The Carolina Panthers know who they’re playing in 2025. Here’s an early look
So much still has to happen before the Carolina Panthers can truly figure out who they’ll be in 2025.
But at least they know who they’re going to play.
The Panthers know who will be on their 2025 NFL schedule after finishing Week 18 of 2024 and a consequential offseason thereafter, though they don’t know in what order they will face their opponents.
The Panthers, with their overtime win over the Falcons on Sunday and the Saints’ loss, officially finished third in the NFC South, the NFL confirmed. It was a product of a tiebreaker called “strength of victory,” which represents the combined record of the opponents a team has beaten.
Here’s a look at who will land on their schedule:
Panthers’ 2025 NFL scheduled opponents
An asterisk demarcates a home contest. Two asterisks demarcate a divisional opponent who they play on the road and in Bank of America Stadium every year.
**Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons might have found their quarterback for 2025 and beyond in Michael Penix Jr. They finished the 2024 season 8-9 (punctuated by an overtime loss to Carolina).
**New Orleans Saints. The Saints will have a new coach and likely a bunch of other changes as they wrap up their difficult 2024. They finished 2024 as 5-12 and last in the NFC South.
**Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Baker Mayfield proved his 2023 resurgence was sustainable, and now the Bucs (10-7) are in the playoffs.
*Miami Dolphins. The Panthers will welcome one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL, led by Alabama alum Tua Tagovailoa and fast-as-a-cheetah Tyreek Hill, to Bank of America Stadium in 2025. The Dolphins are 6-2 against the Panthers all-time.
*Seattle Seahawks. This home matchup marks a full-circle moment for Dave Canales, who cut his NFL teeth under Pete Carroll in Seattle. Carolina is 4-9 all-time against the Seahawks and lost the last contest in the matchup in 2023. Seattle finished 2025 with a 10-7 record.
*Los Angeles Rams. The Rams are perennial playoff contenders and have notched seven winning seasons the past eight years. The Panthers are 12-10 against the Rams all-time.
*Buffalo Bills. This year it was the Kansas City Chiefs. This year’s Super Bowl contenders making a trip to Bank of America Stadium? Josh Allen and the Bills. The Panthers are 2-6 all-time against the Buffalo franchise.
*Dallas Cowboys. The Panthers were likely staring down a home matchup with the Giants. But a win on Sunday meant that the Cowboys, third in the NFC East, will invade Bank of America Stadium again in 2025.
New England Patriots. Panthers fans get an up-close look at their homegrown NFL quarterback when Carolina travels to Foxborough to take on the Drake Maye-led Patriots. The Pats are 4-13 (and for now without a head coach).
New York Jets. The Jets have an existential crisis to handle this offseason — with their situations at quarterback and their head coach not exactly stable. At least for now, it feels like a compelling matchup for the Panthers on the road.
San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers seem much better than their record suggests. And they likely will be in 2025 — particularly if former Panther Christian McCaffrey stays healthy. The Panthers are 13-9 against San Francisco all-time.
Green Bay Packers. The Panthers are slated to play the third-place Green Bay Packers in 2025. The Packers, of course, are better than that moniker suggests: They’re 11-6 in a loaded NFC North as they charge into the playoffs.
Jacksonville Jaguars. The Panthers are facing the second-to-last place team in the AFC South in 2025. That means the Jaguars (4-13), a group that finished 2024 wrestling to find their identity.
Arizona Cardinals. The Panthers are also facing the Cardinals, who blasted the 49ers on Sunday to finish 8-9.
This story was originally published January 5, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
