After trading away both Christian McCaffrey and Robbie Anderson, the 1-5 Carolina Panthers looked as though they were settling into the basement of the NFL. But a win, and a dominant one at that, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has suddenly turned their outlook around—at least for the time being.
In addition to moving them one game behind the division lead, here’s what that victory did for the Panthers across this week’s power rankings.
USA TODAY
Author: Nate Davis
Rank: 29 (+3)
Take: “Nice to see interim boss Steve Wilks get to savor his fourth career win given what a raw deal he got from Arizona following his one-year hitch in 2018.”
NFL.com
Author: Dan Hanzus
Rank: 32 (-)
Take: “Life without Christian McCaffrey began with an unexpected treat. The running backs tasked with replacing the superstar piled up 176 yards on the ground in an upset win over Tom Brady and the Buccaneers. Plenty of credit is due to Steve Wilks, the interim head coach who had his team playing hard even when it’s apparent the organization has already flipped the page to 2023. ‘That definitely wasn’t a team out there that was trying to tank it,’ Wilks said. ‘These guys right here have come together and they believe in one another. … There is a lot that we can build on today.'”
ESPN
Author: David Newton
Rank: 30 (+2)
Take: “The Panthers entered Sunday’s game ranked last in the NFL in third-down conversion rate at 23.6% and did little to improve that with a 4-for-12 day. The last team with a conversion rate of 24% or worse was the 2005 San Francisco 49ers, who went 4-12.”
CBS Sports
Author: Pete Prisco
Rank: 31 (+1)
Take: “Christian who? They traded away Christian McCaffrey last week and ended up running the ball better in their upset of the Bucs. So much for tanking.”
