliff over a series of injuries and never really recovered. You love to see it. Meanwhile the Saints really think they have something in quarterback Tyler Shough and head coach Kellen Moore. We’ll see if having a second-year quarterback and a head coach who were born in the same year (plus or minus 11 years) works out for them next year.
Of course, that only accounts for the Panthers competition on paper. As the reigning NFC South champions and the only NFC South team to have competed in a playoff game in the last calendar year, the Panthers can well be expected to repeat that level of success in perpetuity. So how did their fan confidence across the season compare against the NFC playoff field? I’m glad you (I) asked.
The Bears definitely exceeded their expectations in 2025. So happy for them. Otherwise, things are as expected. A couple of teams effectively met expectations, a couple teams fell short, and the Seahawks won the Super Bowl. If the Panthers make this graph again next season then I see two scenarios for where they land. One, they hit a higher confidence number at the end of the season because they did well enough to make back-to-back playoff appearances. That would be a definite sign of progress. Two, fan confidence drops after another roller coaster season that sees the NFC South crown a champion with a losing record for a second season in a row.
Which scenario sounds more likely to you?
