Seeing as I live near Charlotte, the home team is the Carolina Panthers, so when it comes to football, nobody else really matters. Especially when going into August of 2006 every sports magazine and commentator you could find were picking the Panthers to win the Super Bowl this year. What more could you ask for? Great coaches, great talent, on paper it looked as if they could all be right. However, as the season opened and Atlanta made the short trip up I-85 the theme of season was quickly unveiled as the Falcons quickly put everyone on edge beating the Panthers 6-20.

A little over four months later we come to the conclusion of what should have been this stellar season. Having won only 7 games, a rash of late season injuries, major issues with the quarterback position and a whole host of other ongoing issues, the Panthers have squandered every opportunity to secure a spot in post season play. So they come to it again, one final time. A final chance to make something more out of this dismal season than the controversy that’s sure to ensue once it’s over. The NFC appears weak this year, or one could argue the teams are just that evenly matched, but with 5 teams tied at 7-8 for the final playoff spot, these final games carry some big stakes.

What has to happen? It’s simple. The giants must loose to Washington in Washington. Not such a far fetched task as the Giants haven’t been playing well in recent weeks. Green Bay must loose to Chicago in Sunday nights flex game. A reasonable expectation, but Chicago leads the NFC and may choose to rest some players instead of risking injury, thus opening the door for the Packers. But, the most important thing the Panthers must do is win against the Saints. New Orleans comes in as the #2 seed in the NFC so it’s possible they could also rest key players and not risk injuries. It’s arguable they have nothing to play for, except keeping Carolina out of the playoffs. But, as history has proven, no matter how good Carolina has been, beating the Saints has always been a difficult task. It’s more so now as the Panthers ship seems to be virtually sunk. New Orleans played spoiler to Carolina playoffs hopes two years ago, here’s to the hope that history doesn’t repeat itself.

Then there is this question. In a season that has been as disappointing as the 2006 season has, if the Panthers do manage to scrape their way into the playoffs, do they deserve to be there? As a fan, the answer is probably no, because the NFL is about winning, and if your not winning then your obviously not deserving of anything. The reality is, if they do manage to make a post season appearance, however short, they will have managed to beat out ten other teams that would arguably be worse than them. It’s a long shot, considering the performances turned in over the past few weeks by the Panthers, but there is still hope and the while she might be warming up, the “fat lady” isn’t singing in Carolina just yet.

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