The 2023 NFL schedule is set!
Why is that big news? Well, we don’t actually know. The league won’t be playing in meaningful games for another four months and in the past has just allowed teams to release the schedule whenever it was finished. They’re making a huge deal out of it now, however, so we’re going to ride their coattails and do the same thing!
Though each team has known their opponents for a while now, some had a better night than others when taking a look at the specifics. So with that, here are some of the biggest winners and losers from the NFL schedule release:
Winner: New England Patriots
The Patriots have one of the toughest schedules in the NFL, but the actual scheduling isn’t half bad. New England is slated to play in four primetime games, with its fans treated to some specialty games.
The Patriots will play in Germany in Week 10, is scheduled to play eight 1 p.m. ET games, has back-to-back road games on just two occasions and will have 11 days to prepare for their matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs.
You can see the full schedule here.
Losers: Houston Texans, Atlanta Falcons, Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals
There are four teams in the NFL without a primetime game this season. I’m sure you can guess who they are.
Loser: Seattle Seahawks
We hope Pete Carroll has his frequent flyer miles on deck.
There isn’t a team in the NFL who will travel more than the Seahawks, who despite not being one of the nine teams to play in the International Series, will travel more than 31,600 miles this upcoming season. Seattle will cross time zones 36 times, also the most in the NFL. That sounds horrendous.
Winner: NFL social media teams
The folks that run social media accounts for NFL teams are doing a tremendous job. The Cardinals had a great thread relating to music, the Patriots nailed their announcement video and the Chicago Bears put together what might be the best release yet.
All for the sake of telling people something that won’t matter for another four months. What a world we live in.
Loser: Jacksonville Jaguars
We know that the NFL is all in on making the Jaguars the face of international play, but TWO games in London?
Jacksonville is only technically losing one home game, but will be forced to practice overseas for two straight weeks at the start of October as it prepares for the Falcons and Bills. The overseas doubleheader will be the first of its kind in NFL history, making the Jaguars a guinea pig of sorts. That can’t be good.
Loser: Cable users
The end is near for old people.
Wow, that got a bit dark. What we meant was it’s looking like the NFL is shifting toward more streaming-exclusive games in 2023 after Amazon Prime’s experiment with Thursday Night Football went off… well, fine. The Bills and Chargers’ matchup in Week 16 will be a Peacock exclusive, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, which means four streaming services will have to carry game’s in 2023. That number will only grow.
