That's what I was saying. They have the same amount of prime-time games as the Chargers, and they've definitely fallen hard since '07. Must be some love affair with the NFC East.
At first glance I hated our schedule, but it's starting to grow on me. I really just wish we had an easier game to start out the season with. With all the expectations the media is putting on us, it would be rough to start out with a loss on MNF. I really want the new guys to feel that Rex Ryan optimism right out of the gate. The Ravens are a hell of a team, and a dark horse superbowl contender IMO. Most important games of the year in my eyes... 1) Week 1 vs. the Ravens - Keeping the momentum from the playoffs last year and the offseason this year is pretty important. It's our first game in the new stadium, and we are right in the spotlight against Rex's old team on MNF. While possibly more of a running team, the Ravens have a fairly balanced attack and will test all aspects of our defense. They also have one of the better defenses in the league... Sanchez gets a tough early test coming off a successful postseason as well as knee surgery. Should learn a lot about our team in week 1. 2) Week 8 vs. the Packers Green Bay is my pick in the NFC this year. Coming off our bye, this game sets the tone for the second half of the season. This game should show us how far the secondary has come along, and if we can handle Green Bay's passing attack we can probably hang with any passing attack. This is also a good chance to see if our pass rush can make an impact, as the Packers offensive line has been pretty porous lately. They also have a ball hawking defense, so this will test our (mostly Sanchez) ability to not make mistakes and turn the ball over. 3) Week 13 @ the Patriots Going into Foxborough as we enter the home stretch of the season. This could be big in determining who will take the AFC East. Nothing else needed to be said... Week 5 and 15 vs the Vikings and Steelers should be some interesting tests as well. This is shaping up to be quite the season... wish it would just start already!!
I thought about it but We can handle Dumervil and they don't have the depth at CB to hang with all our WR's. Plus Orton/Quinn are very instinctive QB's and are going to be picked at least 2x against us. I think our DEF wins us that game but I believe it'll be close. Something like 17-13
If anyone was listening to Rex Ryan on ESPN, Hard Knocks is going to be epic! "Anyone that doesn't think we're gonna be a challenge is gonna get crushed!"
I haven't seen it written in rules but every season some team gets 5 night games and every article reporting it says it's the maximum. I read some meandering about the possibility that 3 teams can get 6 games with the rest of the league limited to 5 games, but I am not feeling resourceful enough at the moment to track down the official rules.
