The 2011 Carolina Panthers Schedule

[OneBadassCat]

I may be in the minority here but I'm really not intimidated by this schedule. I expected something tougher to be "toughest in the NFL". I believe in our talent and I think we can run with these guys.

[Zithers]

You people are unbelievably pessimistic. Rivera will give us a top ten D. A great defense is good for a handful of wins. Look at Miami last season. Their offense was complete and utter poo but they went 7-9 since their defense was amazing. They only scored 25 or more points three times... eight times they scored 15 or under.

[JawnyBlaze]

Yea, I don't see our schedule being THAT hard. I'm not saying we'll have a great record, especially if we're breaking in another new QB or Clausen doesn't improve any (or whatever vet we bring in underwhelms) but the teams we're playing aren't THAT good. Outside of the division the Colts and the Packers are really the only good teams. Vikings COULD be good, they have the talent. They're pretty much in the same boat as us, except instead of being too young they're too old. They're a QB away from competing (proof: 09 Vikings vs 10 Vikings). The Bears are over hyped. They'll go between 7-9 and 9-7 this year. Within our division, the Falcons will come back down to earth without the cupcake schedule, I optimistically expect a split. The Saints will be tough, I expect them to sweep us. (To head off any "but the Falcons were better than the Saints with basically the same schedule...", they didn't have the same schedule. Saints played two division winners, Falcons played two division 2nd place finishers and the Saints are currently built for more consistency than the Falcons in my opinion.) I think the Bucs will also come back down to earth a bit with a middle of the road record, also think we could very well split with them.

In summary, BEFORE the season starts I think there's 3 teams on our schedule we really don't have much of a chance of beating: Packers, Colts, Saints. There's probably 6-8 other teams we won't beat, but I think there's a reasonable chance we can. Obviously this is more or less meaningless before the draft or free agency hits, but I think the new coaching staff is going to make more of a difference than people are giving credit. And the strength of schedule based on 2011 is skewed because of the NFC South's cupcake schedule last year. I foresee by the end of the coming season our strength of schedule will have been in the middle, maybe leaning toward the easy side.

[rico6]

Lol why must the football gods bestow such tragedy on this team?

[OneBadassCat]

Yea seriously the Bears were the most overrated team in the league last year and the Saints are a finesse fairy team with no dick between their legs. We stand a chance, THIS I BELIEVE. lol

[Shufdog]

What are the asterisks for on the last seven games, flex?