It’s an exercise that begins for some even before the dates and times are announced. Once an NFL team’s schedule is revealed for an upcoming season, many people take a look at a club’s 17 opponents and begin assigning wins and losses. The exercise accelerates once those dates and times come out. Yes, it has a lot to do with the hunger and enthusiasm for the game.
With basically two weeks before the NFL season opener between the Cowboys and Eagles at Philadelphia, John Breech of CBS Sports took a stab at predicting when each club would lose its first game in 2025. Dave Canales’s Carolina Panthers open the regular season at Jacksonville, and Breech has the Panthers falling short on the scoreboard on September 7.
“We have the Buccaneers offensive coordinator from 2023 (Dave Canales) coaching against the Bucs offensive coordinator from 2024 (Liam Coen),” explained Breech. “This will be Coen's first game as coach of the Jaguars and the offensive mastermind has plenty of weapons to work with in Jacksonville, so this feels like a shootout win for the Jaguars.”
For the record, it’s a clash between the first overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft (Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence ) and the number-one selection in the 2023 draft (Carolina’s Bryce Young).
A “shootout” between the two franchises that both entered the league in 1995 would certainly make sense given last season’s play by both clubs. The Panthers allowed the most total yards and most points in the league. The Jaguars were 31st in the NFL in total defense, and only four teams surrendered more points this past season.
In case you’re interested, Breech says that the Buffalo Bills will be the last team to lose their first game in 2025, going down at home to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 9.
Let the guessing games begin.
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