No Panthers opponent for next year has a losing record this year except for the Bills (one game under .500). This is going to be RIDICULOUS:

Home: Eagles, Redskins, Bills, Dolphins, Vikings, Buccs, Falcons, Saints
Away: Cowboys, Giants, Patriots, Jets, Cardinals, Buccs, Falcons, Saints

The road schedule is brutal, but the home schedule is no walk in the park either. The Panthers better make it count this year because there won't be much room for error in 2009.

12/13/2008 5:49:44 AM

Well look, they drew the NFC North and the AFC West this season, we were basically handed a spot in the playoffs with that schedule. This is how NFL schedules work.

12/13/2008 7:47:52 AM

we dont have anyone coming east (vikes aside) to play us but we have to go out to arizona, great

12/13/2008 8:15:53 AM

NFL scheduling n00b here, but i thought the two extra NFC teams (ARI, MIN) were based on the standings at the end of this season (i.e. how do they know the standings already)

12/13/2008 8:55:17 AM

I think it's projection based on current standings.

Vikings, Panthers, and Cards (and Giants but we play them anyway) are all currently leading their divisions, and thus would play each other.

Arizona and NY have clinched, but if Chicago were to take the division you would switch them with Minn.

12/13/2008 9:28:23 AM

welcome to the steelers schedule from this year, quit whining

12/13/2008 9:48:01 AM

Please, the steelers played the browns and the bengals twice.

That's 4 easy wins automatically.

12/13/2008 9:52:20 AM

Well yeah, that's a tough schedule, but on the flipside, the other teams in the division are going to face a lot of the exact same opponents as well. If the rest of the division has just as tough a time with them as Carolina, that still means Carolina has a shot at winning the division...

12/13/2008 11:31:01 AM

easy now its not that easy to predict, remember how good the chargers were supposed to be, the browns were supposed to contend, and the falcons were going to suck.

trying to predict the next season based on the last in the NFL is a shot in the dark

12/13/2008 12:06:58 PM

tough schedule means we're doing something right. just like being flexed into primetime


bringgg itttt!!

12/13/2008 12:14:34 PM

There is a lot of parity in the league meaning that that these teams could easily lose a lot of key players and tank next season.

12/13/2008 12:38:53 PM

We have to play away games against the Giants 2 years in a row? wtf is that about?

12/13/2008 12:40:44 PM

That schedule is based on the current standings, sorry for not clarifying.

Quote :

"we dont have anyone coming east (vikes aside) to play us but we have to go out to arizona, great"

No matter where we finish we have to go play at the team who finishes in the same place as us in the NFC West. So unless we finish in the same place as the Rams, we're going to have to travel far.

That is a good point though that the Cardinals and Cowboys games will be the only one played outside of the Eastern Time Zone. The lack of travel might be beneficial in the long run.

12/13/2008 3:52:29 PM

Quote :

"Please, the steelers played the browns and the bengals twice. That's 4 easy wins automatically."

A lot of people thought the Browns and Bengals were gonna be decent this year.

The Bucs and Saints could turn out to be awful next year. Same with the Jets, Bills, Redskins, Dolphins and Vikings. About the only teams that are guaranteed to be tough are the Giants and Patriots. You never know how good teams are gonna be from year to year.

12/13/2008 4:19:27 PM

Quote :

"A lot of people thought the Browns and Bengals were gonna be decent this year."

True, but the Ravens were supposed to be very bad, and the Dolphins and Jets were flat out horrible.

So looking at previous season results, that's 3 easy games, compared to the Panthers with 1 easy game.


It's true, some of these teams teams will probably end up being terrible next season (hopefully not the Panthers), but based on previous season performance it's probably the toughest schedule I have ever seen.

[Edited on December 13, 2008 at 7:22 PM. Reason : ]

12/13/2008 7:21:53 PM

first to last next year? At least we have a first rounder then.

12/13/2008 8:30:00 PM

Most of the NFC South plays the same schedule, except Arizona and Minnesota, and it's not unlikely that those teams aren't the best in their division next year anyway.

So last is doubtful.

12/13/2008 8:57:49 PM

kurt warner's gonna be dead of old age by next year

12/13/2008 9:48:16 PM

Assuming no drastic changes to the lineup, the Panthers can handle anyone in the West or North so it doesn't really matter. But all those South vs. East match ups would have been spectacular to watch this year, and I hope the talent remains intact for next year.

12/13/2008 10:47:11 PM