A franchise-record five primetime games, including a season-opening Thursday night contest at Denver, highlight the Carolina Panthers 2016 schedule announced Thursday by the National Football League.

 

Carolina opens the NFL season with a Super Bowl 50 rematch, traveling to Denver on Sept. 8 for a nationally-televised game on NBC. The game marks Carolina’s first trip to Denver since 2004.

 

The Panthers play two additional primetime road games with a Sunday Night Football contest at Seattle on Dec. 4 and a Monday Night Football game at Washington on Dec. 19. Carolina hosts two primetime games with a Monday Night contest against Tampa Bay on Oct. 10 and a Thursday Night Football game against New Orleans on Nov. 17.

 

“It’s exciting for our players to compete on a national stage,” head coach Ron Rivera said. “We have earned the right to be in the spotlight and we have to take advantage of it. Every season presents challenges and we are excited to get back to work.”

 

Following the season-opener at Denver, Carolina will play consecutive home games, taking on San Francisco on Sept. 18 and Minnesota on Sept. 25.

 

Three consecutive division matchups precede Carolina’s bye week in Week 7. Carolina travels to Atlanta on Oct. 2 before returning for the Monday Night contest against Tampa Bay and then traveling to New Orleans on Oct. 16.

 

Following the bye week, Carolina hosts Arizona on Oct. 30 in a rematch of last season’s NFC Championship game.

 

Beginning in Week 9, Carolina will play three games on the West Coast in five weeks. The Panthers travel to Los Angeles on Nov. 6 before returning home for back-to-back games against Kansas City (Nov. 13) and New Orleans (Nov. 17) and heading west again for games at Oakland on Nov. 27 and at Seattle on Dec. 4. Seattle and Carolina are meeting for the seventh time in the last five seasons, including the postseason.

 

The Panthers host San Diego for the first time since 2004 on Dec. 11 and then travel to Washington for Monday Night Football. Carolina finishes the regular season with a pair of division games, hosting Atlanta on Dec. 24 and traveling to Tampa Bay on New Year’s Day.

 

Last season, the Panthers earned their third consecutive NFC South title, won the NFC Championship and advanced to Super Bowl 50, marking the team’s second Super Bowl appearance.