The Carolina Panthers needed help to get into the playoffs. Because they failed to take care of business on Saturday, they needed the Atlanta Falcons to win on

The Carolina Panthers lost 16-14 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, missing a chance to clinch the NFC South. The Panthers need the Atlanta Falcons to beat the New Orleans Saints.

The Panthers lost a chance to win the NFC South on their own in Week 18. Now, they need help to get into the 2025 NFL playoffs over the Buccaneers.

The road to the Super Bowl in the NFC goes through Seattle. The NFC South champion will be decided by the two teams that aren’t in the race for the division title. The Seahawks secured the No. 1 seed and won the NFC West with a 13-3 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday night in a showdown that had major ramifications.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' run as the champions of the NFC South is now officially over. With Atlanta's 19-17 win over New Orleans, Carolina claimed the division on a tiebreaker, and the Bucs were eliminated from the playoffs.

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The Falcons didn't have much at stake for themselves in Week 18 of the regular season, but the game had a lot of bearing on the NFC South because an Atlanta win meant that the Panthers would win the division.