The Panthers are division champions and going to the playoffs for the first time since the 2017 season, thanks to the Falcons.
The Falcons beat the Saints 19-17 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday to close their own season with four straight wins.
The Panthers had a chance to clinch the NFC South on Saturday, but a loss to the Buccaneers kept the latter alive and set up a bizarre scenario to decide the fate of the division.
It came down to a matchup between two teams already eliminated from postseason contention.
Both the Bucs and Panthers entered Sunday with an 8-9 record, though Tampa Bay was in a slightly better situation, since they owned a common-games tiebreaker over the Panthers.
But a Falcons win meant there is a three-way tie between themselves, the Panthers and Bucs at 8-9.
And the three-way tiebreaker is head-to-head record among the three tied teams, of which the Panthers have the best — they went 3-1 against the other two teams, while the Bucs went 2-2.
So the Bucs needed a Saints win or tie, while the Panthers needed a Falcons win.
Now, the Panthers will be the No. 4 seed in the playoffs and face either the Rams or 49ers — dependent on what Los Angeles does against the Cardinals later on Sunday.
The Panthers became the first team since the 2022 Bucs to make the playoffs with a sub-.500 team.
