This group of articles will take a look at the newly released Panthers schedule, review the opponents, and take our best guess at predicting the outcomes of each game. Here, we’re starting with the first “quarter” of the schedule, the first four games before the Week 5 bye.
Week 1: vs Chicago Bears
For the first time since the 2022 season, the Carolina Panthers are starting the regular season in the friendly confines of Bank of America Stadium. This time, they’ll be hosting the newly crowned Kings of the North, the Chicago
Bears. After an 11-6 campaign that won them the division, the Bears retooled their roster quite a bit this offseason. They traded DJ Moore to the Buffalo Bills, center Drew Dalman unexpectedly retired, Tremaine Edmunds was a cap casualty, and both safeties Jaquan Brisker and Kevin Byard both left in free agency. To replace the talent lost, the Bears brought in Garrett Bradbury and Joe Thuney to upgrade the offensive line, drafted CSR draft crush Dillon Thieneman to help in the defensive backfield, and signed Coby Bryant and Devin Bush in free agency. This game also has the “Bryce Young vs Caleb Williams” intrigue as the Panthers trading up for Bryce Young handed the Bears Caleb Williams the following year.
With another year under Ben Johnson, Williams and the young pass catching trio of Odunze, Loveland, and Burden should take another step forward this season. The defense will be the main area of concern due to the massive turnover, especially in the back seven. They also don’t have much consistent pass rush outside of Montez Sweat. With Brad Idzik taking over the play calling this season for the Panthers offense, this will be a good litmus test with some inevitable growing pains.
Final: Bears 27 – Panthers 24
Week 2: @ Atlanta Falcons
The Panthers first road game is also their first divisional game this season as the I-85 rivalry is renewed early in the year. The Falcons fired their coach and brought in Kevin Stefanski to be the head coach while also adding franchise legend Matt Ryan as President of Football Operations. This first offseason has been an interesting one for the new leadership group, as the team parted ways with Kirk Cousins and brought in Tua Tagovailoa to compete with the rehabbing Michael Penix at quarterback. Offensive lineman Kaleb McGary retired, and thorn-in-the-Panthers-sides Darnell Mooney was released. The Falcons Jawaan Taylor at offensive tackle and Jahan Dotson and Zachariah Branch as depth receiving options. They also drafted AJ Terrell’s little brother Avieon, adding to an already very good defensive secondary that includes Jesse Bates III and Xavier Watts.
The offensive playmaker trio of Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts are still together for one more season after Pitts got the franchise tag. With the lack of a first round pick this year and the uncertain future of last year’s first rounder James Pearce Jr, the top end talent — especially on defense — could be lacking. I think Bryce Young and the Panthers take advantage of that and cancel out the new coach bump that often happens.
Final: Panthers 31 – Falcons 17
Week 3: @ Cleveland Browns
The Browns are another team with a new head coach in Todd Monken. Monken will likely be mostly hands-off with the already elite defense the Browns have. Led by Myles Garrett, that unit has been one of the best in the league for several seasons. Monken was brought in to fix the anemic offense. The Browns completely overhauled their offensive line, bringing in Elgton Jenkins, Zion Johnson, and Spencer Fano. While they lost tight end David Njoku, they added multiple rookie receivers (KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston) and still have Harold Fannin Jr at the tight end position. They even added to their insanely good defense by signing Quincy Williams.
With an offensive head coach and potentially much improved offensive line, the Browns might actually have a respectable offense. The most important position, however, is their biggest question by far: quarterback. Cleveland is going into camp with a four way competition at the position between Deshaun Watson, Shadeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel, and Taylen Green. None of those options are incredibly confidence inspiring, so this could still be a bad offense. The Panthers might be able to do just enough to squeak by.
Final: Panthers 17 – Browns 10
Week 4: vs Detroit Lions (SNF)
The first of three(!) primetime games for the Panthers this season has them hosting their big cat brethren on Sunday Night Football. The Lions fell flat last season after high expectations but are largely the same team that was in the NFC Championship game just a couple years ago. Jared Goff is still the quarterback, Dan Campbell is still the coach, Jahmyr Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown are both still incredible. Their change of pace back is no longer Ty Montgomery, who was replaced by Isaiah Pacheco. They also have some shuffling to do on the offensive line: they signed Cade Mays to replace a retired Frank Ragnow, and drafted right tackle Blake Miller in the first round (which means Penei Sewell will likely be moving to left tackle). On defense, Alex Anzalone left in free agency, and Brian Branch suffured an Achilles tear in December and may not be ready by the time the regular season rolls around.
The Lions still have an elite offense with insanely explosive potential. They do have a new offensive coordinator, who has said he’d like to get back to a run-heavy style of play. The defense is a big question mark heading into the season. Anzalone was a big loss in free agency, Branch may or may not return this year, and Kerby Joseph has a lingering knee issue. Aidan Hutchinson leads the defense, and former Panther DJ Wonnum will be relied on for consistent pass rush opposite him. This is still a very steep hill for the Panthers to climb, riotous home crowd notwithstanding.
Final: Lions 27 – Panthers 23
Week 5: BYE
I had to mention in this post the absolute travesty that is a Week 5 bye. The Panthers will come out of their bye week with AT LEAST 13 more games of football to play without breaks. Honestly, having this early bye might be the toughest part of the entire schedule as the team pushes for back to back playoff appearances.
