Disrespect, hats and T-shirts: Panthers prep for 1st playoff home game in 10 years
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Panthers host first home playoff game in 10 years as NFC South champions Saturday
- Oddsmakers favor Rams by 10.5 points despite Carolina’s 31-28 win over L.A. on Nov. 30.
- Head coach Dave Canales, 44, has guided Panthers to playoffs in his 2nd season.
The Carolina Panthers knew all weekend they would be coming in Monday morning to work. What they didn’t know was whether they were going to be adding to or subtracting from the clutter in their lockers.
If Atlanta had lost to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, Monday was scheduled as “clean-out day” for Carolina. Instead, the Falcons won, the 8-9 Panthers in turn won the NFC South and there were stacks of “NFC South Champions” hats and T-shirts available in the Carolina locker room Monday.
The No. 4 seed Panthers are readying for their first home playoff game in a decade — 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Bank of America Stadium against the No. 5 seed L.A. Rams.
And expect this to be a theme all week, too: The Panthers players are going to feel disrespected by the point spread set by oddsmakers. The Rams (12-5) are favored in this playoff game by 10.5 points in most betting lines, despite the fact that the two teams played on Nov. 30 in Charlotte and the Panthers won, 31-28.
“Hey, that’s what it is,” Panthers head coach Dave Canales said in his news conference Monday when I asked him about the Panthers being such a large underdog. “I don’t know how they come up with those numbers, but I’m sure they have algorithms for us. We can’t worry about that. We’ve just got to worry about playing our best football.”
The Panthers haven’t been doing that lately and will stumble into the playoffs having gone only 1-3 over their final four games. A chance to win the NFC South outright Saturday presented itself — Carolina only needed to beat Tampa Bay. Instead, the Panthers lost 16-14, which led to the Sunday afternoon drama of the Falcons edging New Orleans and the Panthers using their backup camera to roll into the playoffs anyway.
For Canales, 44, this is quite a moment.
He’s a first-time NFL head coach who has directed his team to the playoffs in only his second season (albeit despite Carolina posting its eighth straight losing record). With a young team, particularly on offense, the Panthers seem poised for some very good things in future years and have arrived at this moment a year earlier than some in their building privately anticipated.
In that way, this team resembles the one the Panthers fielded in 1996. That team, coached by first-time NFL head coach Dom Capers, made it to the playoffs in only Year 2 of the franchise’s existence. (It was also an older team, particularly on defense, and had a far better record at 12-4).
Capers, 75, is now on Canales’ staff in a senior advisory role, lending some veteran guidance. He and Canales communicate frequently, and Canales said Capers has offered “amazing support.”
“Dom and I have talked, and it comes down to the same things,” Canales said. “It’s about the basics. Being consistent. That’s been his biggest impact on me as the head coach: Be consistent with your messaging and be consistent with the things that are most important to you. You get what you emphasize, and you can’t emphasize everything. So you have to be very selective, and that’s how you build culture. That’s how you build identity.”
The Panthers have been losing some of their own identity over the past month, however.
They have been at their best this season when they run the ball effectively. But lately teams have stacked the box and stifled the run against Carolina. The team’s combined 19 yards rushing in the loss to Tampa Bay Sunday was the fourth-worst total in Panthers history.
The recipe for success is more like the first game against the Rams — Carolina ran the ball 40 times (for 164 yards) and threw it only 20.
“It’s a full group effort,” Canales said, who will try to emphasize the run game once again this weekend.
Coker assumes starting role over Legette
Panthers wide receiver Jalen Coker has moved ahead of Xavier Legette on the depth chart. Coker is now joining Tetairoa McMillan on the field when the Panthers are in their two-wideout look. Coker played 92% of the snaps in Carolina’s 16-14 loss to Tampa Bay Sunday and scored a difficult touchdown on a contested catch. Legette played only 31% of the snaps, a season-low. In fact, Legette only got as many snaps as Panthers rookie Jimmy Horn Jr., who also played 31%.
Said Canales: “It’s a really big time for Jalen. He’s been stepping up and making plays for us….We looked at last week as an opportunity to get him out there a little bit more in (various personnel groupings) because of the way he’s been producing and give him more opportunities. Xavier understands that part, too. He made his plays when they came to him. ... This is a celebration of Jalen just continuing to step up into a more starter role.”
Hunt is still questionable
Panthers offensive guard Robert Hunt, a steamroller when at his best, has been trying to make a comeback in time for the playoffs. He has missed almost the entire season with a torn bicep. Canales said Hunt was questionable but “physically speaking, really close” but that with him and other guys that roster decisions at this point have to be weighed carefully.
Canales on Pete Carroll
Pete Carroll has been a longtime mentor of Canales and the two worked together for years in Seattle. Carroll later took over the Las Vegas Raiders, but just got fired. Canales said he hadn’t spoken to Carroll yet since his mentor lost his job.
“This is pretty fresh,” Canales said. “Generally speaking, when I’ve had coaches or colleagues or different people that have been in this situation and been fired, I always felt like it’s good to just give them some space to be able to connect with family and have those conversations.”
This story was originally published January 5, 2026 at 2:49 PM.
