Sun. Nov. 13 vs. Kansas City Chiefs 1:00 p.m.*
CBS
Thu. Nov. 17
vs. New Orleans Saints
8:25 p.m. NBC/NFL Network
Sun. Nov. 27 at Oakland Raiders
4:25 p.m.* CBS
Sun. Dec. 4
at Seattle Seahawks 8:30 p.m.*
NBC
Sun. Dec. 11
vs. San Diego Chargers
1:00 p.m.*
FOX
Mon. Dec. 19
at Washington Redskins
8:30 p.m. ESPN
Sat. Dec. 24
vs. Atlanta Falcons
1:00 p.m.
FOX
Sun. Jan. 1
at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
1:00 p.m.* FOX
* - Subject to flexible scheduling.
CHARLOTTE - The 2016 NFL season will begin with the same matchup that capped the 2015 season – in historically unique fashion.
The Carolina Panthers will visit the Denver Broncos on September 8 to kick off the season. The Thursday Night Football showdown will mark the first time in NFL history that the first game of the season has featured the teams that faced off in the Super Bowl the previous season. The Super Bowl IV champion Kansas City Chiefs visited the runner-up Minnesota Vikings in Week 1 of the 1970 season, but that was a Sunday game after the season had kicked off Friday night.
"It's exciting for our players to compete on a national stage," head coach Ron Rivera said. "We have earned the right to be in the spotlight, and we have to take advantage of it. Every season presents challenges, and we are excited to get back to work"
The Broncos rematch will also mark the first time the Panthers have played in the first game of the NFL season and represents the first of a franchise record five primetime games – not surprising coming off a 15-1 season.
Carolina will host a pair of NFC South foes in primetime - Tampa Bay for Monday Night Football in Week 5 and New Orleans for Thursday Night Football in Week 11 – and the Panthers will visit Seattle for Sunday Night Football in Week 13 and Washington for Monday Night Football in Week 15.
Rivera harps on red zone execution and penalties
CHARLOTTE – After Monday’s practice, head coach Ron Rivera said he “feels good” about the state of his team through two preseason games, but there are plenty of wrinkles to iron out before the regular season begins.
“I still believe we have a long ways to go,” Rivera said. “There are some things we most certainly can clean up and get better at.”
First and foremost, Rivera wants to see better execution in the red zone on both sides of the ball.
“Any time you get into the red zone, instead of kicking field goals, score touchdowns,” Rivera said. “Any time you allow them to get to your red zone, make them kick field goals.”
Penalties are the fastest way to irritate any coach, and Rivera wasn’t happy about eight infractions against the Titans. He said the coaching staff might have to come down harder on pre-snap penalties in practice to drive the point home.
“Penalties – that’s probably one of the bigger disappointments,” Rivera said. “Three offsides and two illegal procedures, now that’s way too much. It comes to focusing and concentrating and making sure that you pay attention to things.”
Rivera did offer some praise for Kasey Redfern
, who handled kickoff duties in addition to punts. Redfern averaged 42.6 yards with a 37.4 net on five punts. The Titans returned five kickoffs with a 12.6-yard average.
“I thought Kasey did some nice things,” Rivera said. “Quite honestly, he was a little bit nervous, but he hit the ball well considering the turf was a little bit wet. We even had him do a mortar kick at the end of the game, and I kind of sprung it on him at the last second. They are going to work on those as well. It seems to be the rage now, everybody is going to lob that ball up there (near the goal line) and see what happens.”
Redskins are looking forward to that Monday night matchup in Week 15! Hopefully it's for playoff seeding and not you rolling to back to back Super Bowl wins and me barely scraping by for 5 or 6 wins.
I anticipate a very good match up between both teams, and i look forward to the rivaled event for sure, we know for sure not to take anything for granted, last year Superbowl taught us a lot of lessons that no one in the locker room has forgotten
CHARLOTTE – Greg Olsen
sat out the first two games of his rookie season with a knee injury but hasn't missed a regular season game since.
It doesn't look like the back injury that caused him to miss a preseason game will pose any threat to his streak.
"If it had been the regular season, I think I could have made it happen last weekend," Olsen said. "But there was no need to do that, and there's no real concern going forward.
"It's never ideal to be sidelined, but if it's going to happen, now is the time for it. I'll be fine."
Olsen spoke about the injury Tuesday, when he returned to limited participation in practice after missing more than a week with a back injury. There's no guarantee that Olsen will suit up when the Panthers host the New England Patriots on Friday in the all-important third preseason game, but there's no noteworthy concern, either.
"No contact today. We're trying to be smart with that to make sure we don't have a recurrence," head coach Ron Rivera said. "It's one of those things where he's gradually going to work himself back into it. We're not in any hurry as far as he's concerned."
Olsen suffered the injury late in training camp. He returned to the practice field Monday – a week after the injury – and worked on the side before taking part in non-contact practice periods Tuesday.
"It was just one of those things in camp, just kind of a funny twist that kind of brought me to my knees there for a while," Olsen said. "I'm feeling much better now. It feels good to get out here."
A rookie with the Chicago Bears in 2007, Olsen has played in 144 consecutive regular season games. He stayed home for Saturday's preseason game at the Tennessee Titans.
"It was a weird feeling, not going to the game and sitting at home watching it," Olsen said. "Even though it was a preseason game, it was a different feeling. I haven't missed many road trips, but it happens.
"I thought they looked good. It was a different viewpoint of course, watching from my couch, but I thought they looked good."
The offense no doubt will look even better when Olsen returns. He has a shot this season at becoming the first tight end in NFL history to post three consecutive 1,000-yard receiving campaigns.
CHARLOTTE – Kurt Coleman
had to laugh, but at the same time, he knew it was no laughing matter.
When New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady took to the field for his first preseason action Friday night at Bank of America Stadium, Brady told the Panthers safety that he had a feeling Coleman was going to pick him off.
Sure enough, Coleman soon had a Brady pass dead in his sights.
"I just didn't catch it," said Coleman, who flat-out dropped the would-be interception. "I pride myself on being able to finish plays. I work way too hard throughout the week to get in that position, but I'll learn from it."
And so it went on this night for the Panthers, who failed to cash in on nearly enough opportunities in a 19-17 loss to the Patriots.
The good news? Quarterback Joe Webb
's two fourth-quarter touchdowns to tight end Marcus Late may have been too little, too late to pull out a victory, but it's still early on the football calendar.
"We're in position to make plays. That's the best thing about it," head coach Ron Rivera said. "It's not like we were out there getting our butts whipped. That's a good football team and is very well-coached, but we had opportunities. We just didn't make the plays.
"That's disappointing. Now, if we hadn't been in position to make plays, I would be upset, but I'm not. I'm just disappointed."
The first-team offense played deep into the third quarter but had just three points to show for it. Six of the unit's 11 drives resulted in three-and-outs, and two others ended in Cam Newton
interceptions. Newton had totaled just two interceptions in 15 career preseason games entering Friday.
"We took our turns making mistakes, and anytime that happens, you know you're going to get those kind of results," said Newton, who completed 13-of-29 passes for 100 yards. "There's no need to press the panic button, but we do need better production from everybody, including myself.
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