NFL Arizona CardinalsCarolina Panthers

Carolina Panthers Given a Gift of a Matchup in Arizona Cardinals

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Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The NFC South had to send someone to the playoffs to represent the division in 2014, and the 7-8-1 Carolina Panthers have done just enough to qualify as that team. It might be better said that no team in the division really deserved an opportunity to even be in the playoffs, as there were many other teams in the NFC that would have qualified before any NFC South team if the playoffs were based on overall NFC record alone.

Add on the fact that they actually get to host a home game as a division winner, and you can see how sometimes the NFL playoff positioning system can cause head shaking and fan protests. The fact is that the Panthers are a shell of the team that won this division last year with a 12-4 record and an emerging leader in QB Cam Newton. They aren’t as good on offense and surprisingly bad on defense after being one of the top units in that category in 2013.

But as is sometimes the case, the NFL gods have smiled upon the Panthers, giving them possibly the one team they have a chance to win against: the injury-plagued Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals are also a shell of their former selves, albeit from the first quarter of this season instead of the 2013 version. They are on their third QB, with injuries to both season starter Carson Palmer and backup Drew Stanton, and they are literally limping into the postseason after several dismal games to end the regular season.

Most experts and fans would not pick the Panthers to compete against any other 2014 NFC playoff team, let alone win the game. But against the Cardinals, the Panthers can actually summon some motivation and hope. All they need to do is look at the 2010 Seattle Seahawks for comparisons. Remember them? At 7-9, the Seahawks hosted the 11-5 New Orleans Saints, who were coming off a Super Bowl win in 2009 and were 11-5. The Seahawks won the game, and did so with a legacy starting run at the end of it by Marshawn Lynch. No one thought a 7-9 team deserved to be in the playoffs then, yet Seattle proved everyone wrong.

Carolina has a chance to do the same thing this year. They have been better on both sides of the ball in the last few games and have a little momentum behind them heading into the playoffs. They are the first NFC South team to win the division in back-to-back seasons in over a decade, and with the Cardinals trying to hold things together by figurative bailing wire, Carolina could not hope for a better matchup.

Jonathan George is an NFL writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @jonageorge. “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.

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