Panthers Not Expected to Contend for 2026 Playoffs for One Big Reason

The 2025 NFL season has come down to the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots clashing in Super Bowl LX this Sunday. It marks the first time since Super Bowl XXXVIII, the 2003 season, that two teams that failed to reach the playoffs the previous season will play for the Lombardi Trophy one year later.

It’s awfully early, to say the least. Zoltán Buday of Pro Football Focus recently named three teams that reached the postseason in ’25 that could struggle to return to the playoffs in 2026. They would be the aforementioned Patriots, the reigning AFC North champion Pittsburgh Steelers and new head coach Mike McCarthy, and Dave Canales’s NFC South champions.

“While the Panthers,” said Buday, “and quarterback Bryce Young finished the season on a high note by putting up a fight in a narrow wild-card loss to the Los Angeles Rams after being written off, most indicators suggest the team overperformed by reaching the playoffs.”

Panthers Were a Rollercoaster Ride in 2025

“Although Young played well in that postseason loss,” explained Buday, “his performance across the full season was far more inconsistent. In fact, only two of the other 13 playoff quarterbacks—Aaron Rodgers and C.J. Stroud—earned lower PFF overall grades than Young’s 71.0 this season. Improved consistency and overall play will be required from Young for Carolina to take the next step toward true Super Bowl contention.”

That inconsistency was on full display in 2025. During the season, the 8-9 Panthers went through a stretch in which they alternated wins and losses for 10 consecutive games from Week 7-17. Including the playoff loss to the Rams, Canales’s club ended the season with a three-game losing streak.

“The Panthers benefited significantly from success in high-leverage situations in 2025,” added Buday. “They generated 0.794 expected points added (EPA) per play on fourth-down plays, fifth in the NFL, while their 63 percent success rate on those attempts ranked eighth. However, on the first three downs, Carolina’s offense averaged just -0.09 EPA per play, which ranked 27th in the league and last among playoff teams.”

“Replicating that level of fourth-down efficiency is far from guaranteed,” summarized Buday, “meaning the Panthers will need much more consistent early-down play in 2026 to sustain postseason success.”

That’s an awful lot of numbers, and it’s worth noting that these Panthers did lose 10 of their 18 overall contests. Will this team build on this season’s playoff appearance, or head in the opposite direction?