Carolina Panthers 2010 NFL Schedule – Preseason

Date | Opponent | Time
Aug 12 @Baltimore 8:00pm
Aug 21 N.Y. Jets 8:00pm
Aug 28 Tennessee 8:00pm
Sep 2 @Pittsburgh 7:30pm
All times are Eastern

Carolina Panthers 2010 NFL Schedule – Regular Season

Date | Opponent | Time
Sep 12 @N.Y. Giants 1:00pm
Sep 19 Tampa Bay 1:00pm
Sep 26 Cincinnati 1:00pm
Oct 3 @New Orleans 1:00pm
Oct 10 Chicago 1:00pm
Week 6 BYE
Oct 24 San Francisco 1:00pm
Oct 31 @St. Louis 1:00pm
Nov 7 New Orleans 1:00pm
Nov 14 @Tampa Bay 1:00pm
Nov 21 Baltimore 1:00pm
Nov 28 @Cleveland 1:00pm
Dec 5 @Seattle 4:15pm
Dec 12 Atlanta 1:00pm
Dec 19 Arizona 1:00pm
Dec 23 @Pittsburgh 8:20pm
Jan 2 @Atlanta 1:00pm

On August 12 Carolina Panthers will be opening the preseason at 8 p.m at Baltimore at M&T Stadium in an ESPN game.

The dates for the final three have not been set yet. However, it is confirmed that Panthers will be hosting the New York Jets and Tennessee Titans in the following two games. The Panthers will also be closing the preseason at Pittsburgh.

Steelers and Carolina Panthers have met till now in 8 consecutive preseason finales. The venues were however alternative. The even-numbered years at Pittsburgh and the odd-numbered years at Bank of America Stadium. First time ever, this time, Carolina Panthers will be facing the Jets and Titans in the preseason.

This preseason is the fifth consecutive year for the Panthers to appear on the national television in the preseason. The 2 games of the team were on Fox (Miami in 2006 and Philadelphia in 2008) and the one was on CBS (New England in 2007). Last year they appeared on ESPN.

We’ll take about one more day to gloat about gettin’ two of our favorites into the Pro Bowl. And we’ll take one day after that to reminisce about the strong side offensive line opening up some nice big holes, the receivers pullin’-in the wobblers even with free safeties climbin’ all over ‘em, and our own d-backs makin’ some awesome open-field take-downs.

But, then, we gotta get on with it. Turn the page. Get ready for a few serious challenges in the fall of ’09.

In the fall, we have the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Redskins comin’ ta BofA. Eagles went deep into the playoffs this year; and the Redskins—well, even when they’re bad, they’re good. Dolphins and Bills visit here mid-season this fall, and they could surprise us. And we’ll be knockin’ heads with NFC bullies, the Minnesota Vikings; they gotta be tough, because they gotta shovel the snow off their practice fields…in July.

So, yeah, our Carolina Panthers, facing a tougher schedule in 2009 than they faced in ’08, are gonna need us more than ever. They’re gonna need us right there in the stands, whoopin’ and hollerin’ like our little lives depended on it. Our guys are gonna need us drownin’-out the other team’s signals, and they’re gonna need us puttin’ the body-English on the field goals.

Right now is the best time to order Panthers tickets. Right this minute, the best seats are still out there. Season tickets available, and check on some good promotions, too. Hey, in the fall, even the lightweights will jump on the bandwagon. The real fans know the time to get ready is right now.

So far this season the Panthers starters have gone 58-3 against first team opponents, their best preseason performance in years.  But the preseason can be deceiving, just because the Panthers are manhandling their opponents in the preseason doesn’t mean the same success with translate to the regular season, but it does show that Jake Delhomme and the Panthers are ready to contend in the NFC again.

This final preseason game is going go to be the most important to the guys on the roster trying to make the cut.  Decori Birmingham, Troy Flemming, Chad Upshaw, Ricardo Colclough, and a few other need to have good games if they want a spot on the final roster.  The release of quarterback Lester Ricard should also give these guys an opportunity because it means there’s one more slot available.  Keep an eye on Samie Parker, a wide receiver picked up Carolina on Tuesday.

Really there’s not much to be decided on position battles as most of them are already set.  Keydrick Vincent took over the starting right tackle job on the third day of camp and didn’t give it up.  Charles Godfrey has shown that he can start at free safety.  The two areas that are still up for graps are that number three receiving spot as well as the starting running back, but I don’t think those are going to be determined in this game.

Basically there really isn’t much to look at game wise.  This is going to be the backups oppertunity to shine, and it will be interesting to see who comes out on top.

For Panthers and Panthers fans alike, this game Saturday should show what the Panthers are going to be like come the regular season. As for injured players, both teams should be pretty healthy, Carolina only missing one official starter, safety Chris Harris.

What to watch for

Jonathan Stewart- Panther’s Head Coach John Fox said there is a “likelihood” that the Panther’s number one draft selection, Jonathan Stewart, will get reps in with the first team. That means Saturday will be the first time Stewart gets a handoff from Jake Delhomme during a game. With Stewart playing, we should get a good look at how effective the one-two punch of Stewart and Williams will be this season. I’m expecting big games out of both Williams and Stewart, especially with how well Williams has run in the past two preseason games (87 yards on 17 rushes with two touchdowns).

Jeff Otah- The Panthers other number one draft selection will have a big test Saturday as well, having to face off against one of the league’s best pass rushers in Jason Taylor. Otah has been great with run blocking so far, but his pass protection needs some more improvement. Otah and the starting offensive line should keep up the momentum they’ve built over the past two games, opening up big wholes for Williams and Stewart, and not alowing either Jake Delhomme or Matt Moore to be sacked.

Defensive Line- When I say defensive line, I mean everyone on the line except Julius Peppers. As well as Peppers played against Indianapolis, he was basically ineffective against the Eagles, and not because he isn’t back to his normal self, but because he’s the Panthers only pass rush threat. That means that offensive lines can double and triple team Peppers without having to worry about the other guys. If either Tyler Brayton, Damione Lewis, or Chris Johnson, can put some pressure on Jason Campbell, Peppers won’t see as many double teams and should be able to apply some pressure of his own. The play of the defensive line is going to be paramount this season, because I don’t care how good your secondary is, any quarterback in the league can find an open receiver if he’s got ten seconds to throw the ball.

Dwayne Jarrett- Jarrett will be back on the field after suffering a leg bruise last week and missing the Eagles game. This is a huge game for Jarrett because with D. J. Hackett still out with a toe injury, Jarrett has to opportunity to win the number two job alongside Moose for opening day.

Though the team won’t go through a full game plan for Saturday, the extra time from the Philly game has allowed the team to go through some kind of game preparation. This means that more than the other preseason games both the Panthers and Redskins should be ready for the other team.

As for guys returning, Moose is still a little questionable, but TEs Gary Barnidge and Daunte Rosario could see some work coming back from injuries.

First off, Saturday will be the first time Jake Delhomme has thrown a pass during a live game since September of last year, so all eyes are going to be on that right elbow of his to see how it holds up. The recovery progress so far has been great, Delhomme has felt “no pain” in his right elbow, which has been troubling him since 2005. The fact that Delhomme has gotten through 10 days of training camp without a hitch is a great sign that he will be 100% in the season opener.

Before I go on though, I just won’t to say how meaningless these first preseason games are to the starters. It’s most likely that both offensive and defensive starters will only play a series, and what’s more both rosters are going to be depleted because of precautions to injuries. The Colt’s defense is really banged up right now, so moving the ball shouldn’t be a problem, even if the Panthers decided to limit Steve Smith’s playing time. This game, more than the other preseason games is going to give coaches and fans a great opportunity to evaluate second and third string players rather than the starters.

The four guys I’m going to keep my eye on are Jason Carter (he’s had a phenomenal camp so far and has a shot of making the final roster), Gary Gibson (he’s also had a great camp, showing that he has the skills to apply a decent pass rush, something needed at the DT position), Dwayne Jarrett (he’s had a great offseason and could have a breakout year), and Matt Moore. If Gibson can apply some pressure to whoever the Colts quarterback is, and Carter can come up with some good numbers, they could cement their spot on the final roster. It will also be interesting to see how Matt Moore plays after a very good three games last season.

So even if Jake and the offense march right down the field and score a touchdown, and the defense holds the Colts offense to a three and out, don’t get too excited. This is only the first preseason game, there are a lot of starters missing from the Colts, particularly Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison, and it’s only one series.  I can think of a number of good opening series the Panthers have had, most of which were not indicative of how the rest of the game played out.

Most likely Chris Harris won’t play Saturday, as well as Jon Beason. Jonathan Stewart will be a game time decision. Also, the Panthers released T Charles Spencer who they claimed off waivers a few weeks ago.