CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Carolina Panthers backed their way straight into the NFL playoffs Sunday afternoon, courtesy of their frenemies — the Atlanta Falcons.

It’s a weird way to break a postseason drought that stretched all the way back to the 2017 season, but the Panthers will take it. They have clinched the NFC’s No. 4 seed and will play a home game in Charlotte next weekend, with the game time and the opponent to be decided later today.

With Panthers players, coaches and fans glued to their TV sets to support the rival Falcons, Atlanta did Carolina a huge favor with a 19-17 win over New Orleans in Atlanta. Former Panthers kicker Zane Gonzalez might need to get a bonus from his former team — with four field goals and an extra point, Gonzalez scored 13 of the Falcons’ 19 points.

The Atlanta win meant that Tampa Bay, Atlanta and Carolina all technically tied for first place in the NFC South with an (ahem) 8-9 record. But Carolina triumphed in the three-way tiebreaker, by virtue of its better overall record against the other first-place teams.

You won’t be hanging that overall record in an art gallery — the Panthers actually clinched their eighth straight losing season with Saturday’s 16-14 loss to Tampa Bay — but you will be able to attend a playoff game in Charlotte in a few days. Ticket information will be released soon. This will be Carolina’s first home playoff game since the Super Bowl season of 2015. In 2017, in their last postseason appearance, they played one playoff game on the road and lost.

Panthers safety Nick Scott had talked about this exact hypothetical scenario in the locker room in Tampa, following Carolina’s loss.

Said Scott of the idea of the Panthers making the playoffs at 8-9 with a Falcons win: “Clean slate. Record doesn’t matter. You know, in my time, I’ve seen teams that ‘had no business’ being in the playoffs and knocked somebody off in the first round. So I don’t care how I get in, I just want to get in as somebody who’s gone the distance.

“All I’m looking for is a chance, you know, because that’s hard to do,” Scott continued. “And if we get in, and we’re division winners, we’re deserving of it, period. ... I don’t care what anybody has to say about it. We’re supposed to be there.”

And the Panthers are there, despite losing three of their final four games in an up-and-down regular season. Carolina missed multiple chances to make the playoffs on its own with a win. If the Panthers had won either of their last two games, they would have made it outright. But now they are in the 14-team NFL playoff field anyway.

Their opponent will be either the L.A. Rams or the San Francisco 49ers, depending on the result of the Rams’ game vs. Arizona.

Panthers head coach Dave Canales is expected to speak to the media shortly.

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