They are also contributing to some of the easier schedules in the league
Strength of schedule is always a difficult metric to nail down. It’s like quarterback wins in that there is far more behind it than just the sum total of opponent wins or losses. Sharp Football Analysis has tried to take a step forward in the calculation by compiling a strength of schedule ranking based on Vegas’ projected win totals for each team.
By that accounting, the Carolina Panthers are predicted to have the seventh easiest schedule in the NFL. They are scheduled to play the teams with the six easiest schedules in the NFL and ten of the teams with the top 11 easiest schedules.
Playoffs here we come
The bottom line is that the Panthers should be expected to have a cakewalk to the Super Bowl, right?
Not quite.
Even if your optimism surrounding the Panthers leads you to expect the team to exceed expectations, Carolina will still need a path to the playoffs. The easiest path there is still through the NFC South. While the Panthers have one of the easier schedules in the league, they do still play in one of the worst divisions in football. Carolina has the third hardest schedule in the NFC South. Only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10th easiest schedule) is predicted to have a tougher slog than the Panthers.
The Atlanta Falcons (4th easiest schedule) and the New Orleans Saints (3rd easiest schedule) are both expected to have easier slates of opponents.
What does it all mean?
It means the Panthers have a relatively soft landing for their rebuilding team in 2025. It also means that the Panthers are more likely than not to play better rested and less challenged teams.
The Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs provided the Panthers with two of their most encouraging losses in year in 2024. Close games against the eventual Super Bowl contenders were revelations in a season that was more mixed messages than anything else to that point.
The reality of those games is that they may not have been nearly as close if both teams hadn’t been coming off of tough road games. The Eagles had just won a one-possession game in Baltimore and the Chiefs had just lost a nine point game in Buffalo the weeks prior to facing the Panthers. There will likely be fewer opportunities to be the trap in somebody else’s schedule when their schedules are equally as daunting as the Panthers’.
But, playoffs here we come
That said, this is only good news for the Panthers. They aren’t going to be facing a murderer’s row of playoff opponents from last season. They only have five games against four 2024 playoff teams on their schedule. Those games will be vs Tampa Bay, vs Buffalo, vs Los Angeles Rams, at Tampa Bay, and at Green Bay. Having a majority of those games at home will help tip the odds even mildly towards the Panthers.
There are still thousands of questions surrounding this team, but the league is giving them an easy runway to launch themselves to a level of success not seen in Charlotte since 2017.