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| The Denver Broncos will host the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL Kickoff game on September 5, 2013. The game is a rematch of their double-OT divisional round playoff game. Photo credit to Football Perspective. |
Last night, the National Football League finally released the
2013 regular season schedule, prompting me to publish something between my
regular Monday updates. Of course, we already knew the 16 matchups each team
would have on their schedule. But the order can be just as important, and we
didn’t have that until now.
The schedule features plenty of exciting matchups. As a
Redskins fan, of course their schedule was the first I looked at. I will start
by counting down my top 5 games on the Redskins’ schedule for 2013. After that,
I will count down my top 5 prime time games and my top 5 non-prime time games
for other teams across the NFL.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Must-Watch Games:
Washington Redskins
5. Week
1 (Sept. 9), vs Philadelphia Eagles
This game will mark Chip Kelly’s first regular season game
in the NFL. Though this one game won’t even begin to help us predict his future
success in the league, it will give us a taste of his coaching style and what
we’ll be going up against twice a year from now on.
Of course, Robert Griffin III is hoping to be back by this
game. If he is, this game in important because it will give us a sense of
whether he truly is at 100% or if weaker tendons in his knees will lead to
limitations moving forward. If he is not back yet, we will see the product of
Kirk Cousins’s offseason work as the team’s #1 quarterback.
4. Week
9 (Nov. 7), at Minnesota Vikings
By this time, either Christian Ponder or Matt Cassell should be firmly in the starting
quarterback position. Any game with Adrian Peterson is an important one to
watch. Plus, the Redskins needed an electric touchdown run for RGIII to secure
the home win against Minnesota in 2012.
3. Week
2 (Sept. 15), vs Green Bay Packers
If there’s ever a preferable time to face Green Bay in
Lambeau Field, early in the season is it. That’s exactly what they will get in
their 1:00 kickoff against Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews, and the Packers.
Green Bay is probably the better team, but the Redskins are
4-0 against Super Bowl winners over the past 4 years, so they’ve beaten better
teams before. Should be a great game.
2. Week
8 (Oct. 27), at Denver Broncos
Come on, it’s a game against a playoff team, one of the best
teams in the AFC, and it features Peyton Manning, my favorite player in the
NFL. You had to expect this would be on my list.
1. Week
15 (Dec. 15), at Atlanta Falcons
In fact, you may have been surprised that Denver didn’t fill
this spot. I’m not completely biased. The Falcons have made some terrific
offseason moves and Tony Gonzalez is returning for one more year (maybe more –
he’s borderline Favre-ing, except we don’t want Gonzalez to just go away). On
paper, this is the best team in the National Football League, and it’s not even
close.
Washington gave them a good game early in the 2012 season.
This game, coming late in the season when Washington was at its best last year,
could be a classic, with the Redskins fighting to secure a playoff spot and the
Falcons on the brink of clinching home field advantage.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Must-Watch Games: Prime
Time
5. Week
4 (Sept. 29), New England Patriots at
Atlanta Falcons
Interconference matchups are always exciting because each
team only gets four of them a year, and only sometimes are more than one of
them against a good opponent. As I mentioned, the Falcons might end up being
the best team in the NFL, at least during the regular season. The Patriots are
a bit of a question mark at this point in the offseason, but their
coach/quarterback combination has led to terrific seasons even in their ‘off years.’
4. Week
2 (Sept. 15), San Francisco 49ers at
Seattle Seahawks
This will be the Seahawks home opener, after facing a weak
Carolina team in Week 1. San Francisco will be coming off a home game against
the Packers, so they’ll be geared up for what will be a tough contest. Both of
these teams have been big players in the offseason and should start the season
in the top 5 in NFL.com’s Power Rankings.
3. Week
1 (Sept. 5), Baltimore Ravens at Denver
Broncos
You might notice that this is my only non-Sunday prime time
matchup on this list. Unfortunately, Mondays are pretty weakly scheduled for
the most part this season.
The Ravens will open the season on the road on Thursday
Night Football in a rematch of their divisional round playoff game, which took
a little more than one overtime to decide. The good news is that they have more
time to prepare for this game than they would have if they had to play in
Denver in the middle of the season. So, as one NFL Network analyst mentioned on
Wednesday night (I forget who it was), this could be considered an advantage
for Baltimore, despite not getting to open the season at home as the Super Bowl
victor traditionally gets to do.
2. Week
12 (Nov. 24), Denver Broncos at New
England Patriots
It’s the classic Tom Brady vs Peyton Manning rivalry we all
love so much. We took it for granted before Manning’s neck injury. Now that
it’s back, it should be appreciated a little more since both players are
approaching the ends of their careers. Of course, the other big storyline to
this game will be Wes Welker’s homecoming.
1. Week
16 (Dec. 22), New England Patriots at
Baltimore Ravens
This is the second consecutive year that we will get a
regular season rematch of an AFC Championship game played between these two
teams. The Patriots won the 2011 AFC title game, but Baltimore beat them in the
regular season rematch last season. The Ravens won again to advance to Super
Bowl XLVII. Who will win this year’s, late-season rematch?
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Must-Watch Games:
Non-Prime Time
5. Week
1 (Sept. 8), Green Bay Packers at San
Francisco 49ers
For the second year in a row, the Packers and 49ers will
open the season against each other. The general consensus had been that 2011
was a fluke for San Francisco, but they came right out and proved everyone wrong.
There is no longer any question that the 49ers for real. But was 2012 a fluke
for Green Bay or are they destined to be a borderline playoff team once again?
4. Week
10 (Nov. 10), Seattle Seahawks at Atlanta
Falcons
Again, two of the best teams in the NFL, let alone the NFC.
The Seahawks look poised to be a much better team away from home this year. The
Falcons, meanwhile, are probably the best home team in the league that doesn’t
play in Seattle.
3. Week
2 (Sept. 15), Denver Broncos at New York
Giants
The best regular season quarterback in NFL history faces off
with little Manning, who leads the family in Super Bowl bling. Manning vs
Manning is a nice break from Manning vs Brady.
2. Week
7 (Oct. 20), Baltimore Ravens at
Pittsburgh Steelers
Their Thanksgiving night matchup didn’t make my list of
Prime Time must-watch games, but this is still one of the best rivalries in the
NFL. The Steelers should be at least a little better than they were last year,
when they gave the Ravens a couple of tough contests. Hopefully this year’s
meetings will be more exciting than 2012’s.
1. Week
1 (Sept. 8), Atlanta Falcons at New
Orleans Saints
Sean Payton will be back on the sideline and the Saints
defense can’t get any worse than it was last year, can it? This was quickly
becoming the NFL’s current premier rivalry before the Bounty Scandal. Hopefully
it will pick up where it left off in 2011.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
The Broncos, Falcons, 49ers, Patriots, Ravens, Redskins, and
Seahawks really dominated those lists, didn’t they? Well six of them are some
of the best teams in the league and the other is my favorite team – who, by the
way, could be a great team again this year.
It makes sense that they dominate the ‘must-watch’ games.
They are the best teams around and are pretty much guaranteed to make for good
games throughout the season. Other teams are question marks and it will take
two weeks or so to determine which other mid- to late-season matchups will be
important to watch.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
That said, I have my eye on three Week 2 games which will
hopefully answer some questions about the teams involved:
Minnesota Vikings at
Chicago Bears
The Vikings were a playoff team in 2012 but with questions
surrounding the quarterback position, there’s no telling what they’ll be able
to do this year. And will Adrian Peterson get off to a quicker start in 2013
than he did last season? It might be the key to actually breaking Eric
Dickerson’s record like he hopes to.
As for the Bears, they have a new head coach who is fresh
out of the CFL. Will their defense be as good as it was in 2012? And will the
offense be able to carry its weight?
Tennessee Titans at
Houston Texans
The Texans seemed so dangerous last season, but faded badly.
Can Matt Schaub be a true franchise quarterback? That seems to be Houston’s biggest
question.
As for Tennessee, will Jake Locker play as well this year as
I expect him to? Will Chris Johnson play like the premier running back he
seemed to be when he rushed for 2,000 yards? The Titans could be a good team,
but there are still a lot of ‘ifs’ yet to be determined.
Miami Dolphins at
Indianapolis Colts
The Dolphins had a really good offseason. Not great, but
solid. Their fans are very optimistic, many going so far as to say they will
overtake the Patriots this year. I’ll believe it when I see it, but this game
will be the first clue as to how close the Dolphins will come to doing so.
The Colts were a surprise in 2012, helped by a pretty easy
schedule. These two teams are pretty evenly matched on paper, and winning games
like this often tell you even more about a team than winning games against definitively
better teams.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
It’s exciting to finally have a concrete schedule to look at
in anticipation of the 2013 season. In the midst of a long offseason that
sometimes seems to drag out, it’ll nice to get out of the lull with something
like this.
Hopefully the length of this post didn’t bore you all too
much and I was able to keep it interesting. Any thoughts are welcome in the
comments section, whether they be praise or criticism (though I do hope it is
constructive in either case).
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