1-Man’s Opinion on Sports-Thursday. “NFL SCHEDULE…MAKE YOU-BREAK YOU”
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“NFL SCHEDULE..HELP YOU WIN–CAN MAKE YOU LOSE”
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The NFL schedule is out, and for some it’s an eye opener of opportunity. For others it could be a death walk. Yes everybody plays 17-games, some years you get 8-home games-9 on the road..the next year it’s reversed.
The top 3-teams, the fans favorites in Southern California, the Chargers-Rams-Raiders look as if they got strange draws in the 2024-fall schedule.
A close up look:
CHARGERS:
Yes they open with a key division rivalry game with the Raiders at home, but will it be a Raiders home game at So Fi Stadium? Yes it could be, even with the debut of Jim Harbaugh, unless the Chargers refuse to sell tickets to anyone with a tattoo or wearing Silver & Black.
The oddity in the Bolts schedule is the back to backs they play. Road games at Carolina and Pittsburgh in weeks 2-and-3. Then two in a row weeks later at Denver and Arizona. Later in the season, back to back road junkets to Atlanta and Kansas City. and they finish with road trips to New England and Las Vegas.
They do play 3-straight at home come November, and you never-ever see that, but the Titans-Bengals and Ravens come in back to back to back.
They play 4-of their final 6-on the road, a tough stretch if you are in a playoff race.
They have Justin Herbert but lots of new faces at key positions around him, and they play only 8-at home, 9-on the road. Add in if the Raiders fans over-run So Fi, the Bolts will play 10-road games.
The plus, they have the 5th easiest schedule on paper. The negative, they will travel a league high (26,803) miles this year, a far cry from the (10,100) the Washington Commanders travel.
The schedule is a bitch.
RAMS:
What a way to start the season, as Sean McVay’s men go to Detroit to face the fierce growl of the Lions. Then in week three, they are home with the 49ers. Three of the opening four are on the road, including weekend 4-in Chicago against the amped up Bears.
The end of the season has back to backs against the Bills and at San Francisco.
There are five long road hauls to the East or Central time zone
The home schedule is a dandy, with the Niners, Packers, Raiders, Miami, Eagles and the Bills.
Could be a good season if they can survive the first couple of weeks..and find the right combo to replace the retired Aaron Donald-at defensive tackle.
RAIDERS:
Only way to describe this is ‘brutal’.
Open with the Chargers in LA, but that could be a home game in all honesty.
But the Silver & Black go from facing Justin Herbert in week one, to facing Lamar Jackson in Baltimore in week two. They also get the Browns and Deshaun Watson in week four.
Midseason has back to backs with the Rams in LA and the Chiefs at Allegiant Stadium, followed by a roadie to Cincinnati. That’s a tough haul.
And get this, coming out of a later bye week, they play at Miami, at Kansas City, at Tampa Bay in a four week window.
Very winnable home games with Carolina, the Steelers, Atlanta, the Jaguars and maybe the Chargers.
Antonio Pierce talks up a storm. Maxx Crosby plays with his hair on fire. But do they have enough talent?
If the Raiders fans take over So Fi Stadium when they come in to play the Bolts and Rams, Las Vegas could effectively have ’10-home games’.
But in the big picture, with decisions to be made at quarterback, finding a lead running back, and trying to build up a defense, this could be a playoff-killer of a schedule for a team trying to find traction.
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