The NFL in their never-ending quest to dominate the entire calendar year, is ceremoniously releasing the schedule on Thursday night. The really cool part about that is we already know who everybody plays. The schedule release just tells us when the specific games are happening. It’s still interesting and a nice bit of football news in an otherwise quiet time of year. In preparation for the finer details of the schedule being released, let’s look at what we do know.
The Carolina Panthers’ 2026 opponents
combined for a .521 win percentage in 2025. That makes for the 10th toughest schedule in the NFL based on last year’s win totals. There are a couple of reasons for the tough schedule. One, the Panthers somehow won the NFC South despite posting a losing record. That gives them a first place schedule and matches them up with the Denver Broncos, Philadelphia Eagles, and defending champion Seattle Seahawks. On top of that, the NFC South is paired up with the NFC North next season, and the NFC North is arguably the strongest division in the NFL right now.
The schedule looks even tougher if you base it on Vegas odds for win totals in 2026, which account for changes in team dynamics and under/over-performances from the year prior. By that measure, the Panthers are projected to have the third hardest schedule in the NFL this season, only beaten out by the poor Dolphins and Cardinals. The entire NFC South is projected to have losing records again. Of the Panthers remaining 11 games, eight are against teams projected to finish with winning records, and five of those are projected to win double digit games.
The Panthers are an ascending squad, but the NFL schedule rotation did them no favors for next season. It looks like it’s going to be vital for them to beat up on their NFC South brethren if they want to repeat as division champions.
