The pageantry and trumped up hoopla authored by the NFL Network surrounding its prime time NFL Schedule Release, seemed to miss the mark this year. Schedule leaks were far less common, perhaps part of a concerted effort to drive more eyeballs to the NFLN presentation which began last night at 8PM Eastern. And just as the clock struck 8, my cell was blowing up with notifications. Right there in the palm of my hand sat the Ravens 2023 schedule, rendering the Network’s show an absolute dud. It was akin to overhearing the ending of the series finale to your favorite show on HBO Max before you had a chance to even watch.
The drama, the anticipation, all shattered in moments. The NFLN show hit the floor with a thud. In the future, save yourself the time. Just wait for that schedule release push notification from the Ravens. That’s really all you need.
That being said, here are some takes on the Ravens 2023 schedule:
• Two of the Ravens first 3 games (Weeks 1 and 3) will be against opponents that are likely to start rookie quarterbacks. The opener against the Texans (C.J. Stroud) on September 10 and then again on September 24 when the Ravens are likely to see Anthony Richardson.
• The Ravens fared well against Joe Burrow & Co. in 2022. Defensive Coordinator Mike Macdonald made the proper adjustments to spare us all the embarrassment that Burrow delivered twice in 2021. This season, the Bengals may need to adjust on the fly against Todd Monken’s offense. The bet here is that the Ravens will take care of the Texans in a one-sided affair in the season opener, during which Monken won’t have to reveal all that much. With little tape on Monken’s Ravens offense, it sets up well for an ambush in “The Jungle” at Cincinnati.
• The first three road games are all against the AFC North. In 2022 the Ravens didn’t face an AFCN rival until Week 5 (Bengals) and they didn’t take on the Steelers until Week 14.
• Four of the first 6 games are on the road, including an October 15 trip to London to take on the Tennessee Titans as the visitors. Hopefully, the Ravens will be better prepared than they were back on September 24, 2017, the last and only time they’ve played in London. On that day, the Joe Flacco led offense produced just 72 net yards through 3 quarters. Flacco was 8 of 18 for 28 yards, 0 TD’s and 2 INT’s before giving way to Ryan Mallet to start the 4th quarter.
The last time I went to London for a #Ravens game, this was the best part of that infamous day. pic.twitter.com/r4KFrn1YBb
— Tony Lombardi (@RSRLombardi) May 10, 2023
• The Ravens have no prime time games until Week 11 when they host the Bengals on Thursday Night Football. The Ravens are home the prior week against the Browns. That’s a distinct advantage for the Ravens that late in the season to host a divisional rival on a short week.
• Following that Thursday Night contest v. Cincinnati, the Ravens can enjoy a mini-bye before traveling to Los Angeles to take on the Chargers, November 26.
https://t.co/emMgk9luI1 looked at every NFL team's road opponents for the 2023-24 regular season, along with the five international games, to compute the linear distance each team will travel in miles and how many times they cross into a new time zone on each round trip. pic.twitter.com/1875oVrYRD
— Tony Lombardi (@RSRLombardi) May 10, 2023
• Upon returning home from their trip to Tinsel Town, the Ravens have a bye during Week 13 before hosting the Rams on December 10. That means that they’ll have played just one game during a 22-day stretch before that contest with Sean McVay & Co. The 1PM Eastern start has historically been problematic for teams traveling from the West Coast.
• The Ravens Christmas Night game has its challenges. The team is likely to be airborne on Christmas Eve, clearly a disruption to the players’ respective families. They will however, be able to manage the east-to-west travel with an extra day. Christmas falls on a Monday this year.
What are your biggest takeaways from the Ravens 2023 Schedule?
Before the full schedule is released…
Every team's strength of schedule in 2023. ⬇️
📺: 2023 NFL Schedule Release — Tonight 8pm ET on @NFLNetwork pic.twitter.com/82xmSqdaQY
— NFL (@NFL) May 11, 2023
2 Responses
TL, once the Raven schedule dropped, game over for the NFLN’s hype machine.
Can’t say it enough – if we stay healthy the schedule won’t stop us.