The Panthers are sliding, and the latest batch of NFL power rankings says the rest of the league has noticed.
Carolina has dropped three straight and now heads into Week 10 with its NFC South edge suddenly looking shaky. A loss this week would hand the division lead to the New Orleans Saints, which is the kind of pressure that comes with a team that has gone from first place to fragile in a hurry.
The rankings themselves paint a pretty clear picture: the Panthers are still hanging around the middle-to-lower tier of the league, but the trend line is pointing the wrong way. USA Today Sports put Carolina at No. 23, down one spot, and Nate Davis pointed to what’s ahead, writing, “With two of their next three against divisional foes and no games against opponents with winning records for the rest of the month, it’s time to get right.”
NFL Media was a little more optimistic, moving Carolina up to No. 20.
Nick Shook saw a brief flash of what the Panthers might look like in the future during Sunday’s loss to Denver, noting a stretch when Carolina grabbed an interception, turned it into a touchdown, then opened the second half with another score to take a 14-13 lead. But that surge didn’t last.
Shook wrote that after “a wacky, controversial interception” halted Carolina’s push, Denver answered with two touchdowns and enough cushion to finish the job. He also pointed to the defense’s struggles after the dismissal of DC Ejiro Evero, while saying Bryce Young “entered a flow state” during the offensive burst and will need to sustain that level if Carolina wants to be taken seriously.
ESPN dropped the Panthers to No. 19, down two spots, and kept the message blunt: three straight losses have put real urgency on the next stretch. The outlet said Carolina still has a path to another NFC South title, but that path gets a lot narrower if the team can’t clean things up immediately.
ESPN also flagged the makeshift secondary and struggling offensive line, while noting the Panthers haven’t won in New Orleans since the 2022 regular-season finale. It also singled out Chuba Hubbard, saying he needs to keep being the model of consistency to give Carolina an edge over the Saints.
CBS Sports had Carolina at No. 20, also down two, and summed up the situation in one sentence: “Three straight losses has changed the look of this team. Injuries have really impacted them on defense.”
Sports Illustrated was harsher, sliding the Panthers to No. 24 after a four-spot drop. Its take leaned into the bizarre finish against Denver, saying, “The Zapruder film tracking whether or not Sean Payton actually threw a challenge flag in a win over the Panthers is just incredible. For the record, I don’t think he did!”
The Athletic ranked Carolina No. 21, down one, and focused on the split personality of the season so far. It pointed to a few strong moments and enough encouraging play from Bryce Young to keep hope alive, but also noted that the Panthers are still tied for first in a weak division. At the same time, it described Carolina as below average on both sides of the ball, with EPA per play rankings of 18th on offense and 27th on defense.
Bleacher Report kept the Panthers at No. 18, unchanged, but the tone was hardly flattering. It said the pass rush remains a problem, suggesting the defensive issues go beyond Evero’s exit.
Injuries were also cited as a major factor, and the outlet made clear the overall effort on defense hasn’t been good enough. The coaching change, it said, didn’t move the needle.
Even so, Bleacher Report also pointed out the obvious saving grace: Carolina plays in the NFC South, and three winnable games are next on the schedule.
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Carolina has already shown some interest in adding help on the back end, hosting cornerback Jack Jones for a visit without making a signing yet. With extra cap space now available, the front office has more room to chase a move if the right player comes into view, and the next step will be whether the Panthers choose to use that opening before the deadline passes. [Read more 🡒]
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The most obvious areas of concern are the secondary and the pass rush, and that is where the speculation has started to build. Cornerback Riq Woolen and edge rusher Will McDonald IV have both surfaced as possible targets in the kind of deadline chatter that tends to follow a team sitting in first place without looking settled, but for Carolina the bigger question is whether help is actually available and whether the Panthers are willing to pay for it. [Read more 🡒]