Check out our BRUTAL schedule for next year

[Henne Given Sunday]

i cant wait till the miami game!!!!!!!!!!!

[unicar15]

We better win the SB this year because you are right...next year is going to be BRUTAL!

[Snake]

The East could go ether way next year for both AFC and NFC IMO just depends. Its not easy by no means but its way to eary to judge.

[Brooklyn Bully]

Schedule doesn't come out till the offseason, so this is wrong

The order doesn't come out til the offseason, but sans two game, that is our schedule. The NFC West and NFC North games won't be known til we know what place we finish in.

[rayzor]

the only thing that hasn't been decided about the games for next year is the dates and times but everything else has already been figured out.

from the carolina panthers website under "future opponents"

http://www.panthers.com/News/Default.aspx?id=1622

Every team within a division plays 16 games as follows:

* Home and away against its three division opponents (6 games).

* The four teams from another division within its conference on a rotating three-year cycle (4 games).

* The four teams from a division in the other conference on a rotating four-year cycle (4 games).

* Two intraconference games based on the prior year’s standings (2 games). These games match a first-place team against the first-place teams in the two same-conference divisions the team is not scheduled to play that season. The second-place, third-place, and fourth-place teams in a conference are matched the same way each year.

2008 Panthers Opponents		2009 Panthers Opponents

Home 		Away 		Home 		Away

Atlanta 	Atlanta 	Atlanta 	Atlanta

New Orleans 	New Orleans 	New Orleans 	New Orleans

Tampa Bay 	Tampa Bay 	Tampa Bay 	Tampa Bay

Chicago 	Green Bay 	Philadelphia 	Dallas

Detroit 	Minnesota 	Washington 	New York Giants

Denver 		Oakland 	Buffalo 	New England

Kansas City 	San Diego 	Miami 		New York Jets

NFC West 	NFC East 	NFC North 	NFC West

The NFL scheduling format includes the following elements:

* There is an increased common-opponent emphasis with every team in a division playing against 14 common opponents.

* All teams play each other on a regular basis, home and away, for a more consistent presentation of attractive games.

* Teams are guaranteed to play all non-division opponents in their conference at least once every three years and at home at least once every six years.

* Every AFC team plays every NFC team once every four years and at home once every eight years.

* A team’s record from the previous year has less of a bearing on its schedule with only two opponents based on the previous year’s standings.

* The division in which a team resides is less of a factor in a team’s won-loss record with 10-of-16 games each year against non-division teams.

[Fireball77]

brutal...but no way to tell until we actually get into the '09 season...what looks tough now might not be so tough

THANK YOU!!

I have this same argument all the time with people.

Before this season, you would have looked at their sched and thought SD & GB would be great teams and Atl would be a candidate to be swept. Now, not so much as SD and GB have losing records and Atl is a surprise playoff contending team in the NFCS.

[JJT]

If so, New England should have the hardest schedule these last couple of years but yet they always seems to get the easiest.

They do cheat, y'know.

[Section 505]

the only thing that hasn't been decided about the games for next year is the dates and times but everything else has already been figured out.

from the carolina panthers website under "future opponents"

http://www.panthers.com/News/Default.aspx?id=1622

The schedule has been set like this since 2002. I don't understand why so many people are clueless about how next year's opponents are selected.

[scpanther22]

wonder how many 4:15 and prime time games we will have now since the NFC south is doing so good.

[SteveSmitty]

I thought this year's schedule looked unbelievably tough, but we're 11-3. You have to wait and see what happens. Oakland and KC looked alot tougher than they ended up being this year.

[cookinbrak]

Think ours is bad, feel sorry for Tampa, Atlanta, and New Orleans. They have basically the same schedule, but they gotta play CAROLINA!

[rayzor]

The schedule has been set like this since 2002. I don't understand why so many people are clueless about how next year's opponents are selected.

if they cared enough they could figure out who we were going to be facing for the next couple years, not that it will matter much.

i suspect there could end up being 6 or 7 HC changes this coming offseason not to mention all the major shifts in players that could come about.

it's going to be a good year of football and we will get to see how good our team really is. there shouldn't be any question about their toughness or statements that we haven't beaten anybody really tough if we finish with a good record.

i'm looking forward to it, but not as much as i am the upcoming games

we are here now. let's focus on the present.

[carolinarolls]

Good. There will be no "playing down" to competition.

Stewart, Otah, and Godfrey will no longer be rookies....bring it!

[Carolina Husker]

Fvck.

That's brutal.