Look folks, I understand that it’s been 109 days since we last saw Ravens football, and 116 days since we last enjoyed Ravens football (that would be a week before handing the Bills a playoff spot), but is there really any logical reason to get hyped for the schedule release tonight? Can it really teach us ANYTHING useful about what to expect from the 2018 Ravens?
Here’s what we already know prior to the release, with 100% certainty:
-every single opponent, both road and home
-there’s no London or Mexico City games for the Ravens
And here’s what we can assume:
-given the alternating home & away Week 1 games for Baltimore, they’ll likely open at home
-the home opener is likely against an AFC North opponent
-they’ll likely close the season against an AFC North opponent (probably Cincy since that’s our ‘thing’)
So what else matters?
We have no idea what the Ravens, or any of their opponents, will look like in terms of a 53-man roster come Week 1, so it’s not like we can accurately play the ‘W-L’ game right now. And honestly, why would we? Does the release of the schedule really change that much in terms of win/loss expectations? Does it matter if they play the Titans in Week 6 versus Week 16? There used to be a time when you could say ‘well you know the Ravens will win their post-bye game!’ but even that isn’t a guarantee anymore.
Speaking of the bye week, I’m sure that’s something we’ll all look for; but again, how much does it matter?
The @Ravens’ bye weeks, since 2012: 8, 8, 11, 9, 8, 10.
— Mike Fast (@MikeFastNFL) April 18, 2018
Seems like the Bye tends to fall between 8 & 11, yes? So assuming the 2018 season follows suit, the back-end of the season will be somewhere between five & eight games long, yes? So remind me again… how detrimental is that to success? Is there a pattern of Super Bowl-winning teams having bye weeks post-Week 10? Is there a trend where teams having a bye on Week 7 or earlier always finish bottom-10 in the final standings? Or are we just making up excuses for success and failure?
In reality, here’s a list of factors that come into play during the offseason, that matter much more in terms of a successful season in the NFL:
-drafting well
-successfully diving into free agency
-retaining key players
-no injuries or suspensions
-not being the Browns
That’s about it, and if we’re really being honest with ourselves? We’d admit that the NFL schedule release is nothing more than a cash grab by turning it into a two-hour, televised event (pst! we’re not watching Rog! just checking for our schedule on the Ravens social media page!) and people will overreact and complain no matter how it shakes out. Expect to see these comments from various fan bases via the Twitters come 8:01pm tonight:
“I can’t believe they open us with two straight road games!”
“Of course our team plays three straight playoff teams before playing a team that’s coming off a bye…”
“Why do we have to get the earliest bye week?!”
“It’s not fair that we only get a single prime time home game, even though our stands are empty, we haven’t sniffed the playoffs in years & we’re not enticing to draw a national audience…”
I dig it if your excitement in the release of the schedule is planning road trips for away games (I’m sure the Ravens Flock will overrun Nashville) or you’re trying to schedule your upcoming nuptials during a bye week like the best couples do; but otherwise this schedule release is much ado about nothing.
Wake me when the draft arrives in… HOLY HELL THE DRAFT IS A WEEK FROM TODAY!
NOW YOU CAN GET HYPE RAVENS FAM!
