The Panthers follow an easy stretch of schedule with an equally brutal one.
The Carolina Panthers schedule can be divided into three segments, both because 18 is divisible by three and because there are three distinct segments that each have a common thread running through them. The first segment of the season is the easiest and gives the Panthers a chance at some early momentum. That momentum will be vital to help them through the next stretch of the season, which is almost as difficult as the first part is easy.
First, here are the games:
- Week 7: at New York Jets, Sunday, October 19th
- Week 8: vs Buffalo Bills, Sunday, October 26th
- Week 9: at Green Bay Packers, Sunday, November 2nd
- Week 10: vs New Orleans Saints, Sunday, November 9th
- Week 11: at Atlanta Falcons, Sunday, November 16th
- Week 12: at San Francisco 49ers, Monday, November 24th
There is a little bit of bleed over that keeps this from being a perfect division. The Jets game is a sort of continuation of the easy part of the schedule while on the other end, the difficult run of games continues to Week 13 against the Rams.
First up, the Jets should be another winnable game assuming the Panthers have gotten off to a decent start. The organization is in flux after the disastrous Aaron Rodgers show. They’re turning to Justin Fields and quarterback and will be heavily dependent on an old school formula of defense and running the football to be successful. If the Panthers offense can put some points on the board, they can take this one.
That’s followed by back to back games against teams that’ll probably get a few Super Bowl predictions. Both the Bills and Packers are top 10 in Super Bowl odds, and both are minus money to make the playoffs. The Panthers at least get the Bills at home, but that’s still probably the toughest game on the schedule. I don’t know how this defense slows down Josh Allen. And then they have to travel to Lambeau to try and slow down Jordan Love and the Packers. They’ll be hard pressed to take either of those games.
They get a brief respite with the Saints and Falcons, but divisional match-ups always have the potential to get squirrely. The Falcons think they’ll be better than last season, and the Panthers will have to play them on the road during this tough span of games. The Saints game at home feels like the only soft spot, but that makes it an easy letdown spot coming off games against the Bills and Packers.
The second six week segment wraps up with a Monday Night Football meeting in San Francisco. The 49ers had a down year last year, but I don’t think many people expect that to carry over to this season. The game is on the road and the Panthers have struggled in prime time in recent years. This game has loss written all over it.
Bonus: it’s in the next segment, but the week after the 49ers game features another playoff team from last season in the Rams. From Weeks 8 through 13, four of the Panthers six games are against teams in the top 10 in Super Bowl odds (Bills, Packers, 49ers, and Rams). The momentum we talked about as being oh so important in the first part of the season is vital to help the Panthers simply stay afloat through the middle of the season. If they can just manage a couple of wins through this section of the schedule, they can position themselves to make some moves over the home stretch.