Week 12 — Panthers at San Francisco
The Panthers are back in prime-time, in a Monday Night Football showdown with the 49ers. Kyle Shanahan's crew entered last season as the NFC West reigning champs, but went 6-11 in 2024, including 2-7 after the bye. This MNF game will be the first time Christian McCaffrey has faced his former team.
The 49ers added receiver Demarcus Robinson and backup QB Mac Jones in free agency, as well as running back Patrick Taylor, hoping to address some of the depth issues that plagued San Francisco in 2024.
Arguably the toughest part of this matchup will be the aftereffects. As a primetime West Coast game, Carolina won't arrive home until early Tuesday morning, and will head right into game prep so as not to lose too much time from playing on a Monday.
Jake's Take: "I know for me as a player, I loved playing a team (coming) off of a Monday night game because, you always felt like, 'Hey, they're 30-something hours less in preparation, body-wise and things like that.' And we're starting to get that push into later in the season. This is November 24th. The body is affected starting in training camp really, but sometimes you can have some attrition, at that point.
"And so San Fran and we didn't have a Monday night game last year…(so) players are going to be juiced. It'll be in San Fran. I'm assuming the NFL schedule makers possibly—because I know it's a few years removed, but the Christian McCaffrey (trade), ex-Carolina Panther, and so San Fran, our Monday night game.
"But for me, I'm excited that we're going to be on national TV and hopefully we're playing well at that time to kind of get us back in the national spotlight."