Carolina Panthers: Preseason Opponents Released
The Carolina Panthers will get Tom Brady, Marcus Mariota, and Steve Smith in the Preseason.
The Carolina Panthers hit the football field a long time from now, but the NFL just released its preseason schedule. That means that we know who all four of the Panthers’ first opponents will be. Though the preseason is not always predictive to the regular season, winning all the preseason games is a pretty good indicator of season success.
The first game will be the week of August 11 against the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens had a down year last year marred by injuries. That included injuries to former Panther Steve Smith and league best player Joe Flacco.
Unfortunately the Panthers will be on the road for this game and therefore the Bank of America crowd will be unable to give Smith the send off he deserves. It will be the last game Smith gets against his former team barring the Super Bowl.
My guess is that Smith will be held to limited action in the preseason to help him get ready for his last regular season.
The second game will see the Panthers on the road to visit the Tennessee Titans. The Titans will be beginning their first true year under head coach Mike Mularkey. They will also be in their second year of Marcus Mariota. They pushed the Panthers in the regular season last year before the Panthers took the game from them.
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The third game will see the Panthers taking on their Super Bowl nemesis from 2004, the New England Patriots. The Patriots will come to Bank of America Stadium for the only preseason game that really matters. The third NFL preseason game is the one that is a full dress rehearsal with the first strings playing the longest amount of time.
That means the Panthers might be the first team who gets to see how the Patriots plan to use Martellus Bennett in their offensive packages. It also means the Panthers will get the retooled Patriot defense after it lost Jerod Mayo and traded away Chandler Jones in the off-season.
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If the Patriots were not enough to whet your appetite, then the annual game with the Pittsburgh Steelers comes to town after a two year absence. So while Steve Smith will not get a homecoming game, DeAngelo Williams will. Williams has spent the off season so far on Twitter, remarking on people as different as Peyton Manning and Montaze Burfict.
Williams likely will not see too much action as Game 4 is usually the game for players on the margin to make the roster. Still it will be nice to have real football to talk about, especially since the Panthers have such unfinished business to attend to this season.