CollegeKingRex
CTG Regular
This thread was pretty popular during the offseason last year, so I figured I'd fire it up again.
As always, feel free to add whatever you see fit and discuss anything regarding the schedules in here. Will get around to the AFC sometime this weekend, if not tonight.
:shake:
NFC East
Dallas - Like last year, the Cowboys open with two division foes. But they also play a division opponent in every month of the season, so their chances to get "up" are spread out well. The bye comes in Week 7. The "America's Team" motto still holds. You would think Dallas was in California if you saw the TV schedule. The trip to DC in Week 2 is the only scheduled "early" game until November. All in all, Dallas is not scheduled to play in the most popular 1 p.m Eastern time slot in 11 of the first 14 games. They do play back-to-back roadies twice and get three AFC North teams in a row in November.
Philly - The Eagles get a dreaded Week 4 bye. They don't play a division game until October 16 (at Redskins), which starts a span of three divison games in four weeks. The process repeats itself starting with Week 14. They do get the Giants in the last Thursday game of the year (Dec. 22, Week 16) at home. Last year, Philly's trip to Dallas was the only time they left the Eastern time zone. This year, they play at Seattle but nowhere else west of Dallas. They do have four of five on the road after the bye, including all three division foes. They should know after the Nov. 6 trip to New Jersey just exactly where they stand. The bye in general is just a rotten deal for the Eagles in 2016. They'll face three teams the week after their byes (Dallas, Minnesota, Giants) with two on the road. That's more than any other team, and nine teams don't face any teams coming off a bye.
Giants - The G-Men get a London "road" game against the Rams and then are slated to play 3 times at night in seven weeks in November and December. There are three instances of back-to-back road games but they don't play a true road game for seven weeks (Week 5 at Green Bay until Week 12 at Cleveland) so there is certainly hay to be made there. Four of the last six are on the road and the last two are at Philly, at DC.
Washington - The Skins will play four of their first six at home, so they'll get a fair shake at a fast start in defending their NFC East crown. They also get a London "road" game against Cincinnati before the bye. They do get some payback at the end, though. Four of the last six are on the road and Weeks 12-14 are all road trips to Dallas, Phoenix and Philly. That will likely define the season. All 3 of the games Washington is slated to play in prime time are at home. They are also done with the four AFC North teams before Halloween, leaving them with only NFC sides after the bye. And the Redskins are never at home for more than two games.
NFC West
Seattle - Seattle has just two games slated to start at 10 am Pacific time - at the Jets in the week before their bye and the other is in week 8 at New Orleans. The other potential early games (at New England, at Tampa, at Green Bay) are all slated to start late or in prime time. No other major anomalies here. Five of the last 11 are slated to be night games for now. If they head into December with control of their fate, the Bags have nothing to worry about. They get Carolina coming in again before a trip to Green Bay and meetings with all three division foes to close out the campaign.
Arizona - The Cardinals got a high hard one last year from the schedule makers; this year is much more tenable - at least early on. There is a stretch of 3 road games (all 1 pm EST kicks) in four weeks and five of the last seven are true road games after five of the first seven are at home. At Seattle and at LA to end the season could have a big say in the playoff picture for the NFC. An interesting note - each of the other three division teams play FOUR road games where they travel at least 2,000 miles (a noted detriment, as CBS Sports reported about in May; here's the link http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2...ll-travel-the-most-miles-steelers-the-fewest/ ). Meanwhile, Arizona has just one road trip of 2,000 miles or more. They also are the only division team who plays New England during the Tom Brady suspension.
LA Rams - The Rams agreed to play an international game in each of the next three seasons as part of their move out of STL and back to LAX. This year, they sacrifice a home game in London to play the Giants. That only pads a stat that the Rams were always going to lead - most miles flown in 2016. The Rams are slated to fly more than 32,000 miles this season. The franchise moved almost 2,000 miles since the last game was played so that move cannot be taken lightly, either. In Week 10, the Rammers go to the Jets, New Orleans and New England in a span of four weeks. All three of those games are set for a 10 a.m. PST start. Three of the first four are division games, and all of the last three are as well. The Rams travel at least 2,000 miles to play a game four times this season; in 2015 those teams went 8-16.
San Fran - Nothing stands out here; the 49ers did the most travelling (28k miles) last year. They do play four times at 10 am PST, but this seems a more tenable slate - but only in terms of travel. There is a stretch of four-out-of-five on the road from Weeks 12-16. The Niners also face teams with the highest Pythagorean win percentage from Week 10 to the finish - in addition to facing the toughest over the entire season. It's the same schedule that the Rams face, but the Rams get SF twice and the Niners are not allowed to play themselves.
NFC North
Green Bay - The Packers play an astounding five of their first 12 games at night, with three Sunday Night appearances scheduled for now. After opening with two road games, the Packers then play four straight at home and go six full weeks between road games. They also play all three division foes in the last three weeks. The Packers also play three in a row on the road (at Tennessee, at Washington, at Philly) with the last two being night games.
Detroit - The Leos play three of their first four on the road and are only scheduled to play at night once (at Dallas, Week 16). The opener at Indy is a 4:25 start; otherwise, Detroit fans can plan their Sundays around 1 p.m. kickoffs - 13 of their games are slated to go at that time. They draw the Vikings twice in a span of 19 days in November and after that they play three of four on the road again. They do have a three-game homestand in October and face the second-easiest Pythagorean schedule behind Chicago.
Minnesota - No excuses for these guys. The Vikings are scheduled for four night games this year, which would have to be a record for them. They have one difficult stretch of four of six on the road coming out of their Week 6 bye. Included in that stretch are two division games. They play only one division foe in the first six games. Starting with Week 9, they alternate home and road games the rest of the year. They never travel west of Minneapolis.
Chicago - The Bears can't complain, either. They play four of their first eight games at night and the only stretch where they play three of four on the road is broken by the Week 9 bye. The Bears fly fewer miles than any other NFC team and that includes two trips to Texas in the first three weeks. In addition, Chicago faces the easiest Pythag schedule in the league this season. The last-place finish in 2015 gives them games against Tampa and San Francisco.
NFC South
Carolina - The Panthers will play four of their last six on the road, so it would be wise to beat the Saints on Thursday night in Week 11. They should be amped for it - they play AFC West teams (the least important games) in Weeks 10 and 12, the "anti-sandwich", if you will. Last year's success means the Panthers are slated for five night games. With two on Thursday, two on Monday, time off before the season and the bye included, Carolina will play a ridiculous SEVEN TIMES with eight days or more between games, including four of the first seven games. The Week 8 game against Arizona in the NFC championship rematch comes when the Cardinals have played three straight night games and the Panthers are off the bye.
Atlanta - The league did Atlanta no favors last year, and despite sprinting to the fast start, Atlanta wilted in the middle and did nothing outside of handing Carolina its only regular season loss after it was too late to matter. Three of the first four in 2016 are in the division, in addition to the last two. Atlanta is out of the division for stretches of 31 (weeks 4-8) and 51 days (weeks 10-15). There is a stretch of four of five on the road from weeks 2-6 and both night games are division roadies. The bye isn't until Week 11 and before that they play on the road back-to-back three times before getting four of the last six at home.
New Orleans - The Week 5 bye is no fun, but there is little fanfare to this thing. They play alternating home and road games all the way until Week 13 and then go to Tampa and Arizona in Week 14 and 15 before getting the Bucs at home and going to Atlanta to end the season. There are just two night games on the schedule and the only late afternoon starts are the games in western locales. They are done with Carolina by Week 11 but play just one division game before the Oct. 16 trip to Charlotte.
Tampa Bay - The Bucs should fire whoever does their website; they are the only team not in uniformity with the rest of the NFL in terms of what the shit looks like on the schedule homepage. The Bucs do not play a division home game until Nov. 3 but do enjoy a stretch where they play just two road games in two months between September and November. Thanks to the back-to-back roadies to start the season, they don't get it in spades later on. I'm sure I'm missing something here so blame it on the idiotic web designer for this team.
As always, feel free to add whatever you see fit and discuss anything regarding the schedules in here. Will get around to the AFC sometime this weekend, if not tonight.
:shake:
NFC East
Dallas - Like last year, the Cowboys open with two division foes. But they also play a division opponent in every month of the season, so their chances to get "up" are spread out well. The bye comes in Week 7. The "America's Team" motto still holds. You would think Dallas was in California if you saw the TV schedule. The trip to DC in Week 2 is the only scheduled "early" game until November. All in all, Dallas is not scheduled to play in the most popular 1 p.m Eastern time slot in 11 of the first 14 games. They do play back-to-back roadies twice and get three AFC North teams in a row in November.
Philly - The Eagles get a dreaded Week 4 bye. They don't play a division game until October 16 (at Redskins), which starts a span of three divison games in four weeks. The process repeats itself starting with Week 14. They do get the Giants in the last Thursday game of the year (Dec. 22, Week 16) at home. Last year, Philly's trip to Dallas was the only time they left the Eastern time zone. This year, they play at Seattle but nowhere else west of Dallas. They do have four of five on the road after the bye, including all three division foes. They should know after the Nov. 6 trip to New Jersey just exactly where they stand. The bye in general is just a rotten deal for the Eagles in 2016. They'll face three teams the week after their byes (Dallas, Minnesota, Giants) with two on the road. That's more than any other team, and nine teams don't face any teams coming off a bye.
Giants - The G-Men get a London "road" game against the Rams and then are slated to play 3 times at night in seven weeks in November and December. There are three instances of back-to-back road games but they don't play a true road game for seven weeks (Week 5 at Green Bay until Week 12 at Cleveland) so there is certainly hay to be made there. Four of the last six are on the road and the last two are at Philly, at DC.
Washington - The Skins will play four of their first six at home, so they'll get a fair shake at a fast start in defending their NFC East crown. They also get a London "road" game against Cincinnati before the bye. They do get some payback at the end, though. Four of the last six are on the road and Weeks 12-14 are all road trips to Dallas, Phoenix and Philly. That will likely define the season. All 3 of the games Washington is slated to play in prime time are at home. They are also done with the four AFC North teams before Halloween, leaving them with only NFC sides after the bye. And the Redskins are never at home for more than two games.
NFC West
Seattle - Seattle has just two games slated to start at 10 am Pacific time - at the Jets in the week before their bye and the other is in week 8 at New Orleans. The other potential early games (at New England, at Tampa, at Green Bay) are all slated to start late or in prime time. No other major anomalies here. Five of the last 11 are slated to be night games for now. If they head into December with control of their fate, the Bags have nothing to worry about. They get Carolina coming in again before a trip to Green Bay and meetings with all three division foes to close out the campaign.
Arizona - The Cardinals got a high hard one last year from the schedule makers; this year is much more tenable - at least early on. There is a stretch of 3 road games (all 1 pm EST kicks) in four weeks and five of the last seven are true road games after five of the first seven are at home. At Seattle and at LA to end the season could have a big say in the playoff picture for the NFC. An interesting note - each of the other three division teams play FOUR road games where they travel at least 2,000 miles (a noted detriment, as CBS Sports reported about in May; here's the link http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2...ll-travel-the-most-miles-steelers-the-fewest/ ). Meanwhile, Arizona has just one road trip of 2,000 miles or more. They also are the only division team who plays New England during the Tom Brady suspension.
LA Rams - The Rams agreed to play an international game in each of the next three seasons as part of their move out of STL and back to LAX. This year, they sacrifice a home game in London to play the Giants. That only pads a stat that the Rams were always going to lead - most miles flown in 2016. The Rams are slated to fly more than 32,000 miles this season. The franchise moved almost 2,000 miles since the last game was played so that move cannot be taken lightly, either. In Week 10, the Rammers go to the Jets, New Orleans and New England in a span of four weeks. All three of those games are set for a 10 a.m. PST start. Three of the first four are division games, and all of the last three are as well. The Rams travel at least 2,000 miles to play a game four times this season; in 2015 those teams went 8-16.
San Fran - Nothing stands out here; the 49ers did the most travelling (28k miles) last year. They do play four times at 10 am PST, but this seems a more tenable slate - but only in terms of travel. There is a stretch of four-out-of-five on the road from Weeks 12-16. The Niners also face teams with the highest Pythagorean win percentage from Week 10 to the finish - in addition to facing the toughest over the entire season. It's the same schedule that the Rams face, but the Rams get SF twice and the Niners are not allowed to play themselves.
NFC North
Green Bay - The Packers play an astounding five of their first 12 games at night, with three Sunday Night appearances scheduled for now. After opening with two road games, the Packers then play four straight at home and go six full weeks between road games. They also play all three division foes in the last three weeks. The Packers also play three in a row on the road (at Tennessee, at Washington, at Philly) with the last two being night games.
Detroit - The Leos play three of their first four on the road and are only scheduled to play at night once (at Dallas, Week 16). The opener at Indy is a 4:25 start; otherwise, Detroit fans can plan their Sundays around 1 p.m. kickoffs - 13 of their games are slated to go at that time. They draw the Vikings twice in a span of 19 days in November and after that they play three of four on the road again. They do have a three-game homestand in October and face the second-easiest Pythagorean schedule behind Chicago.
Minnesota - No excuses for these guys. The Vikings are scheduled for four night games this year, which would have to be a record for them. They have one difficult stretch of four of six on the road coming out of their Week 6 bye. Included in that stretch are two division games. They play only one division foe in the first six games. Starting with Week 9, they alternate home and road games the rest of the year. They never travel west of Minneapolis.
Chicago - The Bears can't complain, either. They play four of their first eight games at night and the only stretch where they play three of four on the road is broken by the Week 9 bye. The Bears fly fewer miles than any other NFC team and that includes two trips to Texas in the first three weeks. In addition, Chicago faces the easiest Pythag schedule in the league this season. The last-place finish in 2015 gives them games against Tampa and San Francisco.
NFC South
Carolina - The Panthers will play four of their last six on the road, so it would be wise to beat the Saints on Thursday night in Week 11. They should be amped for it - they play AFC West teams (the least important games) in Weeks 10 and 12, the "anti-sandwich", if you will. Last year's success means the Panthers are slated for five night games. With two on Thursday, two on Monday, time off before the season and the bye included, Carolina will play a ridiculous SEVEN TIMES with eight days or more between games, including four of the first seven games. The Week 8 game against Arizona in the NFC championship rematch comes when the Cardinals have played three straight night games and the Panthers are off the bye.
Atlanta - The league did Atlanta no favors last year, and despite sprinting to the fast start, Atlanta wilted in the middle and did nothing outside of handing Carolina its only regular season loss after it was too late to matter. Three of the first four in 2016 are in the division, in addition to the last two. Atlanta is out of the division for stretches of 31 (weeks 4-8) and 51 days (weeks 10-15). There is a stretch of four of five on the road from weeks 2-6 and both night games are division roadies. The bye isn't until Week 11 and before that they play on the road back-to-back three times before getting four of the last six at home.
New Orleans - The Week 5 bye is no fun, but there is little fanfare to this thing. They play alternating home and road games all the way until Week 13 and then go to Tampa and Arizona in Week 14 and 15 before getting the Bucs at home and going to Atlanta to end the season. There are just two night games on the schedule and the only late afternoon starts are the games in western locales. They are done with Carolina by Week 11 but play just one division game before the Oct. 16 trip to Charlotte.
Tampa Bay - The Bucs should fire whoever does their website; they are the only team not in uniformity with the rest of the NFL in terms of what the shit looks like on the schedule homepage. The Bucs do not play a division home game until Nov. 3 but do enjoy a stretch where they play just two road games in two months between September and November. Thanks to the back-to-back roadies to start the season, they don't get it in spades later on. I'm sure I'm missing something here so blame it on the idiotic web designer for this team.
