The latest postseason projections are favorable for the Carolina Panthers in terms of the NFC South.
The Carolina Panthers enter Week 4 of the 2026 NFL season with a 1-2 record. After they earned their first win of the season in Week 2 in blowout fashion over Atlanta, they had the chance to keep the momentum going.
But that was derailed this past week as the Panthers couldn't hold on to a late lead in Cleveland and fell to the Browns. That dropped them to 1-2 on the season and having an unpredictable start so far.
Coming out of that game, there was some bad news regarding injuries, as the Panthers had to place Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson on injured reserve. Both are expected to miss significant time this season, putting their depth to the test. The good news is that there is a lot of time left this season, and the NFC South isn't exactly the best division.
Even with a 1-2 record, the Panthers are on top of the division again. They are tied with Atlanta and New Orleans while Tampa Bay is 0-2. It feels like this division is heading down the same path they did a year ago when the Panthers won the division with an 8-9 record.
And the latest projections agree.
John Breech of CBS Sports put together his latest projections for the playoffs based on what he's seen so far this season. He has the Panthers winning the NFC South for the second straight year and earning the No. 4 seed. The record projection sits at 7-10, meaning the winner of the division would be under .500 once again. But it ends there.
Breech predicted that the San Francisco 49ers would head into Charlotte as the No. 5 seed and beat the Panthers 27-23. It would be the second consecutive year that the Panthers would host an NFC West team in the playoffs after they lost to Los Angeles a year ago.
It's early but this division is once again looking like the weakest in all of football. Meanwhile, the NFC West and NFC North feel like the strongest divisions. They should occupy the wild card spots meaning it's win the division or go home for the NFC South.
Carolina's next test comes on Sunday Night Football when they host the Detroit Lions. It's the first time the Panthers have hosted Sunday Night Football in over 10 seasons. This will be a chance for the Lions to make a statement and get back to .500.
