Cat Scratch Reader
Our fan poll has every team finishing in a different place from 2024
The early cat gets the. . . pirate? Yeah, maybe that doesn’t work. But Panthers fans do think that something Dave Canales and Bryce Young are doing is working. Nearly a majority of Panthers fans that voted in last week’s reacts poll nominated the Carolina Panthers as the team that will win the NFC South in 2025.
Finishing second in the South would be a major accomplishment for the Panthers and be seen as a major upset by the national punditry. The Panthers finishing first would be a true a Cinderella story, breaking the Bucs four season hold on the divisional crown.
Maybe it’s not a surprise that members of a community that exists to discuss and occasionally enjoy the Panthers believe in Carolina’s chances this year. Maybe it’s not a surprise that people have little faith in the NFC South’s ability to maintain anything that could be described as a “status quo.” Still, it’s a little wild that fans are this optimistic before training camp has even opened, given how poorly recent years have gone.
If we take this a step further and look at this prediction as a de facto prediction of the final standings in the NFC South then we find that we expect every team in the division to finish in a different place from 2024. As a reminder, last year’s standings saw the 10-7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers in first place, the 8-9 Atlanta Falcons take second, with the 5-12 Carolina Panthers barely edging out the 5-12 New Orleans Saints for third.
I’m not sure what has fans nearly twice as confident in the Saints chances as compared to the Falcons here. The Falcons at least nominally have a quarterback who has played quarterback before. Sound off in the comments if you want to defend the Saints or walk back your predictions of Panthers success lest they jinx our apparently promising season.
