With the 12th-most difficult strength of schedule ahead, the Carolina Panthers may not have an easy race to run here in 2022. That’d only be worsened, if say, their pit stop during that race comes particularly late.
Welp . . .
As first reported by Will Kunkel of FOX Charlotte, the Panthers’ bye for the upcoming campaign will not come until Week 13. If that is to be confirmed later on in the day around 8 p.m. ET, this would be the second season in a row in which Week 13 will serve as Carolina’s rest.
That late of a breather, of course, didn’t help much in 2021—especially with the bevy of injuries the team took on in early in the year. The Panthers saw names—and keys ones at that—such as superstar running back Christian McCaffrey, first-round cornerback Jaycee Horn, starting quarterback Sam Darnold, linebacker Shaq Thompson and center Matt Paradis all go down before the halfway point.
Hopefully for head coach Matt Rhule and his squad, that bye will just be relative in 2022. Perhaps, in a weird way, the late break will work to their advantage as they gear up for the final stretch.
