The One Underrated Schedule Tweak That Would Help the Carolina Panthers

Later today, the National Football League will announce its full 18 week, 272-game slate for its 107th campaign. By the numbers, the Carolina Panthers will face the NFL’s 10th-toughest schedule this season based on their 2026 opponent’s combined winning percentage (.521) this past season. A year ago, the team won its first division title since 2015. With that comes matchups against the other three first-place teams in the conference, as well as clashes with a pair of division winners in the AFC.

Carolina Panthers face five reigning division champions in 2026

Seahawks at Panthers — Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

All told, the reigning NFC South champions will host the Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos, and Seattle Seahawks, and pay visits to both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

Earlier this week, Bryan DeArdo of CBS Sports took a look at each NFL team’s opponents for the upcoming season in advance of Thursday’s release of the schedule. He came up with a wish for each club in terms of making life a bit easier for the team this season. When it came to the Panthers, DeArdo’s focus was on the early part of the season.

“The Panthers face one of the league/s toughest schedules,” said DeArdo, “partly because of four road games against cold-weather teams, including Green Bay. Carolina would undoubtedly prefer to get these games out of the way earlier in the season (especially Green Bay).”

NFC South champions will travel to the north four times in 2026

Dave Canales at Green Bay — Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Along with the aforementioned visits to the Keystone State to face the Eagles and Steelers, as well as a trip to Green Bay for the second consecutive season, the Panthers will also travel to Cleveland for the first time since 2018. A year ago, the Panthers visited Lambeau Field in Week 9 and pulled off a surprising 16-13 victory over the playoff-bound Packers. It’s worth noting that the game-time temperature that afternoon was a respectable 47 degrees.

This past season, Canales’s club really never dealt with the cold. As far as their road games, the team played three indoor contests: At Arizona and of course, at Atlanta and at New Orleans. Along with the aforementioned trip to Green Bay, the Panthers opened the season at Jacksonville.

Panthers at Jets — Yannick Peterhans / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

There was a September appearance at New England in Week 4, a trip to MetLife Stadium to face the Jets in Week 7, and a Monday clash with the 49ers at San Francisco in Week 12. It was 69 degrees in Tampa for the regular-season finale with the Buccaneers.

Depending on how things shake out schedule wise, this could be a different kind of season for the team in regards to the elements. Let’s not drift back to far here. Regardless of the weather, the Panthers own a combined 5-12 road record (3-6 in 2025) under their current head coach.

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