On Sunday afternoon, the Carolina Panthers let a golden opportunity to take a stranglehold on the NFC South slip through their fingers with a brutal road loss at the hands of the New Orleans Saints. The Panthers were in control of this game for most of the way, but ultimately ended up surrendering to a field goal late, which was set up by an unnecessary roughness call on Carolina safety Lathon Ransom.
After the game, Ransom got 100% honest on his state of mind in the wake of the huge penalty.
“He's a quarterback, so I've got to be more aware of the situation. I guess let him run by or let him not run by, but let him slide,” said Ransom, per David Newton of ESPN on X, formerly Twitter.
The Panthers have now been swept by the lowly Saints in the season series between the two teams, and relinquished a great opportunity to inch closer to a rare playoff appearance with the loss.
On Thursday, Carolina fans celebrated after the Atlanta Falcons upset the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the road, handing the Buccaneers their second straight loss and pushing the Panthers back into first place in the not-so-vaunted NFC South.
However, as has usually been the case, the Panthers weren't quite sure what to do with prosperity, and quickly fumbled the opportunity back to Tampa Bay.
The Buccaneers and Panthers will meet two different times down the stretch of the 2025 season, and if one of the teams is able to win both those games, they will represent the NFC South in the NFL playoffs.
The first of those two matchups is set to take place on Sunday at 1:00 pm ET from Carolina. After that, the Panthers will have a very difficult matchup ahead against the Seattle Seahawks, which will also take place at home.
