This one carried a little more weight than the others, because for the first time in my life I’m planning to attend a Seahawks road game. In Cleveland of all places! What a year for them to supposedly be good, or at least exciting, thus driving up the prices of tickets to an astronomical level. When you factor in how there are no direct flights from Seattle to Cleveland, let’s just say I’m not necessarily having second thoughts, but I’m THINKING about having second thoughts. Without further ado:
- Week 1 – vs. Cincinnati, 1:05pm
- Week 2 – @ Pittsburgh, 10am
- Week 3 – vs. New Orleans, 1:25pm
- Week 4 – @ Arizona, 1:05pm
- Week 5 – vs. Los Angeles, Thursday Night
- Week 6 – @ Cleveland, 10am
- Week 7 – vs. Baltimore, 1:25pm
- Week 8 – @ Atlanta, 10am
- Week 9 – vs. Tampa Bay, 1:05pm
- Week 10 – @ San Francisco, Monday Night
- Week 11 – BYE
- Week 12 – @ Philadelphia, Sunday Night
- Week 13 – vs. Minnesota, Monday Night
- Week 14 – @ Los Angeles, Sunday Night
- Week 15 – @ Carolina, 10am
- Week 16 – vs. Arizona, 1:25pm
- Week 17 – vs. San Francisco, 1:25pm
It’s cool we get to open the season at home; the Bengals should be pushovers. It’s cool that we get five primetime games, including both against the Rams. Of course, those late-season Sunday Night games could always be flexed out, so that’s something to keep in mind. They can’t do anything with the Thursday or Monday games though!
You know me, I LOVE the week 11 BYE. The later the better in my book! On paper, though, this looks like a remarkably difficult schedule (though, that’s not something we couldn’t have discussed before the official times were set; we knew who we were playing as soon as last season ended). The AFC North isn’t particularly brutal, but right now it appears the toughest two teams – Cleveland and Pittsburgh – will both be road games. The NFC South DOES look particularly brutal, and it’ll be no picnic flying all the way to Atlanta and Carolina for 10am starts (especially that Panthers game in December, which comes on the heels of a Sunday Night game against the Rams, also on the road). In general, the entire road slate looks pretty formidable; the home slate, conversely, looks pretty reasonable (nice to finish with back-to-back home games before the playoffs).
It’s dumb to speculate too much at this point; the NFL Draft hasn’t even happened. You know some of the good-looking teams will suck, and some of the sucky-looking teams will surprise, so let’s get back to this closer to the regular season.