Saturday game result: The Panthers lost to the Buccaneers on Saturday to open Week 18, and now they have to wait for the Falcons-Saints game to decide the division winner. The Panthers fell behind 10-0 but managed to come back and keep things interesting. They scored a touchdown with 2:27 left, but by the time they got the ball back, they were too deep on their side of the field and did not have enough time.

The Bucs are currently in first place in the division, but both of Saturday’s teams will be watching Falcons-Saints on Sunday. If the Saints win, the Bucs clinched the division based on the common games tiebreaker. If the Falcons win, we would have a three-way tie for first place and the Panthers would win the tiebreaker based on overall head-to-head record against the other two teams.

The Carolina Panthers are 60 minutes of football away from their first playoff berth since 2017. Or maybe it’s 120 minutes. We’ll explain more below, but the Panthers head into Week 18 with their highest win total since 2017 and showing signs of growth moving forward. They face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to close out the regular season in a game that could decide the NFC South champion. I say “could” because there is an usual clinching scenario for the Panthers.

The Panthers-Bucs matchup kicks off in Tampa at 4:3 p.m. ET on Saturday. The Panthers are field goal underdogs.

Carolina Panthers playoff berth clinching scenarios

If the Panthers beat the Bucs on Saturday, they clinch the NFC South title. If the Panthers lose, they would still be able to clinch the division title if the Falcons beat the Saints on Sunday. The reason for that is that wins by the Bucs and Falcons would create a three-way tie atop the NFC South. When three teams are tied in the division, the first tiebreaker best record against the other teams. In this case, Carolina would be 3-1, the Bucs would be 2-2, and the Falcons would be 1-3. If the Falcons lost, it would be a two-way tie between the Panthers and Bucs. They split their head-to-head series, and would have the same divisional record. It would then go to record in common games, which the Bucs lead.

Atlanta is a 3.5-point favorite in their matchup against the Saints.

NFC standings entering Week 18

Here are the full NFC standings ahead of the weekend:

x – Team has clinched a playoff spot
y – Team has clinched their division title
e – Team has been eliminated from playoff contention

NFC South standings entering Week 18

Here are the full NFC South standings: