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          NFL Nation

          Carolina Panthers' 2022 schedule: Not made for prime time again

          • David Newton, ESPN Staff WriterMay 12, 2022, 08:41 PM ET
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              David Newton is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the Carolina Panthers. Newton began covering Carolina in 1995 and came to ESPN in 2006 as a NASCAR reporter before joining NFL Nation in 2013. You can follow Newton on Twitter at @DNewtonespn.
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          CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Carolina Panthers’ 2022 schedule was released along with the rest of the NFL slate Thursday.

          The season will kick off Thursday, Sept. 8, with the Los Angeles Rams hosting the Buffalo Bills at SoFi Stadium. ESPN opens its schedule with Monday Night Football on Sept. 12 featuring the Denver Broncos at the Seattle Seahawks.

          The NFL expanded to 17 regular-season games last season, and the final regular-season games will be played Jan. 8, 2023. The playoffs begin Jan. 14 and continue through Super Bowl LVII on Feb. 12 in Glendale, Arizona.

          Here's what is in store for the Panthers:

          Schedule

          Sept. 11: Cleveland

          Sept. 18: at New York Giants

          Sept. 25: New Orleans

          Oct. 2: Arizona

          Oct. 9: San Francisco

          Oct. 16: at Los Angeles Rams

          Oct. 23: Tampa Bay

          Oct. 30: at Atlanta

          Nov. 6: at Cincinnati

          Nov. 10: Atlanta (TNF)

          Nov. 20: at Baltimore

          Nov. 27: Denver

          Dec. 4: Bye

          Dec. 11: at Seattle

          Dec. 18: Pittsburgh

          Dec. 24: Detroit, Saturday

          Jan. 1: at Tampa Bay

          Jan 7/8: at New Orleans

          Strength of schedule: T-12, .512

          Biggest takeaway

          Once again, the Panthers aren’t made for prime-time games. They have only one -- a Thursday night contest (Nov. 10) against Atlanta -- for the fourth straight year. They haven’t had two prime time games in a season since 2018, when they had two, also the last time they played on Monday Night Football. They’ve had only seven prime-time games the past five seasons combined after having a team-record five in 2016 coming off a trip to Super Bowl 50. They haven’t had a Sunday night game since 2016 and have had only two Sunday night games since 2014.

          Revenge game

          There are two options for a team that might consider any game a revenge, since it won only five games last season. It could be Week 7 or 17 against Tampa Bay. As badly as Carolina played in 2021, no team embarrassed it more than the Buccaneers, who swept two games by a combined score of 73-23. They did it without a super effort from Tom Brady, who had one touchdown pass in the first meeting (32-6) and three in the second (41-17). Or you could go with the opener against Cleveland, which won the offseason bid for quarterback Deshaun Watson when he was traded there from the Houston Texans.

          What the odds-makers think

          The odds-makers have the Panthers' win total at 6. That’s one more win than the team has had in each of the past three seasons. Carolina hasn’t had a winning season since going 11-5 in 2017, which coincides with the last time the team had consistent quarterback play. To surpass six wins, consistent play from Sam Darnold, or whoever is at quarterback, is a must.

          Bold prediction

          Darnold will be replaced as the starting quarterback after a 1-4 start, giving way to rookie Matt Corral before an Oct. 16 trip to Los Angeles to face the defending Super Bowl champion Rams. The way to look at it: No pressure, since Corral and Carolina won’t be expected to win.