The Panthers have an obligation to win this week...

[carpanfan96]

3-2 are the current records of the two wildcard teams ahead of Carolina. The other wildcard is GB at 5-0.

The two teams that are 3-2 are NYG and TB, Carolina plays TB twice. Of the other teams ahead of Carolina, Dallas has the hardest remaining schedule. Chicago (harder schedule), Atlanta and Seattle are 2-3. We play Atlanta twice and Seattle's schedule outside of their division is difficult.

Really the major threats are Chicago and NYG if Carolina takes care of business against the Falcons and Bucs.

If the head into the bye week at 4-4, then they would be right in the playoff hunt for the final Wildcard spot.

[SnowPanther]

Favored against the Redskins? Huh?

[flpantherfan32137]

TheOracle did not see the direction this thread would take.

Seems to be the story of the day around this place. Some seriously grumpy people on here today.

[Happy Panther]

3-2 are the current records of the two wildcard teams ahead of Carolina. The other wildcard is GB at 5-0.

The two teams that are 3-2 are NYG and TB, Carolina plays TB twice. Of the other teams ahead of Carolina, Dallas has the hardest remaining schedule. Chicago (harder schedule), Atlanta and Seattle are 2-3. We play Atlanta twice and Seattle's schedule outside of their division is difficult.

Really the major threats are Chicago and NYG if Carolina takes care of business against the Falcons and Bucs.

If the head into the bye week at 4-4, then they would be right in the playoff hunt for the final Wildcard spot.

This is the specious way to think of it. What you are ignoring are all the other teams who are in the mix as well. We are a victim of sheer numbers

First of all we have to outrun:

Arizona, Philadelphia and Minnesota

who are all 1-4. All of those teams are in the same boat as us. Ignore every other scenario...we are in a 4 team battle just to get out of the basement. What are the odds of outrunning three other teams with which we are tied. We might be favored but Vegas would probably put us at around 30% chance just to finish with a better record than those guys.

And that is ignoring a whole bunch of stuff.

Secondly we don't control our own destiny. The following crappy teams (who aren't in the playoffs as of now) control their own destiny against us:

Cowboys, Bears, Bucs, Falcons, and Seahawks.

Those teams don't have to win as many games as we do.

Finally the incest of the NFL works against you. All those teams play one another here and there. Which you would hope means they all beat up on each other. But it won't.

So even before you talk about catching the Giants at 3-2 or the Packers at 5-0 you have to beat 8 teams who are either tied or are 1 or 2 games ahead of you.

The law of large numbers is very hard to beat

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_large_numbers

[#1 Panthers Fan]

lmao

[carpanfan96]

Arizona, Philly are complete disasters....

The Seahawks have a terrible schedule and I wouldn't be surprised if they lose most of the games not in their own division. The Cowboys have the Giants and Redskins in their division and are clearly worse then both of them. On top of that, the Cowboys SOS is .780. The Panthers play the Falcons and Bucs twice each the rest of the way.

There goes all of those teams, on top of that Carolina gets Atlanta ( a team that's in disarray and is playing pretty damn bad) Then they get Minny, Tennessee, Indy over the next 6 games. Mixed in with a winnable game against Washington and the Detroit game.

While the last 5 games are difficult, it's entirely possible that Carolina goes into week 13 at 6-5. With how horrible most of the NFC is and how tight it is, that might be the lead for the wildcard at that point.

I'm not saying it's going to happen, but to completely eliminate the idea is foolish as anything can happen and with the way Carolina is playing it's a definite possibility.

[Happy Panther]

OK Give me a % chance that we make the playoffs.

[Floppin]

20%

[carpanfan96]

40%

[Marguide]

It doesn't matter if it is a 1% chance. The joy of being a true fan is that you maintain hope even in the face of nearly impossible odds.

As a current example, in MLB the Cardinals are one game from the World Series, even though they were way out of the race for the playoffs in mid-August.

In my eyes, using historical statistics to filter your expectations takes some of the enjoyment out of being a fan.