Schedule Release

[RiverDog]

Now that the draft is concluded, the next big event, at least for me as I like to attend at least one road and one home game, is the schedule release. Since the conclusion of the 2022 regular season, we've known which teams we are going to play and which will be the home and visitor, but we don't know the exact dates or specific venues.

Our home schedule is as follows: LA Rams, Niners, Cards, Commanders, Eagles, Browns, Steelers, and Panthers. Our away games are LA Rams, Niners, Cards, Bengals, Ravens, Cowboys, Giants, Lions, and Titans.

There's a chance that we could be playing in the international series, of which I'd love to go to. The Titans are playing in England, so we have a 1-in-8 chance of being their opponent. There are no games in Mexico City this season as their stadium is undergoing a major renovation. Hopefully, with the pandemic in our rear-view mirror, they'll expand the international series to include countries like Japan, Australia, and South America. IMO that's one of the reasons why they went to a 17 game regular season, as it would allow for 16 international games or domestic neutral sites without teams having to sacrifice a home game.

The schedule is normally released on the 2nd Thursday in May. They time that release as Thursdays are a relatively slow sports day as many NHL, NBA, and MLB teams don't play on Thursdays and use it as a travel day. It's for this reason why the draft also starts on a Thursday. Best guess is that it will get released on Thursday, May 11th. The international opponents could be released a few days earlier.

On our wish list for away games includes the Rams (gotta see how they can spend $5B on a football stadium), the Giants, and the Niners. If we are lucky enough to be the Titan's opponent in England, that game will be a no brainer for us to attend. The time of year is the biggest factor. I'm not too enthusiastic about traveling to a cold weather city from mid-November through December as I like staying in the area for a few days to see the sights, plus airline travel is more susceptible to weather related delays. It's my way of seeing the country.

[NorthHawk]

I think we could win 10 games this year if things go our way.
If we sweep the Rams and Cards that's 4 wins off the top so 6 more could be a possibility, but things have a way of not working out as planned.

[RiverDog]

I think we could win 10 games this year if things go our way.
If we sweep the Rams and Cards that's 4 wins off the top so 6 more could be a possibility, but things have a way of not working out as planned.

I wasn't thinking so much of our schedule as it relates to W's and L's, but it's a legitimate thought.

I hate handicapping seasons this far out. Heck, I don't even like doing it until we've seen at least 4 weeks of the regular season. However, my gut instinct is that we'll end up essentially like we did last season, making the playoffs as a wild card then one-and-done mainly because we looked so poorly in the 2nd half of the season that it caused me to feel like the first half of the season was fool's gold. So I'm saying 9-8, last wild card and one and done. Gotta live up to my Debbie Downer handle.

But to the point of the thread. To pre-empt Hawktawk's predictable objection, I will point out that if we do play overseas this year, it will be vs. the Titans in Tottenham, which is the only purpose-built NFL stadium outside of the United States, so there won't be any Jell-O field excuse if we play like we did last year in Munich, so you might think about pre-registering this year's excuse. Jet lag? Bad food? Phase of the moon?

[NorthHawk]

A lot of our wins and losses (assuming we play at the same level as last year) depend on whether teams like the Giants and Lions were pretenders at the end of the year.
For me, the Steelers, Panthers, and Browns are all wild cards. I have no idea how well they will do this year.

[RiverDog]

The schedule will be released this Thursday at 5pm PT.

https://www.nfl.com/news/2023-nfl-sched ... day-may-11

They will be revealing some games ahead of the full schedule release on Thursday:

Ahead of the release of the full 2023 NFL regular season schedule on Thursday, the following games will be announced:

International Games -- Wednesday on NFL Network and ESPN
Black Friday Game -- Wednesday via Amazon
Select individual games -- Wednesday on Fox & Friends and CBS Mornings
Select individual games -- Thursday on Today Show and Good Morning America

Man, they're really making a production out of something as simple as the schedule.

[c_hawkbob]

Man, they're really making a production out of something as simple as the schedule.

Same has been said of the draft.

[RiverDog]

Man, they're really making a production out of something as simple as the schedule.

Same has been said of the draft.

It makes you wonder what else they can think of to milk more publicity and revenue dollars out of. Perhaps they'll make a big production and time the release of who the cheerleaders for the upcoming season will be.

[NorthHawk]

Send that idea to NFL headquarters. Maybe they will give you some free tickets. Probably not because it would cost some money.

[jshawaii22]

Lots of Eastern time zone games, and none of them are really outstanding games, so I expect them all at 1pm. Maybe Dallas in prime time or at least a 4pm start. It would be nice to get Cincy and NY early in the season...
Interesting that this year, the networks just pick games each week, without regard to AFC/NFC. Teams can now do multiple Thursday games and some teams will do none. Amazon got really screwed last year with some bad games.

[RiverDog]

Lots of Eastern time zone games, and none of them are really outstanding games, so I expect them all at 1pm. Maybe Dallas in prime time or at least a 4pm start. It would be nice to get Cincy and NY early in the season...
Interesting that this year, the networks just pick games each week, without regard to AFC/NFC. Teams can now do multiple Thursday games and some teams will do none. Amazon got really screwed last year with some bad games.

Yeah, due to Amazon's getting shafted in their first season hosting TNF, they've talked about flexing late season Thursday night games, which I think is a horrible idea as it screws the fans that attend the games.

[NorthHawk]

It almost seems inevitable that at some point some fan will sue the league for their expenses because of the schedule change.
Probably won't win, but still...

[RiverDog]

It almost seems inevitable that at some point some fan will sue the league for their expenses because of the schedule change.
Probably won't win, but still...

They do say on the tickets or ticket purchases that the time, date, and location is subject to change, so that likely covers them.

It doesn't affect me that much as I'm retired and we generally like going to games earlier in the season before games are subjected to being flexed, but I can imagine what it's like for a working person that commits to airline tickets and hotel reservations only to have them change the date with just a week or so notice.

[RiverDog]

The rumor is that we're playing at home vs. either the Niners or the Vikings on Thanksgiving night:

Longtime Sports Radio KJR host Dave ‘Softy’ Mahler heard through the grapevine that Seattle will play what is presumably a primetime game against the San Francisco 49ers at Lumen Field on Thursday, Nov. 23.

https://www.fieldgulls.com/2023/5/10/23 ... ving-night

[NorthHawk]

Being a playoff team we will get a couple of prime time games this year.
I hope we don't get 2 Thursday night games. I think that's a lot to ask of players.

[Hawktawk]

I think we could win 10 games this year if things go our way.
If we sweep the Rams and Cards that's 4 wins off the top so 6 more could be a possibility, but things have a way of not working out as planned.

RD

I wasn't thinking so much of our schedule as it relates to W's and L's, but it's a legitimate thought.

I hate handicapping seasons this far out. Heck, I don't even like doing it until we've seen at least 4 weeks of the regular season. However, my gut instinct is that we'll end up essentially like we did last season, making the playoffs as a wild card then one-and-done mainly because we looked so poorly in the 2nd half of the season that it caused me to feel like the first half of the season was fool's gold. So I'm saying 9-8, last wild card and one and done. Gotta live up to my Debbie Downer handle.

But to the point of the thread. To pre-empt Hawktawk's predictable objection, I will point out that if we do play overseas this year, it will be vs. the Titans in Tottenham, which is the only purpose-built NFL stadium outside of the United States, so there won't be any Jell-O field excuse if we play like we did last year in Munich, so you might think about pre-registering this year's excuse. Jet lag? Bad food? Phase of the moon? [/quote]

Hey River how about you shove it ? Quit calling me out when you are wrong as possible . My Seahawks were on a 4 game win streak and were set up in every way to benefit Tom Brady and allow him to win the first Germany game .

I fing hate it . Get up at 5 am to watch a bunch of idiots who don’t know how to cheer . Yeah river watching those retarded krauts singing john denver while my team was falling on the ground . I hate everything about it . But you go and when we get screwed again come back and justify Goodell setting us up . Despise goodell . Don’t ever want my team out of the country .

[Hawktawk]

Not to mention the super bowl was jello . This league has no ability to prepare a field . Here or overseas.

[RiverDog]

Not to mention the super bowl was jello . This league has no ability to prepare a field . Here or overseas.

Which only proves my point. The field in Munich wasn't an anomaly. It was a condition that has existed on NFL fields in the past and will continue to exist in the future. You either field a team that can adjust to those conditions or you're at the mercy of the field. Same goes for the challenges of playing games several time zones from your home. No sense crying about it, it's a fact of life that's not going away, so you might as well get used to it.

I often times wonder what people from my parent's generation, most of whom have passed away, would think about 21st century fans whining about having to fly a couple of hours in the comfort of a modern airliner to play a football game. Back prior to WW2, teams did not travel by air, they had to travel by bus or train, sometimes taking over a day to get to their destination. It took two days to travel by train from New York to LA for schools like Harvard, Navy, Penn State, et al, in order to play in the Rose Bowl against teams like Stanford and USC, that hardly had to travel at all. Yeah, my old man is laughing at us from his grave.

[c_hawkbob]

Being a playoff team we will get a couple of prime time games this year.
I hope we don't get 2 Thursday night games. I think that's a lot to ask of players.

According to Tyler Lockett we've got two Thursday games in a row, 3 games in 12 days: https://seahawkswire.usatoday.com/2023/ ... day-games/

[RiverDog]

Plus, as was stated in Cbob's link, we supposedly have a MNF contest at the Giants in Week 4, ie 10/2. That one is on our radar as a possible road trip.

[NorthHawk]

Two Thursday games in a row isn’t too bad because there is only 1 practice and rest interruption to their routine.

[c_hawkbob]

Two Thursday games in a row isn’t too bad because there is only 1 practice and rest interruption to their routine.

Yeah, better two in a row once than one in a row twice.

[NorthHawk]

Weeks 12 and 13.
49ers at home then Cowboys next week away.

edit:
followed by at 49ers

[NorthHawk]

Week 1 vs. L.A. Rams, September 10, 1:25 p.m., FOX
Week 2 at Detroit Lions, September 17, 10 a.m., FOX
Week 3 vs. Carolina Panthers, September 24, 1:05 p.m., CBS
Week 4 at N.Y. Giants, Monday, October 2, 5:15 p.m., ESPN
Week 5: BYE
Week 6 at Cincinnati Bengals, October 15, 10 a.m., CBS
Week 7 vs. Arizona Cardinals, October 22, 1:05 p.m., FOX
Week 8 vs. Cleveland Browns, October 29, 1:05 p.m., FOX
Week 9 at Baltimore Ravens, November 5, 10 a.m., CBS
Week 10 vs. Washington Commanders, November 12, 1:25 p.m., FOX
Week 11 at L.A. Rams, November 19, 1:25 p.m., CBS
Week 12 vs. San Francisco 49ers, Thursday, November 23, 5:20 p.m., NBC
Week 13 at Dallas Cowboys, Thursday, November 30, 5:15 p.m., Prime Vide
Week 14 at San Francisco 49ers, December 10, 1:05 p.m., FOX
Week 15 vs. Philadelphia Eagles, December 17, 1:25 p.m., FOX
Week 16 at Tennessee Titans, December 24, 10 a.m., CBS
Week 17 vs Pittsburgh Steelers, December 31, 1:05 p.m., FOX
Week 18 at Arizona Cardinals, Date, Time and TV TBD

[RiverDog]

All NFL Network could talk about was the Jets. One talking head predicted 13-4 for them. They play host to the Bills on the first MNF game of the season, ironically (a coincidence?) on 9/11, the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

We open at home vs. the Rams, a pretty good draw,

No one should be complaining about the 2 consecutive TNF games as following those games, we get a late season mini bye before we visit the Niners, which could be a critical game.

Our regular bye week comes early, in Week 5.

[c_hawkbob]

I'm thinking I might drive to Cincy week 6.

[obiken]

Geez we got totally screwed! The only soft game was the Commanders!

[Stream Hawk]

Glass half full in me says minimum 10 wins, 12 win tops. A lot needs to line up to make 12 wins a reality. On the lighter side, check out this hilarious video from the Tennessee Titans via Broadway:

https://twitter.com/titans/status/16568 ... pMkhpLC7ng

[RiverDog]

Geez we got totally screwed! The only soft game was the Commanders!

Obi, the teams on everyone's scheduled were all pre-determined at the end of the regular season, so no one got 'screwed.' But so long as you mentioned it, the initial strength of schedule does have us in the top 1/3 at #11 according to this ranking:

https://www.profootballnetwork.com/nfl- ... dule-2023/

We were disappointed that we aren't playing in the international series this season, but we might go to a game in Germany anyway, likely Dolphins-Chiefs in Frankfurt, if we can get game tickets. Last year, I tried to get tickets for our game in Munich and didn't even get within spitting distance of them, drawing #519,000 in the que. The league has required each team to host an international game at least once every 8 seasons, and we have yet to host one, so we're due. No games in Mexico City this season as their stadium is undergoing a major renovation.

One of the home games on our radar is the Browns game on 10/29. One of our group's girlfriends' parents live in Ohio and might travel out here for a game.

It used to be a common complaint, mainly from fans, of an east coast jinx. Not much has been mentioned about that in recent years, likely because we've played relatively well back east. Last year, we had just one game, at Detroit, a game we won, in the ETZ. However, this year, we have 3 games in the ETZ, and 4 early starts, ie 10am PT.

Even though we aren't playing a game overseas, we still get the frequent flier award of having to travel the most miles during the season. We're the most geographically isolated team in the league.

[RiverDog]

The other thing to note is that we are in Prime Time just 3 times this season, the MNF contest at the Giants and the back-to-back TNF games around Thanksgiving, an indication that we're not a real popular team. As a comparison, the Bears had the worst record in the league last season, and they more games in Prime Time than we do.

I'm actually just fine with us not being in Prime Time as it fits better with my personal habits. I have this thing about watching the Hawks live, but don't mind recording the Prime Time games for viewing the next morning if I'm doing something else in the evening.

[NorthHawk]

Who knows how the teams on our schedule will progress or regress. When we look at the schedule today, it might seem tough, but like we saw last year teams often either don't play up to expectations or play above them. It's rare that the teams on any schedule play like they should according to their prior years performance.
For us, the first 4 games are real wild cards. It's possible that the Rams do very well this year and the other 3 do poorly - or they all do very well right out of the gate. The other 2 question marks are the Browns and Ravens.
Who are the Browns and are they really any good? The Ravens with a new OC and Offensive system will be interesting to see if it fits Jackson's abilities or not.
And of course, how will we do? Our Defense could be real good, or it could continue to struggle with the 3-4 concepts, and will Geno return to the form he showed the first half year or play like he did the 2nd half?
It's what makes it interesting to watch, but I think our ceiling is 10 wins and floor is 7 unless a catastrophic injury hits or we get hit real hard with the injury bug.

[RiverDog]

Who knows how the teams on our schedule will progress or regress. When we look at the schedule today, it might seem tough, but like we saw last year teams often either don't play up to expectations or play above them. It's rare that the teams on any schedule play like they should according to their prior years performance.
For us, the first 4 games are real wild cards. It's possible that the Rams do very well this year and the other 3 do poorly - or they all do very well right out of the gate. The other 2 question marks are the Browns and Ravens.
Who are the Browns and are they really any good? The Ravens with a new OC and Offensive system will be interesting to see if it fits Jackson's abilities or not.
And of course, how will we do? Our Defense could be real good, or it could continue to struggle with the 3-4 concepts, and will Geno return to the form he showed the first half year or play like he did the 2nd half?
It's what makes it interesting to watch, but I think our ceiling is 10 wins and floor is 7 unless a catastrophic injury hits or we get hit real hard with the injury bug.

Yup. It's pointless to handicap strength of schedule before even the preseason has begun. They do so because stooges like us will read their article and get them their advertising revenue. I got a kick out of the guys on NFL Network predicting fame and glory for the Jets, even teasing HC Robert Saleh about making room for a 2nd Lombardi in the background of the video while they were interviewing him.

[Hawktawk]

Not to mention the super bowl was jello . This league has no ability to prepare a field . Here or overseas.

Which only proves my point. The field in Munich wasn't an anomaly. It was a condition that has existed on NFL fields in the past and will continue to exist in the future. You either field a team that can adjust to those conditions or you're at the mercy of the field. Same goes for the challenges of playing games several time zones from your home. No sense crying about it, it's a fact of life that's not going away, so you might as well get used to it.

I often times wonder what people from my parent's generation, most of whom have passed away, would think about 21st century fans whining about having to fly a couple of hours in the comfort of a modern airliner to play a football game. Back prior to WW2, teams did not travel by air, they had to travel by bus or train, sometimes libr read taking over a day to get to their destination. It took two days to travel by train from New York to LA for schools like Harvard, Navy, Penn State, et al, in order to play in the Rose Bowl against teams like Stanford and USC, that hardly had to travel at all. Yeah, my old man is laughing at us from his grave.[/quote]

Let’s remember Munich wasn’t just about a football field clearly overwatered badly favoring the more straight ahead slow team and negated our stellar edge rush over the previous 4 games . Walker was a slasher that fell several times trying to cut . But there was the 3 time zone difference which some sportswriters also pointed out . Our guys got out of bed at 3 AM pacific to play at 6. It’s no surprise we were better in the second half . That is BS . They did that intentionally . The third was officials picking up flags on 2 Tampa fouls. First was Geno sliding and having the guy not only jump on him but rip at the ball . How they decided that was beyond me . The other was the game winning points when a pick play had occurred . The refs huddled and picked it up explaining it occurred away from the play which is not a subjective analysis . It happened or it didn’t . Never heard that one before . So Seattle leading in sacks and pressures , #6 darkhorse in Vegas , Walker running wild
Got a triple whammy and still were a defensive stop from a chance to win . But on the backbreaking run our guys were just slipping and sliding . So instead of going to the bye 7-3 in control of the division and a player in the conference we get to sit for 2 weeks thinking about trying to play in mud , derailing a freight train . I think it affected them the rest of the year .

Now we get 3 games in 12 days , back to back Thursday games . This league is unfair , doesn’t like us and proves it all the time . The international league is about lining the leagues pockets . It screws American fans . We’re the bread and butter but goody does what he does . Zero trust in this league to give us a fair shake .

[RiverDog]

Now we get 3 games in 12 days , back to back Thursday games . This league is unfair , doesn’t like us and proves it all the time . The international league is about lining the leagues pockets . It screws American fans . We’re the bread and butter but goody does what he does . Zero trust in this league to give us a fair shake .

Yup. Goodell hates us, the refs hate us, and God hates us.

The 3 games in 12 days is a complete misnomer. We have 2 games in 5 days like every other team that plays a Thursday game then a gap of 7 days just like a normal Sunday-to-Sunday week. If a team has to play 2 TNF games in one season, putting them back-to-back is the fairest way to do it. Otherwise, we'd have two weeks where we had just 5 days rest between games. In this instance, our opponent for the 2nd TNF game, the Cowboys, will also be playing back-to-back Thursday games, so I don't see what the big beef is except to give people something to b**** about.

I love the international games. I never had as good of a time at a football game as we did in London when we played the Raiders in Wembly. We went to a rally at a bar right next to London Bridge on the Friday before the game. I got to shake hands with Walter Jones, saw John Schneider close up. On the Sunday morning before the game, we went to a neighborhood bar with several tents set up, mingled with the locals. The Brits and nationals from other countries were as friendly and engaging as could be. They were excited to see us, wanted to know what part of the US we were from, wanted to learn about the game. And FYI, a good percentage of the attendees are Americans. I met a guy there from Yakima, about 75 miles up the road from where I live.

I just got through spending two weeks in Japan, including several days with a couple of old high school friends of mine, Japanese exchange students. Those people are thirsting for American football. I'd love to see us play in places like Tokyo, Australia, New Zealand, Seoul, etc.

The world is getting smaller and the international series is not only here to stay, it's going to be expanded. Might as well quit complaining and get used to it.

[tarlhawk]

Our schedule looks daunting...seen its rated as 11th hardest schedule based on last years records for our opponents...BUT so was last years schedule (rated 11th hardest 2022). Pete responded schedules don't matter each week in the NFL is a very tough game to win...which is why he wants an entire team of guys with toughness(grit) and buy-in (love for the game) to tackle each game like its the most important game on our schedule...a tough task but as a fan I really don't see any "quit" whenever we play. I think last years team would have trouble with our upcoming schedule but our team as a whole has made great strides and looks nothing like last years. Our offenses ability to get first downs from any down and distance just got elevated. Geno excels in a spread offense and Waldron now has improved personnel to tailor make an offense for Geno to thrive even more than last year. Unlike many NFL teams we have no QB crisis and we continue to field very good special teams to keep an edge in field positioning. A top offense coupled with an improving defense sets us up better than last years beginning. We didn't "sneak up" on anybody last year...we played better than our opponents...and that's an achievable goal every year
with our culture and team unity.

[NorthHawk]

We snuck up on a bunch of teams.
We were expected to be a team in transition so we were overlooked.

This year the Eagles could be interesting as they lost both their DC and OC. Sometimes those types of losses can have a big impact. Time will tell if they have the leadership to maintain continuity after getting to the Super Bowl.

[tarlhawk]

We snuck up on a bunch of teams.
We were expected to be a team in transition so we were overlooked.

This year the Eagles could be interesting as they lost both their DC and OC. Sometimes those types of losses can have a big impact. Time will tell if they have the leadership to maintain continuity after getting to the Super Bowl.

"sneaking up on a team" is a fan's perspective...NFL teams have many highly paid professionals who take each game serious enough to "study" their opponent well in advance of the game actually being played and just "fine tune" their information through film study and game preparation during the leadup of the game actually being played.

As for the Eagles I think they are in good hands with Sean Desai who I hoped would be staying another season with us.

[RiverDog]

We snuck up on a bunch of teams.
We were expected to be a team in transition so we were overlooked.

This year the Eagles could be interesting as they lost both their DC and OC. Sometimes those types of losses can have a big impact. Time will tell if they have the leadership to maintain continuity after getting to the Super Bowl.

"sneaking up on a team" is a fan's perspective...NFL teams have many highly paid professionals who take each game serious enough to "study" their opponent well in advance of the game actually being played and just "fine tune" their information through film study and game preparation during the leadup of the game actually being played.

As for the Eagles I think they are in good hands with Sean Desai who I hoped would be staying another season with us.

I'm sure that varies from team-to-team and player-to-player, but I have no doubt that underestimating an opponent does occur in the NFL. I've heard players and coaches admit it. Whether that contributed to our unexpected success last season or not, I couldn't say. But it does happen.

[NorthHawk]

Of course it happens every year. It's human nature to look at the schedule and in your mind pencil in wins and tough games.
We were also lucky that we got some teams early in the year like the Lions, but the Panthers may have been a team that WE underestimated.