This Carolina Panthers star has dropped a strong message on the playoffs following the team's crushing loss to the New Orleans Saints.
The Carolina Panthers had the chance to vault themselves a full game in front of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for first place in the NFC South on Sunday, but instead, they choked.
The Panthers fell to the lowly New Orleans Saints by a score of 20-17, allowing the Saints to complete a season sweep of them with the playoffs on the line.
Now, thanks to the Buccaneers currently holding the tiebreaker, Carolina is back in second place in the division at 7-7, and while the Panthers have two games coming up with Tampa Bay, they will most likely have to sweep the Bucs to get in the playoffs.
That's an arduous task, but defensive tackle Derrick Brown is remaining steadfast in the face of adversity.
When asked if the Panthers let a brilliant opportunity slip away in New Orleans, Brown made his feelings abundantly clear that it wasn't over just yet.
“We didn’t let a real good opportunity slip away,” Brown told reporters. “We’ve still got everything in front of us. That was the easier way, to take it today and go win next week. But we still got the same stuff in front of us, so that’s what we’re gonna focus on.”
It's true that Carolina still controls its own destiny, but it also just became exceedingly more difficult for the club to make the postseason.
Sandwiched between the Panthers' two matchups with the Buccaneers is a clash against the Seattle Seahawks on Dec. 28. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay will face the Miami Dolphins that week.
If Carolina doesn't sweep the Bucs, its only hope is to split with the Buccaneers, beat the Seahawks and then hope Tampa Bay falls to the Dolphins.
The chances of that happening don't seem very likely.
Of course, if the Panthers merely would have taken care of business against the Saints at least once this season, they would be in pole position to win the NFC South division crown.
But now, they just made things a whole lot harder for themselves.
No one expected Carolina to make the playoffs this year anyway, but the fact that the Panthers have come so close only for it to unfold this way is definitely painful.
Carolina will host the Bucs at 1 p.m. next Sunday.