CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Considering they haven’t been to the playoffs in seven years, you’d think the Carolina Panthers would be cool with punching their postseason ticket any way they could.

But players and coaches emphasized they want to enter the NFC playoffs through the front door by beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Saturday, rather than depending on the Atlanta Falcons to defeat the New Orleans Saints a day later. Quarterback Bryce Young said he didn’t know the second scenario existed.

Long snapper J.J. Jansen and right tackle Taylor Moton are the only players left from the 2017 team that made the playoffs as a wild-card team before losing to the Saints. Defensive tackle Derrick Brown, a first-round pick in 2020, is the Panthers’ longest-tenured player who hasn’t appeared in a playoff game.

Brown doesn’t want to leave the Panthers’ playoff fate in someone else’s hands.

“Over the last few weeks, we had a bunch of crazy situations happen that could have put us over the hump,” Brown said. “If we want to get where we need to be, we can’t rely on nobody. We’ve gotta go take care of ourselves.”

A look at five of the key questions (submitted by The Athletic’s Ken Bradley) surrounding Saturday’s game.

1. After the Panthers opened the season 0-2, did you think they’d be in a position to clinch a playoff spot and win the NFC South in Week 18?

Players like to say the “tape don’t lie.” Well, neither do the archives. And if you check my analysis from May after the NFL’s schedule drop, you’ll find I had the Panthers finishing 8-9 and in second place in the NFC South behind Tampa Bay.

However, I closed the piece by saying: “But if another game or two breaks right, the long playoff drought could be over.”

More than seven months later, the Panthers are sitting at 8-8 after a couple of games that most probably had chalked up in the L column (at the Green Bay Packers, vs. the Los Angeles Rams) broke right. So here we are.

After losing at New Orleans three weeks ago, the Panthers’ postseason chances stood at 22 percent, according to The Athletic’s playoff simulator. But as the Bucs (7-9) have continued their free fall, the Panthers now have a 78 percent chance of making the playoffs.

Tampa Bay is unraveling. But even if the Panthers don’t handle business at Raymond James Stadium, they still could host a wild-card game next weekend. The Falcons won’t have to face Saints wide receiver Chris Olave, who’s out with a blood clot.

2. The Panthers beat the Bucs 23-20 in Week 16. What was the key to that win, and do you expect that to be the same Saturday in Tampa?