Breaking down the good and the bad of the Carolina Panthers 2024 schedule release.
The NFL’s annual schedule release extravaganza has concluded and with that we finally know what the Carolina Panthers 2024 schedule will be. As you might expect, there are some things to love and some things to hate. Let’s break down the highs and lows of the Panthers 2024 buffet of games as we look forward to Dave Canales and Dan Morgan’s first foray as the main figureheads in Bank of America Stadium.
Love: Week 10 versus the Giants in Germany
You may not have heard, but the Panthers will be playing a game in Germany this upcoming season. With the small downside of losing a potential home game, the Carolina Panthers will be facing the New York Giants in Munich on November 10th. The Panthers’s first ever game in Germany has a few storylines to play with, as it will also mark the first time former Panther Brian Burns faces his old team after being traded in March. Also, if you are an old soul like me, it doesn’t hurt that the game has a nice and early 9:30 a.m. EST start time.
Love: Week 11 bye week.
Following the Panthers trip to Munich, they get to enjoy their bye week during Week 11. If you thought early bye weeks were bad before, after the NFL adopted a 17 game season it’s become more important than ever for the bye week to fall later in the schedule, when teams need the extra rest the most. The Panthers will play ten games before it’s bye week and seven games afterwards. A fairly even split, considering bye weeks start as early as Week 5. It couldn’t come at a better time too, as what follows is the subject of our next “hate”.
Hate: The Week 12 through Week 15 stretch.
For as nice as a Week 11 bye week is, Week 12 to Week 15 is about as daunting of a four game stretch as you could imagine. The Panthers gauntlet begins with facing the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, who have the best quarterback in football and a defense that was one of the best in the NFL in 2023.
Then, Dave Canales will get a chance to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in what will now be dubbed the “Dave Canales Bowl” as he looks to prove himself against his former employer. A trip north to face an uber-talented Philadelphia Eagles squad then a date back home with the Dallas Cowboys rounds out a foursome of tough games.
Love: No Thursday Night Football.
Simply put, Thursday games are the worst. Few players are able to properly rest and recover from a game on Sunday, let alone cram in a week’s worth of preparation in just four days before the next kick-off. In the Panthers Thursday night games since 2021, they played what may have been the most boring game of the 2023 season against the Chicago Bears, lost Donte Jackson with a torn achilles versus the Atlanta Falcons in 2022, and lost Jaycee Horn for the season and Christian McCaffrey for another five games while playing the Houston Texans in 2021. Let us all count ourselves lucky that the Panthers will avoid bad luck – and even worse football – on Thursday night this year.
Hate: No primetime games.
It may be good that the Panthers aren’t playing on Thursday night, but barring any games being flexed later in the season, the Panthers will not be appearing in any primetime games during the 2024 season. This leaves the Panthers as the only team in the NFL who doesn’t have a single nighttime game on their schedule. Not totally surprising, as little is expected of the squad who managed only two wins in 2023. While I would venture to say that a consistent smattering of Sunday games may be convenient, it still stings for the Panthers to be viewed as the only team not worthy of playing under the lights in the 2024.
Hate: The games don’t start sooner.
Honestly, this is about as favorable of a schedule as you could reasonably ask for, considering all the nuances that go into creating the NFL schedule. There isn’t much to hate beyond having to wait four months before the Carolina Panthers get their first chance at redemption following a dismal 2023 outing. Buckle in, it is going to be a long wait.
How about you Panthers fans, what else do you love or hate about the Panthers upcoming schedule?
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