McKenna, fresh off this past week's 2025 schedule release, made his early predictions for the upcoming campaign. And when it comes to his forecast for the playoffs, he's got the Panthers as the NFC South champions and the No. 4 seed in the conference:

The Panthers are back in prime time ("Monday Night Football") after being left out in 2024. They're also in line, with the league's fifth-easiest schedule, to potentially be a contender in the weak NFC South if they can get off to a winning start for only the second time in the past six seasons.