We’ve reached the point in the season where teams are going one direction or the other, and no one illustrates that more clearly than the Panthers.
With a win yesterday, they’d have been a game out of first place (in the loss column) in the NFC South, in a position to contend for a fourth straight division title.
But unable to hold onto a 17-0 lead at home, now they’re faced with the potential of picking in the top five of the 2017 NFL Draft.
If the season ended today, the 3-6 Panthers would pick sixth. Also, a lot of people would be wondering not only how they fell from 15-1 a year ago to get to this point, but also why the season ended on a Monday.
The 0-10 Browns are on track to lock up the top pick before Christmas, while there’s still some jockeying going on behind them. Based on current standings and strength of schedule tiebreakers, the 49ers (1-8) would pick second, followed by the Bears (2-7), Jaguars (2-7) and Jets (3-7).
There are still seven weeks of football left, so the coaches of a few of those teams can still sell hope. Of course, the coach of at least one of those teams thought he was making a playoff push with 15 minutes left in yesterday’s action.
