Panthers have worse record than Vikings, still in playoff hunt

On Sunday, two teams separated by a few percentage points in the NFC standings will face each other at frosty TCF Bank Stadium.

One is all but mathematically eliminated from playoff contention at 4-7 and answering questions about building something for next season.

The other is a half-game out of the lead in its division at 3-7-1 and talking about how it still has everything left to play for this season.

The Vikings are the team with the better record despite losing two consecutive games after their bye week to fall to last place in the NFC North, four games behind the first-place Green Bay Packers. The Carolina Panthers, meanwhile, control their future in the laughable NFC South, which is led by the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons at 4-7, the same underwhelming record as the Vikings.

"It's crazy how that works," fullback Zach Line said. "Last year, it was kind of flip-flopped. The NFC North was struggling to win games. Now it's the NFC South."

Last season, the Packers won the NFC North with an 8-7-1 record. This season, it is technically possible that a 5-11 team could win the NFC South and host a first-round playoff game, too.

The ineptitude of the NFC South has rekindled conversations about the NFL's playoff format and has set ablaze the notion that expanding the playoffs to 16 teams would be a good thing for anything other than the pockets of NFL owners and the league's television partners.

The 2010 Seattle Seahawks were the first and only NFL team to make the playoffs with a losing record over a full season. Barring a strong finish in the NFC South, they will soon have company.

But Carolina head coach Ron Rivera believes the Panthers, who went 12-4 a season ago, can be the team that takes advantage of this odd but favorable opportunity and seize the division.

"Once you get into the playoffs, records don't matter," Rivera said. "If the team gets on a roll, who knows, maybe we'll be fortunate enough to be on a roll and get into the playoffs and get a little momentum, a little bit of steam. You just never know. That's the beauty of this game."

The Panthers have lost several key contributors from last season's NFC South champs. Former Pro Bowl left tackle Jordan Gross retired. Fiery wide receiver Steve Smith was released, and fellow wideout Brandon LaFell left in free agency. So did veteran defensive backs Mike Mitchell and Captain Munnerlyn. Munnerlyn, of course, mans the slot for the Vikings now.

The Panthers are also without standout defensive end Greg Hardy, who like Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is stranded on the commissioner's exempt list because of legal issues.

As a result, the Panthers have looked like a shell of their former selves, especially on defense. Five of their losses have been by 18 or more points.

"The bright side of all that is that we're in a fortunate situation where we're still in the mix," said Panthers center Ryan Kalil, the brother of Vikings tackle Matt. "It's obviously exciting for us that we can still kind of right the ship."

The Panthers are also still capable of sinking all the way to the first overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft. If the season ended today, they would pick eighth.

The Vikings would pick ninth, but they say they aren't thinking about anything beyond Sunday.

"It's way too early to think about next year and things like that," coach Mike Zimmer said. "I want to play good for our fans. I'm still trying to build this team the way I want it to be, and just because we have some losses doesn't mean we step back and re-evaluate where we are at and what we're doing.

"I see these guys every day at practice so if I don't have a decent idea of what a lot of them can do, then I'm not watching close enough.

"I'm just not one of those kind of guys where it's the eighth round and I'm throwing the towel in and we're going to put in some other puncher. I'm fighting for 10."

For an example of what can happen when you finish a lost season strong, the Vikings, who have a 2-1 record against the NFC South, can just look across the line of scrimmage on Sunday.

The Panthers were 3-9 through 12 games in 2012, but they won their final four, including a win over the first-place Falcons and beating of the Saints in the Superdome, to finish 7-9. In 2013, they won 12 games, including a blowout win at the Metrodome, and won their division.

"It can carry on, the chemistry with your team," said Munnerlyn, who was on those teams.

That's why the Vikings say they are just as desperate as the Panthers — who have a worse record but so much more to play for — to pick up a win on Sunday.

"You can't do anything about that," Line said. "We've got a tough division. We've just got to worry about this week, playing Carolina. We've got to show that we're the better team."