Carolina Panthers

He moved into the big chair from the position of secondary coach after the owner fired head coach Matt Rhule and defensive coordinator Phil Snow after five ...

[received his release](https://www.si.com/nfl/2022/12/10/baker-mayfield-amazing-debut-rams-raiders) and was off to the Rams. This hasn’t been like Indianapolis, where Jeff Saturday got to swoop in and start a better quarterback, whom the owner had benched in the first place. But if this is how he handles the worst of it, wouldn’t he be worth checking out during the good times? The next year normally turns out to be just as bad, or nearly as bad as the one that caused the firing in the first place. Despite all this, his team beat the Buccaneers, the Falcons in a rematch, the Broncos and Seahawks, a team that entered the week in one of the NFC’s final playoff seeds. It’s not like Jacksonville, where Urban Meyer left and everyone could finally stop checking to see if he was in the room before laughing. The circumstances he had to operate in were poor enough that he confidently joined the Brian Flores lawsuit, alleging that the Cardinals Moore, [pulled his helmet off in the end zone](https://www.si.com/nfl/2022/10/30/dj-moore-nfl-change-celebration-penalties) and knocked the kicker out of range on the extra point because of a penalty, then the Panthers lost in overtime. Usually, coaches get fired in the middle of the season because the situation cannot improve. Despite being the worst team in the NFL that year, the Cardinals still had the No. Walker, Jacob Eason, Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold, the last of whom he was lucky to have. That’s not exactly how it went for Panthers interim coach Steve Wilks, who, after Sunday’s 30–24 win over the Seahawks (and the 49ers’ Brock Purdy–inspired blowout of the Buccaneers), has Carolina sitting at 5–8 with a 22% chance of reaching the playoffs, according to FiveThirtyEight.

Following his team's upset win over the Seattle Seahawks in Week 14, the Carolina Panthers interim head coach was asked if the triumph was an emotional one.

And with everything that we’ve gone through, they’ve gone through with the different coaching changes, getting rid of players, the organization trying to tank it—all those different things. But all the credit goes to those players and how they go out there and perform and finish. Wilks went on to say it was, and credited that feel to the continuous and admirable effort from his players.

Carolina Panthers interim head coach Steve Wilks should get permanent head coaching job. He demonstrated again in 30-24 win over Seattle.

But to me, Wilks looks like the right guy for the job. Wilks later clarified that it was some people “outside the building” who believed the Panthers might be trying to tank, but not him and not the Panthers brass. And that’s the one thing that was so disappointing when he didn’t get his complete chance in Arizona. “As I stated at the beginning, I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Wilks said. He’s coached here before, as an assistant and a defensive coordinator during one of the Panthers’ best runs. Wilks obviously didn’t want to play quarterback Baker Mayfield — who Rhule started for the first five games of the season — and eventually released him. “Coaches do a tremendous job in game-planning and putting these guys in position, but all the credit goes to those players, and how they go out there and perform and finish. He went straight into the 1980s for this ground-and-pound offense. With everything that we’ve gone through — different coaching changes, getting rid of players, or the organization trying to tank it, all these different things — to see how those guys respond and come out and play today. As Howie Long said on the Fox Sports postgame show: “It’s not a sexy formula, but it certainly is productive.” The players like and respect him. Despite the Panthers trading away their best player in Christian McCaffrey only 10 days after Wilks took over, Carolina has gotten better instead of worse.

The Panthers offense, once again, thrived off the ground-and-pound approach. They rushed for a gaudy 223 yards and two scores—one from Chuba Hubbard and the ...

So, there was more work to be done to clinch the upset. - When the Seahawks did have the ball, they didn’t do too much with it. - The Panthers offense, once again, thrived off the ground-and-pound approach.

Chuba Hubbard and Raheem Blackshear both had rushing TDs as the Carolina Panthers stayed in the thick of the muddled NFC South race.

Seattle lost DT Al Woods late in the first half to a heel injury. In the second quarter, Smith appeared to think he had a free play with the Panthers jumping offsides, but no flag was thrown and his risky pass was picked by C.J. Seattle went a surprising 0-4 against the NFC South this season. Blackshear’s TD capped a drive where Carolina ran on eight of the 10 plays and gained 68 of its 74 yards on the ground. If Carolina wins its last four games, it wins the division. Darnold and Carolina built leads of 17-0 and 20-7 to take advantage of a sloppy, unenthusiastic first-half performance by the Seahawks. Carolina pulled even with Atlanta and is within one game of division-leading Tampa Bay in the NFC South standings after the Buccaneers loss in San Francisco. Marquise Goodwin caught a 24-yard touchdown with 16 seconds left, but Carolina recovered the ensuing onside kick. Carolina now controls its destiny in the division. Hubbard, Blackshear and D’Onta Foreman were a three-headed trio that Seattle couldn’t stop on the ground. Carolina also took advantage of a shaky performance from Seahawks QB Geno Smith. The line was just wearing on them.

Panthers interim coach Steve Wilks is 4-4 since taking charge. Sam Darnold, Shaq Thompson and others weighed in on the team identity after the Week 14 win.

“If we go into a game knowing that we want to run the football, and early we get down a score or two, we’ve got to just trust it and know that that game plan is going to come to fruition. With back-to-back home matchups against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Detroit Lions on deck, the Panthers could push their way into a very important rematch against the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay in Week 17. “And if we’re able to drop back, we can do that, but I think we’re finding our identity as a team, and it’s fun to be a part of.” And that’s somebody that we want to play for. Quarterback Sam Darnold threw the ball just 12 times in the second half, but he trusted the play-calling and the running game to deliver. “Once we had that first day of practice, we knew what type of team we were going to be,” Thompson said after the win.

Seattle Seahawks CB Tariq Woolen breaks up a pass from Carolina Panthers QB Sam Darnold to WR DJ Moore in the Week 14 matchup at Lumen Field. An ...

Seattle Seahawks WR Marquise Goodwin makes a leaping toe-tapping 14-yard reception from QB Geno Smith against the Carolina Panthers. Seattle Seahawks WR Tyler Lockett spins and makes a toe-tapping 17-yard reception from QB Geno Smith at the sideline against the Carolina Panthers in Week 14. Seattle Seahawks QB Geno Smith fires a 38-yard deep pass to WR Marquise Goodwin against the Carolina Panthers at Lumen Field.