Last night the NFL put on a big show to release the 2009 schedule. I'm actual surprised they didn't streaming it live as they do SNF. (On a side note, I'm pretty sure I heard one of the commentators say the Falcons won the division last year. Oops! If anyone has it recorded check the commentary around 10:35 to 10:40 about the NFC South and let us know.)

Now we've known that the Panthers have the 2nd toughest schedule based on last year's record only behind the Miami Dolphins. However, as the article suggest, using last years teams records is a bit flawed. In addition we play only one team with a losing record, the Buffalo Bills. Regardless, it's going to be a difficult season.

Now let's look at how our schedule breaks down by quarters. The first four games break down as follows:

We get a home opener this year against the Eagles after two straight years on the road, however, it may not be that important. In our 14 year history we are 3 for 6 on the road but only 3 for 8 at home during our season opener. We then see early season game against a division opponent, where as last year our first division rival wasn't until week 4. We then travel to the Cowboy's new stadium for our first prime time game on MNF. I just have to say at least it's not the Cowboys home opener. We have the dreaded early bye week in week four. This can make for a very long rest of the season, especially if we don't improve our depth on the OL and DL. We round out the first quarter games against the Redskins. Finishing the early stretch of NFC East teams, obviously giving us an early indication of how we stack up against the popular "best" NFC division.

2008 Combined opponent record 37-26-1.

Moving to week 6 we face our second division rival of the season, this time on the road. By this point we will have an indication of how the new Raheem Morris Bucs are fairing. In week 7 we face the T.O.'s Buffalo Bills. It will be interesting to see if T.O. makes the Bills a better team or drag them down as he has with his previous teams. Week 8 brings us the rematch against the Cardinals. Last year Arizona had to travel to play us, but this time we head out west. Arizona may not respect this game, but be sure that every Panther fan has already marked the date. This quarter of games is finished with a second road game against the Saints. The good is we never play more than two games on the road but on the other hand never have more than two games at home back to back.

2008 Combined opponent record 33-31

Our second look at the Falcons is up first. By this time in the season we will have a good handle of how we really feel about our opponents and how they are fairing this season. We stay at home for our second second prime time game against the Dolphins as it will be a short week because its the Thursday game. However, on the other side we have a few extra days before we travel to NY for the first time this season to face the Jets. I wonder if what type of reception Kris Jenkins will give us. Finally, we go back home to face the Bucs. Unfortunately I would guess we won't have a perfect home record at this point, unlike 2008.

2008 Combined opponent record 40-24

Provided we are still in the playoff hunt, this end of the 2009 season could be very similiar to 2008 as far as difficulty remaining. These four teams have the best combined record out of all four quarters. The Patriots just missed the playoff last year and is always dangerous and in the middle of December could be a very cold game. Our final prime time game is at home against the Vikings on SNF, however, with flex scheduling we could be removed from the time slot. The last two games are the same as 2009 except we face the Saints at home. We face the Giants again on the road but it probably won't have the same meaning as it did last year. However, we will be looking for payback. We close the regular season at home against a division rival the Saints. Let's hope we have already locked up the division and a playoff bye.

2008 Combined opponent record 41-23

If I heard the number correctly, with 724 trillion possible season schedules each year (YIKES!!), it's quite an amazing accomplishment to get the schedule published. It's not an easy road but it just means we deserve it even more. Even though we have several question about the Panthers depth I'm definitely ready for the 2009 season to begin.