If you’re looking to wager on NFL Coach of the Year, you have to wait until the page loads more options before Panthers coach Dave Canales’s name comes up. And while it’s true that this is a uniquely crowded field and that the current favorite—Mike Vrabel—has a team that won four games last season at 10–2, barreling toward a first-round bye in the playoffs, and Ben Johnson has the Bears sitting as the NFC’s current No. 1 seed after an outright collapse a year ago, I think many are discounting the totality of what has occurred in Carolina.
This is especially true if the Panthers, 7–6 after Sunday’s 31–28 win over the Rams, reach the postseason. Carolina has odds slightly better than 30% (through the early window Sunday), though the team has one of the more difficult opponent strength of schedules from here out, with both Buccaneers games remaining and a date with the Seahawks. Given that the Panthers and Buccaneers are tied with seven wins apiece and Tampa Bay is clearly struggling, I would venture to say that the current odds on Carolina’s postseason bid are a bit conservative.
