After years of living in the NFC's dumpster, it's been refreshing to see the Carolina Panthers claw their way into relevance in the NFC playoff picture. They sit at 7–6 and are just one game behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the division lead.
But as the calendar turns and the football hardens into the bruising brand that defines late December and early January, the Panthers’ hopes for both making and surviving the postseason pivot sharply toward one element of their identity: the ground game.
Peeling back the layers, Carolina has headliners on either side of the ball, which hasn't been the case in years past.