CHARLOTTE — Welcome to the four-game football season.

The Panthers woke up Monday morning well-rested for it, after a hard-earned bye week.

They also woke up tied for first in the NFC South with the Buccaneers, with twin 7-6 records earned in different ways, which creates a lot of possibilities for the next month.

Now, this is where we're compelled to say that Panthers head coach Dave Canales will tell his team today that there is one important game, and all they're focused on is this week's trip to New Orleans (after the Saints did the Panthers a favor yesterday in Tampa).

And frankly, that's the right play for him to call, because a fanatical devotion to compartmentalization is part of the reason they're having this conversation now. The Panthers have made their improvements all year

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