NFL Winners and Losers: Panthers take lead in NFC South as they continue to have a breakout

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When the Carolina Panthers watched Saturday night's game, it could have been a reminder of a mistake. 

D.J. Moore, a key part of a massive trade that the Panthers made to move to No. 1 overall and draft Bryce Young, scored a game-winning touchdown for the Chicago Bears on a great catch in overtime. A big reason the Bears are 11-4 is the bounty they got in that trade. The Panthers haven't come close to that type of breakthrough with Young. 

But this season has marked some progress. The Panthers lead the NFC South with two games to play after a huge win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. Regardless of what happens next, this season has to already be considered a success for the Panthers. 

Panthers rookie safety Lathan Ransom, who took a very costly penalty late in the Panthers' loss to the Saints last week, had an interception with 42 seconds to go to seal the 23-20 win. The Buccaneers fell to 7-8 as their late season swoon continues. Baker Mayfield in particular continued to struggle. He had just 145 yards passing and there was no Buccaneers receiver even close to where he was throwing on Random's game-clinching interception. 

It was a big game in the NFC South race, though it's not like either team was on a streak coming in. Last week the Buccaneer blew a 14-point lead and lost to the Falcons at home, and then the Panthers blew a 10-point lead and lost to the Saints. That was a big help to the Buccaneers, who then needed to just win two of their final three games to clinch the division title. But for a team like the Panthers, which has had six straight seasons with double-digit losses, any sniff of being in the playoff hunt is a big step forward. 

The Panthers took a 23-20 lead just ahead of the two-minute warning. Young wasn't great but he did enough to maneuver the Panthers into position to have the lead in a huge game. Earlier, Young made perhaps the biggest play of his career when, on third down, he scrambled to avoid the rush and found tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders for a touchdown to give the Panthers a 20-17 lead late in the third quarter. 

The Panthers haven't arrived, and the massive trade to the Bears still looks like it set back the franchise. But they're getting better. There should be excitement in Carolina for being in the NFC South hunt. The division could still come down to a Week 18 rematch against Tampa Bay. But the Panthers showed on Sunday they're capable of winning that, and being a surprise division champion. 

Here are the rest of the winners and losers from Sunday's action in Week 16 of the NFL season: 

WINNERS

James Cook III: It was a rare day for the Buffalo Bills. They didn't get a massive performance out of Josh Allen but won 23-20 anyway. That doesn't happen too often. 

The biggest reason the Bills won was they were playing the Cleveland Browns, but the Browns were in the game late. Instead of Allen saving the day, it was Cook who shouldered most of the offensive load. Cook had 117 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Allen had an unusually quiet day with just 130 yards passing and no touchdowns. That's a reason the game was close at the end, but the Bills defense was able to back up the Browns and force a punt on fourth-and-32, then the offense was able to get the first down it needed to kill the clock. 

It's the NFL and no wins should ever be taken for granted, but the Bills' lukewarm performance doesn't make it easier to buy them as the favorite to win the AFC. But in games against tougher competition, Allen will presumably be a much bigger factor. Cook, one of the NFL's best running backs this season, will be there to help as well.  

Jim Harbaugh: Harbaugh isn't going to get any NFL Coach of the Year votes, but maybe he should. 

The Chargers have dealt with plenty of injuries, including to both star offensive tackles, but they keep winning in spite of that. The Chargers were underdogs for some reasons against a Dallas Cowboys team that was officially eliminated from the playoffs on Saturday, but Los Angeles got an easy 34-17 win. They're 11-4 and not out of the race for the AFC West championship. 

That's a credit to Harbaugh, one of the NFL's best coaches, and also his defensive coordinator Jesse Minter. Minter has done a fantastic job all season and will be in demand this offseason for head coaching jobs. Before then, the Chargers have some work to do in the postseason. 

Brian Flores: Speaking of defensive coordinators who should get some interest in head coach openings this offseason, Flores had a great day for the Minnesota Vikings in their 16-13 win over the New York Giants. The Vikings lost J.J. McCarthy to a hand injury and the offense didn't do much with Max Brosmer in the game. It didn't matter much because Flores' defense was so good. 

At halftime, Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart had completed 1-of-5 passes for 2 yards, and threw an interception. He had a 0.0 passer rating at the half. That might be a statement on the Giants rookie regressing, but any quarterback will have some issues against Flores' defense. It was excellent on Sunday. 

The Vikings aren't going anywhere this season, but Flores is still showing he's one of the better defensive playcallers in the NFL.  

LOSERS

The irrelevant Kansas City Chiefs: It had been a long time since the Chiefs played a game after being eliminated from the playoffs. It was strange that their game against the Tennessee Titans meant nothing. 

The Chiefs, who will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2014, will have an odd finish to the season. It got even weirder in the first half when Gardner Minshew II, who was replacing injured Patrick Mahomes, left the game with a knee injury. He was replaced by Chris Oladokun, who you might not have heard of before Sunday. Oladokun was a seventh-round pick out of South Dakota State of the Steelers in 2022. He had appeared in one NFL game, rushing once for 5 yards last season, before he got in the game Sunday. He struggled Sunday, as should be expected, not leading any touchdown drives in the Chiefs' listless 26-9 loss to the Tennessee Titans, who might have played their way out of contention for the first pick of the NFL Draft with their third win of the season. Oladokun could end up getting some starts to finish the season. That would include what is becoming a depressing Christmas game against the Denver Broncos. 

It's not like it matters. The Chiefs are playing out the string to end the season. After playing so many enormous games the past few seasons, the Chiefs quickly faded into obscurity this season. 

Quinn Ewers: Even though Mike McDaniel said that he went with Ewers over Tua Tagovailoa because it gave the Miami Dolphins the best chance to win, everyone knew that was nonsense. The team decided Tagovailoa was done as its quarterback and it was wise to get a look at Ewers, a seventh-round pick, before the season ended. 

Ewers needed to play very well to become the unquestioned top option heading into the 2026 season, and it's not like that happened on Sunday. The Dolphins had a rough game and Ewers wasn't great in a 45-21 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. He padded his stats in a blowout, throwing for 260 yards, but threw two key interceptions that helped the Bengals pull away. Ewers is likely to start the final two games of the season, so he still has a chance to make an impression. But his time to do so is short. 

Kellen Moore: By this time in the season, plenty of teams with double-digit losses have no chance to win. Some of it is due to talent deficiencies, inuuries or both. Sometimes teams playing out the last few games of a miserable season look completely unmotivated and it shows. 

The Saints' season has been done for a while, but they're still playing hard. The New York Jets are one of those teams that looks like it can't wait for the season to be over, but it's still a good sign that the Saints beat them 29-6 on Sunday. It's a sign they're buying into what Moore is selling in his first season as head coach. After a 2-10 start to the season, the Saints have won three in a row. That includes wins over the Buccaneers and Panthers. The Saints still need an infusion of talent, but they should feel pretty good they made the right coaching hire.