16. Carolina Panthers
There’s no shame in losing to the Seattle Seahawks, but we needed to see a lot better from the Carolina Panthers in Week 17. The Panthers’ offense simply couldn’t get through the Seattle defense until it was too late, scoring just three points in the first three quarters.
That Seattle team is probably the most well-rounded in the league, so it would have taken an absolutely perfect game from the Panthers to get a win (even at home), and it just wasn’t in the stars.
Still, after beating the Buccaneers last week, the Panthers will have a chance to win the division in Week 18, and they’ll have to do it on the road. They will simply need a much better effort from Bryce Young and that offense to get it done, but that Bucs team has been struggling badly here in the second half of the season.
It’s going to be an incredible atmosphere and a huge opportunity for Bryce Young and this young Panthers team to take a step forward.
15. Minnesota Vikings
Well now, Kevin O’Connell and Brian Flores are just showing off. The Vikings’ season has been a disappointment for a variety of reasons, but the coaching job of O’Connell and his staff simply cannot be overstated at this point. On Christmas Day, the Vikings handed their division rival Detroit Lions a massive lump of coal to win their 8th game of the season so far.
The win was extremely impressive considering the fact that the Lions had everything to play for, and the Vikings went out there with Max Brosmer as the starting quarterback. With all due respect to Brosmer, you’re taking the Lions in that scenario 9 times out of 10. And the Vikings proved everyone wrong.
The Vikings eliminated the Lions from the playoffs, and in the process, have given themselves a little momentum heading into the offseason. Some people feel like you don’t take “momentum” from one season to the next, but this is a locker room culture thing, and the Vikings have an extremely strong foundation to build on with O’Connell in the head coach spot.