NFL Week 17: How Bryce Younger and Carolina Panthers reworked Christmas narrative from $1 tickets to playoff rivalry

Editor’s observe…

It was round this time two years in the past when tickets to see the Carolina Panthers face the Atlanta Falcons at dwelling have been obtainable on Ticketmaster for as little as $0.45, albeit minus the same old further charges that will ultimately rise to simply shy of $20.

Tickets is also purchased for round $3 shortly earlier than the sport because the Panthers entered 1-12 amid one other ugly yr of irrelevance as a part of the franchise’s cliff-fall since their final playoff look in 2017.

It was miserably moist and windy with Christmas only a week away, what had been billed as a 70,000 crowd as an alternative adopting the looks of an admirably-loyal 10,000; the Panthers had long-been a non-story, Chris Tabor serving as interim head coach following the firing of Frank Reich and a rookie Bryce Younger residing each No 1 choose quarterback’s worst NFL nightmare whereas teetering on the sting of an early and messy confidence-sapped divorce.

For these questioning, the Panthers gained 9-7 thanks to a few Eddie Pineiro discipline targets, ruining Atlanta’s playoff hopes within the course of.

This Christmas, issues are totally different.

The Panthers sit high of the NFC South with their division title and playoff destiny in their very own arms as one of many shock tales of the 2025 marketing campaign. Carolina (8-7) can win the division this weekend by beating the No 1-seeded Seattle Seahawks – dwell on Sky Sports activities NFL – and the Miami Dolphins beating Tampa Bay (7-8), whereas a Panthers defeat and Bucs win would see it head to the ultimate day of the regular-season, when the Panthers and Buccaneers meet once more.

Three-dollar tickets in December have advanced into scoreboard-watching.

The Panthers nudged forward within the race final Sunday by holding off Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers in a 23-20 victory, sealing it with a late interception of the quarterback whose profession head coach Dave Canales helped resurrect in Florida. Lately, Canales is extracting the playmaking better of a written-off Younger, who’s lastly making No 1-pick-calibre throws in yr three within the NFL.

Younger had seemed frail, hesitant and submissive to his modest and doubted stature throughout his rookie season, responsible of misreads, coughing up turnovers and failing to instil the new-chapter hope yearned with a No 1 choose play-caller. Had they made a mistake favouring Younger over the hovering CJ Stroud? The narrative was starting to write down itself as Stroud propelled Houston’s rebuild forward of schedule on his means in the direction of profitable Offensive Rookie of the 12 months.

This can be a totally different Younger, a purring Younger, albeit nonetheless inside an understaffed offense and wrinkles to be ironed.

The previous Alabama man simply navigated the twelfth game-winning drive of his NFL profession in Sunday’s win over Tampa Bay, marking essentially the most by any quarterback since 2023. It was his sixth game-winning drive this marketing campaign as he completed 21 of 32 for 191 yards and two touchdowns with a 102.5 passer score whereas exhibiting the total vary of his arsenal.

“I feel like if it’s close in the fourth quarter, especially with 9, if it’s close with him, he’s going to go win it. We’re just a team built on resiliency, and we’re going to keep pushing,” mentioned Panthers nook Jaycee Horn.

He showcased why he’s ranked among the many league’s most harmful downfield throwers over the past six weeks with a beautifully-weighted landing dunk to Tetairoa McMillan, he demonstrated off-schedule and out-of-structure magic on his slide, dip, climb and strike scoring cross to Ja’Tavion Sanders and floated a deep-shot dime to Jalen Coker for 34 yards on third down to assist tee up Ryan Fitzgerald’s game-winning discipline purpose within the fourth quarter. Younger discovered the solutions when he wanted to, as a lot testomony to his continued progress.

Younger’s NFL profession had been projected for notorious No 1-to-done decline earlier than it ever actually started, notably when he was benched for Andy Dalton within the first month of the 2024 season. The Panthers’ report speaks to efficiency fluctuation and inconsistency to his command, however he has performed his means into an opportunity to finish Carolina’s seven-year playoff drought.

Canales, Younger and co. have develop into one of many NFL’s nice puzzle groups in 2025, with the power to be blown out by the Buffalo Payments, lose twice to the New Orleans Saints in addition to incite Matthew Stafford’s most chaotic, mistake-stricken video games of the season in a win over the Tremendous Bowl-contending Los Angeles Rams. Which model reveals up over the ultimate two weeks?

Who mentioned what?

Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield on battling Carolina for the NFC South: “Our back is against the wall. Pretty comfortable there. We would love to be – and I would love for us to be – in a different spot than we’re in right now, don’t get me wrong. We’ve been here before, and you can always rely on those experiences and take what you’ve learned and go from there, but I trust this group.”

Raiders’ Maxx Crosby on enjoying for No 1 Draft choose towards the Giants, with each groups 2-13 : “Yeah, I don’t give a s*** about the pick, to be honest. I don’t play for that. That’s not my job. My job is to be the best defensive end in the world. That’s what I focus on every day. Being a great leader, being an influence. Being that guy on a consistent basis for my team.”

Bears HC Ben Johnson on QB Caleb Williams: “Every single day, we’re spending one-on-one time, quality time together, to where we can be very transparent with each other. And I think what I’ve grown to love about him – and I hope he would echo the same thing – I think we’re mentally very similar.”

Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers following DK Metcalf’s altercation with fan: “I think there’s a mindset that you pay for a ticket, you say whatever the hell you want. I think there should be some code of conduct. Obviously, that was intentional, and I think there was some celebration afterwards, on (the fan’s) part. Obviously, [I] don’t condone what DK did, but I understand, you know, there’s been a lot of crazy comments sent my way over the years and, you know, the truth is that that would never happen face-to-face.”

Chiefs TE Travis Kelce on the potential for retirement: “Honestly, I’ve just been focused on trying to win football games, man. I’ll let that be a decision I make with my family, friends, the Chiefs organisation when the time comes.”

Playoff/division-clinching eventualities in Week 17

AFC

Denver Broncos (13-3) – beat Chiefs 20-13

How Broncos can clinch AFC West title and AFC No 1 seed, first-round bye and home-field benefit:

• Win & Chargers defeat or tie, Patriots defeat, Payments defeat or tie and Jaguars defeat or tie

How Broncos can clinch AFC West title:

Jacksonville Jaguars (11-4) – @ Colts

How Jaguars can clinch AFC South title:

• Win & Texans defeat or tie
• Tie & Texans defeat

New England Patriots (12-3) – @ Jets

How Patriots can clinch AFC East title:

• Win & Payments defeat or tie
• Tie & Payments defeat

Pittsburgh Steelers (9-6) – @ Browns

How Steelers can clinch AFC North title:

• Win or tie
• Ravens defeat or tie

Houston Texans (10-5) – @ Chargers

How Texans can clinch playoff berth:

• Win or tie
• Colts defeat or tie

NFC

Seattle Seahawks (12-3) – @ Panthers

How Seahawks can clinch NFC West title and NFC No 1 seed, first-round bye and home-field benefit:

• Win, Rams defeat or tie & 49ers-Bears tie

How Seahawks can clinch NFC West division title:

• Win, Rams defeat or tie & 49ers defeat or tie
• Tie, Rams defeat & 49ers defeat

Carolina Panthers (8-7) – vs Seahawks

How Panthers can clinch NFC South title:

• Win & Buccaneers defeat or tie
• Tie & Buccaneers defeat

Chicago Bears (11-4) – @ 49ers

How Bears can clinch NFC North title:

• Win
• Packers defeat
• Tie & Packers tie

Stats nook

Sky Sports activities statistician – and Buffalo Payments fan – Benedict Bermange breaks down a few of the key stats heading into Sunday’s matchups…

• Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett wants yet one more sack to surpass Michael Strahan (22.5) and TJ Watt (22.5) for essentially the most in a single season since 1982, when the person sack turned an official statistic
• Rams QB Matthew Stafford wants three landing passes to tie Tom Brady for the second-most landing passes in a season by a quarterback aged 37 or older
• Seahawks QB Sam Darnold can develop into the fifth quarterback ever to publish no less than 13 wins in back-to-back seasons, and the primary to do it with totally different groups
• Falcons RB Bijan Robinson wants no less than 68 scrimmage yards towards the Rams to overhaul Christian McCaffrey for essentially the most scrimmage yards by a participant beneath the age of 24 in NFL historical past; Robinson leads the league with 2,026 scrimmage yards
• Colts RB Jonathan Taylor wants one speeding landing towards the Jaguars to develop into the fourth participant in NFL historical past to attain no less than 18 speeding touchdowns in a number of seasons
• 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey wants a landing catch to surpass Marshall Faulk for essentially the most landing receptions by a working again since 1970

Information across the league

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