Of course the Panthers are playing the Broncos Week 1 (and other reactions to the NFL schedule)

Of course. The Carolina Panthers will start off the regular season with a game against the Denver Broncos, which, unless you had it erased from your mind MiB-style (lucky), you’ll remember is a rematch of Super Bowl 50.

When you see the schedule for this season pic.twitter.com/YUXcnI2lbF

— Greg Olsen (@gregolsen88) April 15, 2016

Here’s the thing: The Panthers could win that game by 30 — a possibility, given the saltiness in Carolina and the fact that the only quarterback on the Denver roster with any real experience is Mark “Butt Fumble” Sanchez — and it still wouldn’t erase what happened in February. Nothing will. Except, of course, a Super Bowl win.

Here’s the path the Panthers face this season, with a few comments sprinkled in:

Preseason

Week 1: Thursday, Aug. 11: @Baltimore 7:30 p.m.

Week 2: Saturday, Aug. 20: @Tennessee 3 p.m. (‘sup, Tennessee Mom?)

Week 3: Friday, Aug. 26: vs. New England 7:30 p.m.

Week 4: Thursday, Sept. 1: vs. Pittsburgh 7:30 p.m.

Regular season

Week 1: Thursday, Sept. 8: @Denver 8:30 p.m.

Week 2: Sunday, Sept. 18: vs. San Francisco 1 p.m. (Home opener. Get rowdy, BofA.)

Week 3: Sunday, Sept. 25: vs. Minnesota 1 p.m.

Week 4: Sunday, Oct. 2: @Atlanta 1 p.m. (The first division game of the year, and the first of three division games in a row. Better than playing Atlanta twice in the final four weeks of the season like last year.)

Week 5: Monday, Oct. 10: vs. Tampa Bay 8:30 (Side effect of being good: More primetime games. That’s awesome for fans — night games at BofA! — but hard on players playing on shorter rest.)

Week 6: Sunday, Oct. 16: @New Orleans 1 p.m.

Week 7: BYE

Week 8: Sunday, Oct. 30: vs. Arizona 4:25 p.m.

Week 9: Sunday, Nov. 6: @Los Angeles 4:05 p.m. (Los Angeles?!? Oh yeah, LA has a team now — the Rams moved back there.)

Week 10: Sunday, Nov. 13: vs. Kansas City 1 p.m.

Week 11: Thursday, Nov. 17: vs. New Orleans 8:25 p.m. (New Orleans? At home? At night? Yes please.)

Week 12: Sunday, Nov. 27: @Oakland 4:25 p.m.

Week 13: Sunday, Dec. 4: @Seattle 8:30 p.m. (That’s right, the Panthers play all three of the teams they played in the playoffs last season — Arizona, Seattle and Denver — in the regular season this year.)

Week 14: Sunday, Dec. 11: vs. San Diego 1 p.m.

Week 15: Monday, Dec. 19: @Washington 8:30 p.m.

Week 16: Saturday, Dec. 24: vs. Atlanta 1 p.m.

Week 17: Sunday, Jan. 1: @Tampa Bay 1 p.m.

So there it is. Any predictions for how the Panthers will do? Tweet them to @Charlotte_Five.

Photo: David T. Foster III/Charlotte Observer

This story was originally published April 14, 2016 at 9:08 PM with the headline "Of course the Panthers are playing the Broncos Week 1 (and other reactions to the NFL schedule)."