Nfl Playoff Picture Panthers Win Nfc South With Help From Falcons

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Jan 19, 2026, 4:43 AM

nfl playoff picture panthers win nfc south with help from falcons

The race for the NFC South title is officially going to come down to one game: Saints at Falcons. That's right, the division title will be decided by two teams that can't even win the division. That became a reality on Saturday after the Buccaneers secured a 16-14 win over the Panthers in an NFC South showdown that didn't end up deciding anything. If Carolina won the game, the Panthers would have clinched the division title, but because the Bucs won, the Saints-Falcons game on Sunday will now decide who wins the division. How is that even possible? That's a great question.

Let's answer it. The Falcons pulled off a shocker Monday night when they beat the Rams, 27-24. The win improved Atlanta's record to 7-9 -- and that's where things get interesting. Let's take a quick look at the NFC South standings so we can break down why Atlanta's win made such a huge difference in the division title race. The Carolina Panthers haven’t been to the NFC playoffs the last seven seasons. They haven’t won the NFC South title since 2015, the season in which they advanced to Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium.

But the Panthers (8-9) ended both droughts ahead of Super Bowl 60, which also will be played in the 49ers’ home venue in Santa Clara, Calif. While Carolina lost to Tampa Bay in Week 18 with a chance to control its destiny, the Panthers got help when the Atlanta Falcons beat the New Orleans Saints to give Carolina a division... Here’s a breakdown of how the Panthers ended the regular season with an NFC South title: LIVE: Updated NFL playoff picture for Week 18 Here's a look at the current potential initial matchups for this year's playoffs: The battle for the NFC South title has officially come to an end.

The Panthers secured the final NFC playoff spot on Sunday thanks to the Falcons beating the Saints. This Carolina's first division title in10 years. The Panthers lost to the Buccaneers on Saturday night 16–14, which put all the pressure on Sunday’s Saints–Falcons game. If New Orleans would’ve won, then Tampa Bay would’ve earned the playoff spot. This complicated path to the playoffs definitely had the teams and the fans on the edge of their seats. Baker Mayfield, for instance, was a nervous wreck watching the game at home knowing his team’s playoff hopes were in the hands of a rival.

🥁🥁🥁@AtriumHealth | #KeepPounding pic.twitter.com/mm6SF46EHP It was a close NFC South matchup on Sunday as Atlanta won 19–17 to help Carolina make the postseason. With an 8–9 record for the 2025 season, Carolina is the only playoff team with a losing record. The Panthers hold onto the No. 4 NFC seed, setting them up to host the 49ers as of now. If the Rams beat the Cardinals in the late Sunday slate, then the Panthers will host Los Angeles instead next weekend in the wild-card round.

Backing into the playoffs is still getting into the playoffs. The Carolina Panthers have officially clinched the NFC South thanks to the Atlanta Falcons' 19-17 win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. It is surely not the way the Panthers would have written it up. Carolina had an opportunity to clinch the division on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but instead fell, 16-14, to require a reprieve from another division rival. Nonetheless, reaching the postseason is certainly something to celebrate for the upstart Panthers. In head coach Dave Canales' second season at the helm, this will be the team's first playoff berth since 2017 and first division title since 2015 when Carolina advanced to Super Bowl 50.

Though sitting at an underwhelming 8-9, the Panthers do have two wins over teams in NFC playoff field -- the Green Bay Packers and Los Angeles Rams. They'll also benefit from hosting a wild-card game as a division winner. Sunday game result: With Atlanta’s 19-17 win over the Saints, the Panthers are NFC South champions. They will host a playoff game on Wild Card weekend as the No. 4 seed. Saturday game result: The Panthers lost to the Buccaneers on Saturday to open Week 18, and now they have to wait for the Falcons-Saints game to decide the division winner.

The Panthers fell behind 10-0 but managed to come back and keep things interesting. They scored a touchdown with 2:27 left, but by the time they got the ball back, they were too deep on their side of the field and did not have enough time. The Bucs are currently in first place in the division, but both of Saturday’s teams will be watching Falcons-Saints on Sunday. If the Saints win, the Bucs clinched the division based on the common games tiebreaker. If the Falcons win, we would have a three-way tie for first place and the Panthers would win the tiebreaker based on overall head-to-head record against the other two teams. The Carolina Panthers are 60 minutes of football away from their first playoff berth since 2017.

Or maybe it’s 120 minutes. We’ll explain more below, but the Panthers head into Week 18 with their highest win total since 2017 and showing signs of growth moving forward. They face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to close out the regular season in a game that could decide the NFC South champion. I say “could” because there is an usual clinching scenario for the Panthers. The Panthers-Bucs matchup kicks off in Tampa at 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.

The Panthers are field goal underdogs. The Panthers got the help they needed from the Falcons to win the NFC South for the first time since 2015. Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images The Carolina Panthers couldn’t close the deal themselves the last two weeks, but they are postseason-bound anyway after the Atlanta Falcons beat the New Orleans Saints 19-17 on Sunday. The Falcons’ win created a three-way tie atop the NFC South among the Panthers, Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with Carolina earning the tiebreaker edge for its first playoff appearance since 2017 and first... The Panthers (8-9) will now host either the Los Angeles Rams or San Francisco 49ers on wild-card weekend, while the season ends for a Buccaneers team that lost seven of its final nine games.

It may not have been the way Carolina drew it up after entering Saturday’s Week 18 showdown in Tampa with a chance to win and celebrate a division title on its own terms. The Panthers also could’ve clinched with a Week 17 upset of the Seattle Seahawks, the NFC’s top seed entering the playoffs. But they lost at home to the Seahawks and then sputtered through a wet and sloppy 16-14 loss Saturday to the Buccaneers (8-9), forcing both teams to wait about 23 hours to learn their... Had the Saints — winners of four straight behind emerging rookie quarterback Tyler Shough — beaten the Falcons on Sunday, the Buccaneers would’ve been the NFC South champions for the fifth straight year. At that point, it would’ve only been a two-way tie between Carolina and Tampa Bay and the Bucs would’ve won on the third tiebreaker — record in common games. (The teams were even on the first two tiebreakers, splitting the head-to-head matchups and both owning 3-3 division records.)

CHARLOTTE — For a day at least, the Panthers love the Falcons. Atlanta beat New Orleans 19-17 Sunday at the Georgia Dome, creating a three-way tie atop the NFC South at 8-9. Thanks to an edge in the three-way tiebreaker, the Panthers won the NFC South title on Sunday. The Panthers swept the Falcons this year, and that was the difference. The Falcons did it with a stingy defense, and four field goals by former Panthers kicker Zane Gonzalez (which means all is forgiven for the whole Buffalo pregame thing in 2021). And having a Saints touchdown wiped out by an offensive pass interference was doubtless satisfying for a lot of Panthers fans watching on television.

It's the first division championship for the Panthers since 2015, which, like 2003, was a year that began against the Jaguars and ended in the Super Bowl. Just saying. The Saints face the Falcons in Atlanta on Sunday. We break down what the game means for the NFL playoff picture. Game result: The Falcons held off the Saints late to win 19-17. Atlanta finished the season in a tie for first with the Panthers and Bucs.

Due to that result, Carolina won the division based on their overall head-to-head record against Atlanta and Tampa Bay. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers just defeated the Carolina Panthers 16-14 in a battle at the top of the NFC South standings. But any celebrations will need to wait until Sunday. Tampa Bay’s win improved their record to 8-9, while dropping the Panthers to 8-9. But a division winner will not be crowned until tomorrow, following the game between the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons. Because the outcome of that came could lead to the Panthers winning the division, or the Buccaneers winning the division.

Nfl Playoff Picture Panthers Win Nfc South With Help From Falcons

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🥁🥁🥁@AtriumHealth | #KeepPounding Pic.twitter.com/mm6SF46EHP It Was A Close NFC South