CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Chosen stood next to the podium on Sunday and looked up at his dad, Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, who asked the 2-year-old if he had anything to say at his first news conference.

Wearing a sweatshirt with “Marvel’’ written across the front, Chosen said nothing, something his dad seldom, if ever, does.

But perhaps it was fitting that Chosen made his debut on this night.

The Panthers (11-4) are starting to look like a team chosen for something good to happen in a season where a lot has gone wrong.

Cam Newton shared the postgame podium with his son, Chosen. AP Photo/Chuck Burton

No week has tested the resiliency of Carolina more than this one, with team owner Jerry Richardson, amidst an NFL investigation for workplace misconduct, announcing he plans to sell the team after the season.

No game has tested this team’s resiliency more than Sunday’s 22-19 victory against Tampa Bay in which Newton fumbled the snap, had the ball bounce right back into his arms and scored the winning touchdown from the 2 with 35 seconds remaining.

That came after Carolina got a first down by about two inches on a fourth-and-1 play from the 3.

Two also is significant as it relates to Chosen. He was born exactly two years ago on Christmas Eve.

Newton celebrated the winning touchdown and Chosen’s birthday by turning the football on its end and pretending to light it like a candle before giving it to a kid in the stands as he always does when his big, powerful legs carry him into the end zone.

“I wanted to put someone in the Christmas spirit,’’ Newton said. “I wanted to give away the touchdown to someone and I wanted to add a notion of the cupcake.

“So it was kind of from me and Chosen.’’

The touchdown was the icing on the cake of a strange but remarkable season for Carolina. It began with general manager Dave Gettleman being fired just before the start of training camp. Then Newton began the season as a question because of offseason rotator cuff surgery that limited his running through the first three games.

It continued with two Pro Bowl players, center Ryan Kalil (shoulder) and tight end Greg Olsen (broken foot), missing at least eight games each. Then came the trade of No. 1 wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin to Buffalo.

Blended in was the controversy surrounding Newton when he belittled a female reporter at a Wednesday news conference.

Just when things seemed headed for normalcy, a Sports Illustrated story appeared a week ago in which the Panthers were accused of paying off at least four former employees to keep quiet allegations against Richardson of sexual harassment and the use of a racial slur with a team scout.

There have been more twists and turns than a mystery novel.

“It’s a lot of weathering the storm,’’ Newton said when asked to describe the season to this point. “This week was kind of dramatized for a lot of reasons, but through it all, guys stayed focused and got a much-needed win for us.’’

The Panthers are now headed to the playoffs for the fourth time in the past five years. They have an outside chance to win the NFC South with a victory in Week 17 at Atlanta and a loss by New Orleans (11-4) against Tampa Bay.

NFL Playoff Machine See what the latest playoff picture looks like and simulate your own playoff scenarios.

NFL Playoff Machine

They’re currently the fifth seed in the NFC, but there are scenarios in which they could finish fourth and perhaps third.

The players don’t really care how they got here.

“Look, we’re in,’’ safety Kurt Coleman said. “Now it’s just a matter of what seed we’re going to be at the end of the day. The great thing is we bought a ticket to the dance and I’m ready to get down.’’

The Panthers are getting healthy, with Olsen and Kalil making it through the past three games without a setback. They get defensive end Charles Johnson back from a four-game suspension and outside linebacker Thomas Davis from a one-game suspension for Atlanta.

Newton is as healthy as he’s been in several years, running with reckless abandon even when he fumbles the snap.

And the Panthers are winning close games.

They lost six games by a field goal or less a year ago in the 6-10 season following their trip to Super Bowl 50. They’re now 4-0 in those games this season.

“It doesn’t have to be pretty wins,’’ Coleman said. “You don’t have to have a perfect season. You just have to find ways to win. Honestly, that is how you build character. That’s how you get a lot of things done is through those tough, grit-it-out games.

“It’s how you find out who you are as a team.’’

The Panthers like who they are becoming as a team; as if they are chosen to do something special.

“It’s been a tough season,’’ nickelback Captain Munnerlyn said. “A lot of folks didn’t give us a chance at the beginning of the year, but we persevered and now we’re in the playoffs.’’