In the 1994 Kevin Smith comedy "Clerks," there was a character named Dante that — with one line — unintentionally captured the emotions of the 2025 Carolina Panthers being in the playoff picture.

"I'm not even supposed to be here today," he said numerous times.

Much like Dante, the Panthers aren't even supposed to be here. And let's define "here" as the team being tied for the NFC South lead ahead of Sunday's first-place clash with the Buccaneers. 

The honest reality is that Carolina is only in this position because Tampa Bay has imploded, not because it is this amazingly reliable team that's earned the chance by its merits. The Bucs, who hav won the division four straight years, were once 6-2, but has since lost five of their last six games.

This division should already be wrapped up, especially since Carolina hasn't won consecutive games for more than two months. However, Tampa has opened the door with back-to-back divisional losses at home to the Saints and Falcons.

Now the Panthers and Bucs will meet twice over the final three weeks. Carolina will host the first showdown on Sunday looking to bounce back from its own divisional heartbreak in New Orleans. 

"This team trying to find an identity of professionalism, of maturity to just have that consistent outcome weekly. That's what we're looking for," said head coach Dave Canales. "That's what really good teams look like is they show up week in and week out and they do the basic parts of their job to where the other opponent should have to make spectacular plays to win the game."

But here's the good news from a Carolina perspective: Regardless of how the final three games shake out, it has already exceeded expectations.

 If the Panthers win even just one more time, they will have the most single-season victories since 2017, which was the last year that this franchise appeared in the postseason. They are also just two years removed from finishing with an NFL-low two wins.