The NFL has released the 2019 regular season schedule with far more fanfare and hullabaloo that it merits. However, it was a relatively slow news week in sports; so, the announcement was a welcome one. I will not pretend to have pondered the context of every one of the 256 regular season games, but I do like to check the schedule every year to look for specific games and/or specific stretches of the season that might be particularly interesting to watch come the Fall.
Several commentators have tried to construct an argument that certain teams were ”screwed over” by the league’s scheduling department. For the most part, those arguments are warmed over balderdash; the NFL schedule is formulaic and not whimsical. Having said that, I do think that 3 teams have a sub-optimal segment in their schedule:
- Arizona Cardinals: As if the team with the first overall pick in the Draft does not have enough to overcome in 2019, the Cards will end their season with 5 games that look to be brutal. They finish up with the Rams, the Steelers, the Browns, at the Seahawks and at the Rams. Unless you believe that the Browns are horribly over-hyped and that the Steelers are about to implode, that is a bad way to have to end the season.
- SF 49ers: They open the season with 2 road games – never optimal – and both of those games are in the Eastern Time Zone – ouch. Then, after the third game of the season, the Niners get the earliest possible Bye Week – another scheduling aspect that is sub-optimal.
- Tampa Bay Bucs: They have two tough road games – – at the Rams and at the Saints – – before they have a “home game” in London. Oh swell…
I don’t remember where I saw this, so I cannot cite it properly here, but someone noticed that the Falcons will start the season by playing their first 9 games in domed stadiums. True, some have retractable roofs that might be open on a nice Fall day, but it is also possible that all 9 games will be indoors. In addition to 4 home games in their domed stadium in Atlanta, the Falcons will travel to Minneapolis, Indy, Houston, Arizona and New Orleans before playing the Panthers in Charlotte in what will surely be an outdoor game in November
What I look for most carefully when perusing the NFL schedule are those games that appear to be the “Game of the Week” throughout the season. In reality, the “Game of the Week” is determined by how well – or how poorly – teams do once the season starts, but the pre-season view highlights a few games that need to be remembered as the season unfolds. Here are some that look interesting to me:
- Week 2: Saints at Rams … After the way the playoff game between these teams ended in January, I suspect that both teams will be highly focused for this encounter.
- Week 5: Bears vs Raiders in London … This game gives Khalil Mack his first shot at the team that traded him away. Could be interesting…
- Week 7: Ravens at Seahawks… Earl Thomas left Seattle in less than good health – he was carted off the field – and in less than a good mood – he flipped off the Seahawks bench as he was being carted off the field. Now he plays for the Ravens and this is his return game to Seattle…
- Week 8: Skins at Vikes… Two years ago, Case Keenum led the Vikes to the playoffs and Kirk Cousins was toiling under the onerous franchise tag in DC. Now Cousins is a highly paid QB for the Vikes and Keenum is hoping to be the Skins’ starting QB. Interesting storyline even if the game might not be so interesting…
- Week 8: Packers at Chiefs… Aaron Rodgers visits Patrick Mahomes. I like the OVER here… Oh, and everyone will get to see this game because it is going to be the Sunday Night Game so the Skins/Vikes game can be the diurnal “Game of the Week” and this one can be the nocturnal “Game of the Week”…
- Week 11: Pats at Eagles… It is a year removed from the Super Bowl matchup in Feb 2018, but there might be an edge to the game. Also, it is late in the season and both teams figure to be contending for playoff slots…
- Week 13: Browns at Steelers… Are the Browns for real? Are the Steelers coming apart at the seams? By this point in the season we might have some answers to those questions and assuming the Steelers find ways to “keep it together”, this late season game in Pittsburgh will be a measuring stick for how far the Browns have come on the path from laughingstock to respectability…
- Week 14: Chiefs at Pats… A rematch of last year’s AFC Championship game that went to OT in KC. What else is there to say about the potential excitement for this game late in the regular season?
- Week 15: Jags at Raiders… Barring some major delay in the Las Vegas Stadium construction, this will be the final game for the Raiders in Oakland. That could be an ugly scene – – very ugly…
- Week 16: Steelers at Jets… LeVeon Bell gets to renew his acquaintances with his former teammates from Pittsburgh days…
The 2 games during the afternoon on Thanksgiving Day are not so grand. The Lions and Bears open the festivities. Yes, this is a division game; but it appears from here that the Bears will be serious playoff contenders and the Lions will be – – well – – the Lions. Later, the Cowboys will host the Bills in a game that has about the same rivalry history as the one between the University of Idaho and the University of South Carolina. The evening game on Thanksgiving will be the star of the show; the Saints will visit the Falcons in a game between two division rivals both of whom should be good.
Finally, this comment from Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times harkens back to last year’s Monday Night Football telecasts:
“ABC-TV is slated to air a 10-episode series on mini-golf called ‘Holey Moley,’ with Joe Tessitore among those behind the mic.
“What, no Booger McFarland sideline reports from a golf cart?”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………