CHARLOTTE —Jake Delhomme couldn't help but grin with excitement.

The former Panthers quarterback who led the team to the 2003 Super Bowl and current Panthers radio analyst had just spent the past half hour assessing the entirety of the 2025 Panthers schedule.

His takeaway?

"Very favorable," Delhomme declared. "Weather games are early in the season and heavy division games late in the season, which I absolutely love, so very favorable."

While the Panthers have known who their 2025 opponents will be for some time now, the schedule didn't premiere until Wednesday night. Now Carolina knows where they are going and when, where the divisional games land, and when the bye week will land.
Delhomme joined us to break down the schedule with his insight as a former player and his knowledge of this current team as the radio analyst.

Week 1 — Panthers at Jaguars

This Week 1 matchup will pit two Top 10 picks—Travis Hunter and Tetairoa McMillan—against each other, perhaps even literally depending on where Jacksonville chooses to play Hunter. It will likely be a hot one the first weekend of September in Florida, but it will be hot most places that time of year.

The Jaguars hired a new coaching staff this offseason, led by new head coach and former Buccaneers offensive coordinator, Liam Coen.

Of note; the last two times the Panthers opened their season against Jacksonville? That would be the 2003 and 2015 seasons. The latter was on the road as well. As long-snapper JJ Jansen said on X on Wednesday when pointing out the same fact, if you know you know!

Jake's Take: "There'll be some excitement in Jacksonville with the new coaching staff that's come in. Certainly the talk will be with Trevor Lawerence, what are they going to do different with him; Travis Hunter, that's going to be hyped up so much, is he going to be an offensive guy or a defensive guy. But a good start, (with) an AFC opponent."

Week 2 — Panthers at Cardinals

Carolina will stay on the road for Week 2 and head to the desert to take on Kyler Murray and the Cardinals. The Panthers faced Arizona last season and defeated them in overtime, thanks to a Chuba Hubbard walk-off touchdown. The Cardinals beefed up their defensive front in this year's draft, taking tackle Walter Nolen at No. 16 overall.

Jake's Take: "Arizona is usually a team that starts out really, really good…and we've played well against them the last couple of times, few times we've played against Arizona, so that's going to be a good challenge. Every game is a challenge but Week 2 on the road, two weeks back-to-back on the road to start the season. So that's something we can look on the back end and appreciate some of the home games.

"But another road test going to Arizona against a quality football team that's quietly building."

Week 3 — Panthers vs. Falcons

The Panthers first divisional game of the season comes in Week 3 and also serves as the home opener. These two teams went to overtime in Week 18 last season, before the Panthers walked it off, and it was one of Bryce Young's best games of the season. He finished with 251 yards and three touchdowns on a 73.5 completion percentage (his best of the year), plus adding two touchdowns on the ground.

The Falcons went hard on defense in the draft, picking Jalon Walker and Mike Green in the first round. Their quarterback situation is presumably Michael Penix Jr. as the starter, but Kirk Cousins is still on the roster.

Jake's Take: "Get Atlanta early, still a young quarterback in Penix, and the two draft picks, the two first-round picks, their defensive ends that they wanted to draft, so they're trying to address the defense. We know they're pretty talented team on offense, tons of weapons, a ton of weapons on offense, receiver-wise, running back wise.

"But to get that division game at home against Atlanta Falcons, that's gonna be exciting. You'd love to be 2-0 to go into that game, have Bank of America Stadium rocking."

Week 4 — Panthers at Patriots

The Patriots are still finding themselves a bit after the Tom Brady and Bill Belichick era. To help establish their identify, the team hired former player Mike Vrabel as head coach this offseason. Vrabel has previous head coaching experience with the Titans. The Patriots drafted Drake Maye last offseason, and the Charlotte native made a pro bowl his rookie season, despite the Patriots 3-9 record. New England drafted Will Campbell No. 4 overall in April to help protect Maye this season.

Jake's Take: "I'm liking that it's early in the season, to be very honest. I think that's a team that can be a team—I think Drake May is still young, still learning, so it will only be his fourth game in Josh McDaniel's offense. But Mike Vrable, he's just quality. He's a quality head football coach. You know what you're going to (get), the team's going to be unbelievably well coached, special teams wise, situationally, they're gong to be really close and they're going to be hard.

"This is a team, it's gonna be a fistfight. And I love that 28th, the weather most likely will be good. You'll get a little reprieve from the heat and humidity that hopefully will start to subside, but that's really nice."

Week 5 — Panthers vs. Miami

The Dolphins continue the streak of non-playoff teams in 2024 that make up the front half of the Panthers schedule. Miami has fire power on offense, led by a head coach in Mike McDaniel that knows how to use it. Tua Tagovailoa has played only one full season since entering the NFL though.

A Week 5 matchup is typically a litmus test as teams start to figure out who they can be that season.

Jake's Take: "We all know Tua, Tyreek Hill, those guys, but they had some issues at the offensive line last year, and certainly defensively, we don't know what their personnel is going to be like. I think no one really knows what's going to happen there defensively.

"But we've had some struggles against Miami the last few times we've played them, albeit it's been in Miami, so it'd be good to get them back at home. And the thing that I love…we're starting out the season with, this is 5 games we're starting with teams that were not in the playoffs last year. So I kind of like, I like looking at it like that also."

Week 6 — Panthers vs. Dallas

This will be the third year in a row the Panthers have hosted the Cowboys at Bank of America Stadium, but Dallas has won those last two games. The Cowboys made an offseason trade to get Dak Prescott a weapon in receiver George Pickens, who will join a room that already features CeeDee Lamb. Prescott suffered a season-ending hamstring injury Week 8 last year. He is still rehabbing but has been taking part in workouts.

Jake's Take: "We certainly know how the Dallas fans travel, and the last couple of times we hosted them, it was later in the season and things weren't going well. So, Dallas really filled up that stadium. I think that's the biggest thing when I, when I look at that; that needs to be a Carolina true home game.

"We need to start off the season well, play well, we want our fans to love us, but this is where we—that's just how my mind works—we owe these guys. They come in, they go over the stadium, those fans from Dallas, and and it hasn't gone our way with them.

"So another team that wasn't in the playoffs last year, that got the best of us late in the season and we started to play better and that was a bump in the road."

Week 7 — Panthers at New York Jets

The Jets are another team with a new head coach, pairing a strong defense with an even better defensive mind in Aaron Glenn. The former Lions DC is taking over a team that features Sauce Gardner, Garrett Wilson, and added Justin Fields at quarterback this offseason. Last season, Glenn led the Lions defense to Top 10 finishes in rushing defense and scoring defense.

Jake's Take: "New head football coach, with Justin Fields as a quarterback. So I'm assuming it's going to be a team that's going to be a heavy run type of team, not turn the ball over. And they want to bring—Aaron Glenn was a tough player, even though he was an undersized cornerback. He was tough. He wasn't afraid to tackle, wasn't afraid to hit somebody, great cover guy. I think that's how he coaches. He coaches tough. And then coming from Detroit and that whole Dan Campbell, that's what they preach. They want to run the football and be tough.

"So that's another game, another team that was not in the playoffs last year. We certainly know they have pieces on defense, that's for certain. And offensive line wise, they're investing heavily in their offensive line.

"But to New York, October 19th, again, it's set up for us and it's pretty good schedule-wise, weather-wise."

Week 8 — Panthers vs. Buffalo

For those keeping count at home, it is Week 8—the midway point of the season—before the Panthers face a team who made the playoffs last season. It just happens to be the reigning MVP in Josh Allen and the Bills. Allen threw for 250-plus yards seven different times last season, including three games of 300-plus yards. Receiver Amari Cooper is still a free agent, meaning the Bills will presumably lean on second-year pass catcher Keon Coleman more in the passing game.

The Bills have one of the more favorable early season schedules, and will be coming off of a bye week when facing the Panthers.

Jake's Take: "I'll be very honest, Buffalo is not a good opponent in Week 1 to Week 18. They've established a great program, they really have.

"All the ex-Carolina Panthers from (Sean) McDermott, and (Brandon) Beane and everybody else, this will be kind of a homecoming for them to come back to Carolina, but yeah, Josh Allen and company, that's going to be a tough task.

"Think about it, our first game against a playoff opponent in 2024 will be October 26th. So we've gone the whole season so far without playing someone else who was in the playoffs. So Buffalo's coming in. Our hands (will be) full type of ball game. All games are, but again—wouldn't it be kind of meaningful, like, hey, could this be the upstart Panthers, that quiet team that's kind of stayed quiet, finished the season OK, and if you can kind of stay healthy and kind of start to make a little run, it would be an awesome litmus test to say the least."

Week 9 — Panthers at Green Bay

When we asked players what game they would check first when the schedule game out, the consensus answer was, "I just care about when we are playing in Green Bay." For a southern team, that makes sense, given Green Bay is infamously known as the Frozen Tundra. A Week 9 matchup means favorable weather though.

Beyond the weather, this is also a Packers team coming off a playoff run with an offensive game plan run through quarterback Jordan Love that can be punishing, behind running back Josh Jacobs.

Jake's Take: "You would assume it would be chilly, at least somewhat, but you would doubt it's going to be the frozen tundra at that point.

"But listen, that's a solid football team we're going to play. And there's something magical about going to play in Green Bay, no matter who you are or how young. I know for me I was—I'm 50 years old now, but there was something always magical to go to Lambeau to play."

Week 10 — Panthers vs. New Orleans

This will be the first divisional game since Week 3 for the Panthers, and both are at home. Starting the second-half of the season means both teams will come into this matchup with a much better idea of not only who they are, but who the opponent is. Sitting here in May though, there is still a lot unknown about the Saints. Derek Carr announced his retirement recently, however, due to injury he was unlikely to play this season regardless. As of now, the Saints have not named a new starting quarterback.

Jake's Take: "That's a team with a lot of questions, but yes, it's a division game. I mean, this is when it starts. There's a professional hatred when you play division teams, and so hopefully, you know, as the schedule goes—we've only up until this point, we've had two playoff teams from the year prior. That's it. So, schedule-wise, if you look at record wise, it's pretty favorable for us, this year.

"Now certainly things will change with the injuries and teams will be better and some will be worse compared to 2024, but yeah, getting the Saints at home, on November 9th, and that's when you hope and you're starting to—you don't want to say the playoff push, but you start seeing some things. You kind of put yourself in position to kind of go forward."

Week 11 — Panthers at Atlanta

The second matchup with Atlanta is on the road, eight weeks after the first. Teams are typically much different at this point in the season than they were at the beginning.

Week 12 — Panthers at San Francisco

The Panthers are back in prime-time, in a Monday Night Football showdown with the 49ers. Kyle Shanahan's crew entered last season as the NFC West reigning champs, but went 6-11 in 2024, including 2-7 after the bye. This MNF game will be the first time Christian McCaffrey has faced his former team.

The 49ers added receiver Demarcus Robinson and backup QB Mac Jones in free agency, as well as running back Patrick Taylor, hoping to address some of the depth issues that plagued San Francisco in 2024.

Arguably the toughest part of this matchup will be the aftereffects. As a primetime West Coast game, Carolina won't arrive home until early Tuesday morning, and will head right into game prep so as not to lose too much time from playing on a Monday.

Jake's Take: "I know for me as a player, I loved playing a team (coming) off of a Monday night game because, you always felt like, 'Hey, they're 30-something hours less in preparation, body-wise and things like that.' And we're starting to get that push into later in the season. This is November 24th. The body is affected starting in training camp really, but sometimes you can have some attrition, at that point.

"And so San Fran and we didn't have a Monday night game last year…(so) players are going to be juiced. It'll be in San Fran. I'm assuming the NFL schedule makers possibly—because I know it's a few years removed, but the Christian McCaffrey (trade), ex-Carolina Panther, and so San Fran, our Monday night game.

"But for me, I'm excited that we're going to be on national TV and hopefully we're playing well at that time to kind of get us back in the national spotlight."

Week 13 — Panthers vs. Rams

The Rams began last season 1-4, before using a well placed bye week to turn things around. They won a Wild Card game, before falling to the Eagles in a one-possession Divisional Round loss. Receiver Cooper Kupp left in free agency this offseason, but the Rams returned dynamic receiver Puka Nacua. With Matthew Stafford leading the charge and Sean McVay calling the plays, the Rams are always a contender.

Jake's Take: "You're still going to get a really good quarterback—well borderline great quarterback. I think just shows by leaving Detroit and what he's done in LA. And that's a team that's—they're quietly, I know they think they're a Super Bowl football team. And they've done a good job of drafting and they've hit some young kids and they've done a good job. So Sean McVay, he's up there, he is one of the better coaches in the league.

"It's at home, it's November 30th. This team has been on a big run, you know, we play a lot of football, haven't had breaks. So, you just kind of, you just got to burn the candle at both ends. You just gotta get ready to give everything."

Week 14 — Bye

The Panthers had an early December bye in 2022, but that was Week 13. The calendar falls in such a way this year that Carolina is handed a Week 14 bye, tied for the latest in the league.

Jake's Take: "I'm not so sure that the bye's went into December back when I played because it was only 16 games, it wasn't 17…that's a late bye.

"Your body is going to want it, right? And I just, you're thinking, ok, it's in December and it's Christmas time and so players, there's going to be so much going on; you just need a rest and hopefully you need a rest in a good way and let your mind kind of settle just a little bit because you're coming back with four games and you're hoping with that big playoff push.

"I mean this is what you play for. You want meaningful games in November and especially December."

Week 15 — Panthers at New Orleans

The final quadrant of games features three divisional matchups, beginning with this second game against the Saints. It's an easy travel game after the bye week, and one has to think the Saints will have answers at the quarterback position by this point of the year.

Week 16 — Panthers vs. Tampa Bay

The Panthers don't see the Bucs until the end of the schedule. Tampa Bay won the division last year behind strong play from Baker Mayfield and consistent greatness from Mike Evans. The Bucs said goodbye to an offensive coordinator who took a head coaching job this offseason for the second time in as many years (the first being Dave Canales after 2023), but don't show any signs of slowing down by promoting from within (passing game coordinator Josh Grizzard).

Jake's Take: "It could be your season, and that's a good thing. I like that. I know as a player, I think you're very familiar with your division opponents, right? yYou should be. And so you're going to see them a ton on film and even like if you're not playing, so we'll be playing Atlanta, so we'll be watching Atlanta's defense and offense and special teams, but you're going to start to see those divisions opponents in in that tape when you're digesting that tape.

"So you see who those division opponents are and so you kind of get some of that, early film watch."

Week 17 — Panthers vs. Seattle

Canales will face his long time team in Week 17, but the squad will look much different. The Hawks are quarterbacked this year by friend-of-the-program Sam Darnold, and he'll be throwing to Jaxon Smith-Njigba and free agent acquisition Cooper Kupp. Head coach Mike Macdonald is heading into his second year, after leading Seattle to a 10-7 record in his first year.

Jake's Take: "We knocked out our AFC opponents early…so it's weighted towards the back end of the schedule, especially for, hopefully playoffs could be something that we can maybe start to kind of—we need to play good football, but like why not, right? Why not? We play good football and get ourselves in a position to maybe have a chance."

Week 18 — Panthers at Tampa Bay

A divisional matchup to end the season, and the second time facing the Bucs in three weeks. There is a chance the NFC South comes down to this.

Jake's Take: "I love this. We're playing a team that's won the division in the last few years, and thats what I'm excited about. That's a good football team in Tampa, and you would assume that team would be in the mix. So if we're in the mix, what more could you ask for?

"And the thing that I kind of like about it, if you look at the back half, you know, after the Monday night on November 24th, there's not a lot of travel involved.

"I mean, how great would it be to be up for the NFC South on Week 18 and that should be good, that's gonna be early January, in Tampa, so exciting. I like the way the schedule kind of plays out for us."

Buy your single game or season tickets now!