PANTHERS 2025 SCHEDULE -- DATES, TIMES, PLACES

The official schedules dropped this evening at 8:00 PM. It's an interesting mish-mash. Some good, some not so good. Bye is in WK 14. We finish with the Bucs in WK 18 Time is TBA. That indicates a possibility of a "FLEX" depending on how both teams do through the season. Actually, the last two games, Wk 17 & WK 18, are TBD potential "FLEX dates.

https://www.panthers.com/news/the-caroli...5-schedule

CHARLOTTE — After months of knowing the opponents, weeks of speculation, and a few well placed social media teases, the Carolina Panthers can finally announce the 2025 schedule. The Panthers drew the AFC East and NFC West this year, as well as cross-divisional opponents in the NFC North, NFC East, and AFC South.

The club will hit the road for the first two weeks, facing Jacksonville in Week 1, then traveling West to see the Arizona Cardinals in Week 2. The home opener will be Week 3, September 21, against the Atlanta Falcons. That will also be the first divisional game and the only one till Week 10, when New Orleans will visit Charlotte.

The team will hit the road again in Week 4, meaning three of the first four games are away. That late September matchup will be against the New England Patriots. Week's 5 and 6 are back at home, against the Dolphins and Cowboys respectively. This will be the third straight year Dallas has visited Bank of America Stadium.

Week 7 calls for a mid-October trip to the Big Apple to face the Jets, and the Panthers close out the month back at home against the Bills. That Week 8 game will close out the AFC opponents on the schedule.

The second half of the season will kickoff at Lambeau Field with a Week 9 game versus the Packers. This also starts the run of only NFC opponents for the remainder of the schedule. Week 10, as mentioned, brings the Saints to Charlotte, and is the first of back-to-back divisional games. Week 11 will take the Panthers to Atlanta to face the Falcons.

In Week 12, the Panthers will get their first Primetime game since mid-2023, during Bryce Young's rookie season. It comes with a trip to the Bay Area, for a Monday Night Football showdown against the San Francisco 49ers. The turnaround will be quick for a Week 12 game against another NFC West team, but will feature a home game. That opponent is the Los Angeles Rams.

Finally, in Week 14, the Panthers will get their bye week. Carolina has had a bye week in early December before, during the 2022 season. However, that was during Week 13. Given how early Labor Day falls on the calendar this year, and therefore the NFL season beginning earlier than normal, a bye the first weekend of December in 2025 means a game off during Week 14.

The final slate of games holds three divisional opponents. That begins in Week 15 with an away game in New Orleans. The Panthers will then return home in Week 16 for the first of two games in three weeks against the Bucs, before welcoming the Seahawks in Week 17 for a Saturday showdown.

The season will end with an NFC South battle, on the road against Tampa Bay.

So no Thurs night games or international games?  Did they change the rules about Thurs night?

So no Thurs night games or international games?  Did they change the rules about Thurs night?

Good question….

Truthfully, I’m not sure. There was something voted on earlier this year, but I think it was about the minimum “lead time” the league had to allow if they “flexed” a Thursday night game. It used to be 28 days notice but I THINK it’s been changed to 21 days now. —- But I don’t believe that’s what you were thinking about.???

Several years back, maybe 2022 or 23?? there was a rule change that allowed teams to play more than one Thursday night game. It was something about fairness or equity for “Prime Time” scheduling. I don’t know the rule, but I remember it started about the time Amazon Prime picked up the Thursday night streaming broadcast. Before that rule change every team played one Thursday night game following a Sunday game. Now it’s not required. It’s possible a team might not play a Thursday game and another team could play two. I DO know the flex lead time thing changed earlier this year — IIRC.??

So no Thurs night games or international games?  Did they change the rules about Thurs night?

Good question….

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I spent  ten or fifteen minutes trying to decipher the "rules" surrounding Thursday night football. Pretty convoluted.... Wikipedia has a long article about the TNF stuff with a lot of history reaching back to the 2010s -- but sadly no real rules information. It IS an interesting read though...

WIKIPEDIA -- on NFL Thursday Night Football

The "Official Rulebook" has precious little information except a general self-serving blurb about how much 'effort' is expended and how many computers are involved in an attempt to promote "fairness" or "equity", yada, yada, yada.

NFL Operations: Creating The Schedule

I'm going to do some more research to see if I can find something (in writing) that is indicative of process and procedure and general "how-to" with respect to creating the Thursday Night Football schedule.  I'n sure (well, almost sure..??) that the NFL has it written down somewhere.  So, I'm off on a quest. 15 minutes was just not enough time.!!

OTOH -- I don't think I'm going to bother. Doesn't really matter. The NFL is going to do whatever they want anyway....