The Panthers must advance to the Super Bowl to have a winning record this season

The Carolina Panthers earned the dubious honor of being the only team in NFL history to enter the playoffs with a losing record more than once. Of the five teams to have earned a playoff berth while sub .500, the Panthers are two of them. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are another, for the record, which just does not say anything good about the NFC South.

For this season, the 8-9 Panthers have an interesting path to success in front of them. They are already in the playoffs, but if they want to end the season with an overall winning record then they will have to win the Super Bowl.

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Beating the Los Angeles Rams in the Wild-Card Round would move them to 9-9, but necessitate an appearance in the Divisional Round. A loss there would drop them back below .500. A wildly unlikely Divisional win would put the Panthers above .500 at 10-9 overall, but similarly necessitate another playoff game. A loss in the NFC Championship would leave them at 10-10 overall.

In the impossible world where the Carolina Panthers win the NFC Championship they would advance to the Super Bowl with an 11-9 overall record on the 2025 season and playoffs. Even a loss in the Super Bowl would leave them one game above .500.

How about it Panthers fans, how far do you think they can reasonably make it? “To the Bank of America Stadium locker rooms” is an acceptable answer here.