TAMPA, Fla. -- The Carolina Panthers' locker room was somber late Sunday afternoon. Players sat in their uniforms longer than normal, some staring into space and shaking their heads in disbelief that their postseason hopes were over. It was the type of emotion one would expect from a team that had just been eliminated from a playoff game, not playoff contention.
That’s significant.
The 30-24 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday was as much about how far the Panthers had come under interim coach Steve Wilks after a 1-4 start under Matt Rhule, who was fired, as it was about how they blew their chance to win the division.