Breakdown: There will be no excuse for a slow start with this schedule for the Carolina Panthers. After opening 1-3 in Ron Rivera’s first three seasons and 2-2 last season, Carolina has a legitimate shot to start 4-0 against Jacksonville, Houston, New Orleans and Tampa Bay. The only time the Panthers opened 4-0, by the way, was in 2003. That season, they opened 5-0 en route to reaching the Super Bowl. Like last year, Carolina has a tough five-game stretch in the middle of the season with four games against playoff teams, including 2014 NFC champion Seattle. Unlike last season, when most of those games were on the road, the Panthers have consecutive prime-time games against Philadelphia and Indianapolis as an incentive. The end of the schedule lightens up just as it did last year with the final five games against teams that didn’t have a winning record in 2014. Four of those are against NFC South opponents, including two games against Atlanta, so if the Panthers can finish as strong as they did a year ago (4-0), they have a strong chance to win the division for the third straight year. Rivera's teams are 15-3 in December.

2015 NFL SCHEDULE RELEASE • Seifert: Seven schedule observations

• NFL Nation: Regular-season predictions

• Tuley: Best NFL season win total bets

• Kacsmar: Teams helped, hurt most NFC Schedule Analysis EAST: DAL | NYG | PHI | WAS WEST: ARI | SF | SEA | STL NORTH: CHI | DET | GB | MIN SOUTH: ATL | CAR | NO | TB AFC Schedule Analysis EAST: BUF | MIA | NE | NYJ WEST: DEN | KC | OAK | SD NORTH: BAL | CLE | CIN | PIT SOUTH: HOU | IND | JAC | TEN

Complaint department: The schedule-maker must have a sick sense of humor, scheduling the Panthers for a Thanksgiving game at Dallas to almost guarantee a showdown against former defensive end Greg Hardy. Barring a longer-than-expected suspension that keeps Carolina’s 2013 sack leader out of this game, Hardy and his domestic-violence case will be at the forefront for a national game on a national holiday. To avoid this, all the league had to do was schedule Carolina against Dallas early in the season, as linebacker Thomas Davis was hoping. Hardy is expected to be suspended up to six games or more. This just feels like a mistake for a league trying to move on from off-the-field issues.

Heavyweights: And you thought the 2014 stretch of Baltimore, Chicago, Cincinnati, Green Bay and Seattle was tough. The Panthers have a four-game stretch that begins at defending NFC champion Seattle, followed by prime-time home games against Indianapolis and Philadelphia and a home game against Green Bay. That’s three Pro Bowl quarterbacks in Russell Wilson, Andrew Luck and Aaron Rodgers and an Eagles team reloading with quarterback Sam Bradford and running back DeMarco Murray. If Carolina can get through that part of the schedule at 2-2, it should be home free. Even if it doesn’t, as it proved last season with a seven-game winless streak, anything is possible in the NFC South.

Strength of schedule: 27th, .434

Panthers Regular-Season Schedule (all times Eastern)

Week 1: Sunday, Sept. 13, at Jacksonville, 1 p.m.

Week 2: Sunday, Sept. 20, Houston, 1 p.m.

Week 3: Sunday, Sept. 27, New Orleans, 1 p.m.

Week 4: Sunday, Oct. 4, at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.

Week 5: BYE

Week 6: Sunday, Oct. 18, at Seattle, 4:05 p.m.

Week 7: Sunday, Oct. 25, Philadelphia, 8:30 p.m.

Week 8: Monday, Nov. 2, Indianapolis, 8:30 p.m.

Week 9: Sunday, Nov. 8, Green Bay, 1 p.m.

Week 10: Sunday, Nov. 15, at Tennessee, 1 p.m.

Week 11: Sunday, Nov. 22, Washington, 1 p.m.

Week 12: Thursday, Nov. 26, at Dallas, 4:30 p.m.

Week 13: Sunday, Dec. 6, at New Orleans, 1 p.m.

Week 14: Sunday, Dec. 13, Atlanta, 1 p.m.

Week 15: Sunday, Dec. 20, at N.Y. Giants, 1 p.m.

Week 16: Sunday, Dec. 27, at Atlanta, 1 p.m.

Week 17: Sunday, Jan. 3, Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.