Believe it or not, the Carolina Panthers suddenly have folks, well, believing!
On Thursday’s episode of Good Morning Football, the crew played a little segment of “No Cap,” where they choose a team (and their literal cap) that they believe best fits the topic at hand. This particular installment highlighted teams to pay attention to in the final six weeks of the season.
And for host Kyle Brandt, it’s the Panthers.
“Gimme the Panthers,” Brandt said emphatically. “Because screw it. Why not? No one wants to win that division, then why not they go get it? Who cares? They’re not gonna lose this week, they’re on a bye. I thought it was the Bucs, and we’ve tried to give it to the Bucs and I guess they just don’t want it. And neither do the Saints. And I thought the Falcons might want it, but they don’t.”
Week 12 saw the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons all lose. Those results, along with Carolina’s dominant 23-10 win over the Denver Broncos, left the 4-8 Panthers just a game and a half out of first place.
Brandt continued by hitching his wagon to the team’s latest starting quarterback.
“So now, I’m fully on Team Sam Darnold,” he added. “Come running for this thing. Win the division at 8-9. You were gone, forgotten, interim head coach, triple interim quarterback. This would be like a late runner for the story of the year—is the Panthers hosting a playoff game in Carolina.”
Darnold didn’t exactly light the world on fire in the win, passing for 164 yards and a touchdown. But his ability to help control the pace of the game, stay away from turnovers and throw in a big play or two gave the Panthers a recipe for success—and the tastiest one of 2022, at that.
So . . . do you believe, too?
