The NFL offseason never really sleeps, and Thursday night will feature one of the league’s annual traditions: the release of the regular season schedule.
However, some games will be revealed before then. Before revealing the full slate of games at 8 p.m., the NFL will announce its five international games and the new Black Friday trend on Wednesday and what it calls “select” individual games on Wednesday and Thursday mornings.
ESPN will also have a two-hour show highlighting the “Monday Night Football” schedule, with ESPN+ airing a separate special at the same time. “NFL Live” will also air a Monday night game at 4 p.m. on ESPN.
As for the Ravens, after eight games at M&T Bank Stadium last season, they will get nine home games and eight away games in 2023. In addition to regular divisional games, they will play games against teams from the AFC South, East and West and NFC West and North.
With the Ravens schedule yet to be announced, here are five things to know:
Who do the Ravens play at home?
In addition to regular AFC North division games against the Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns, Baltimore will also host the Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions.
Three of those teams — the Bengals, Dolphins and Seahawks — made the playoffs last season. For Miami, it also marks the second of three consecutive trips to the Charm City, with the Dolphins also scheduled to play the Ravens in Baltimore in 2024.
Who are the Ravens playing on the road?
In addition to annual trips to Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Cleveland, the Ravens will have road games against the Tennessee Titans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Chargers, San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals.
Four of those teams — the Bengals, 49ers, Jaguars and Chargers — made the playoffs last season. After no West Coast trips in 2022, the Ravens will have three this season.
How many primetime games will the Ravens have?
Last season, the Ravens had three prime-time games (Week 5 vs. Cincinnati; Week 8 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Week 9 at New Orleans Saints), their fewest since 2019.
It would be a surprise if the Ravens didn’t have at least that many this season.
Teams are allowed a maximum of six early-season games, and with the Ravens re-signing star quarterback Lamar Jackson and adding two-time All-Pro wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., it’s likely they’ll get three, if not more, night games.
The Bengals, who the Ravens nearly upset in the AFC wild-card round of last season’s playoffs, appear to be a foregone conclusion, with the 49ers, Chargers, Dolphins, Seahawks and Jaguars intriguing possibilities.
Will the Ravens play an international game?
The last – and only – time the Ravens played an international game was in 2017 against the Jaguars in London. After getting hammered 44-7, coach John Harbaugh didn’t hold back his feelings about the experience, saying, “To be honest with you — and I might get in trouble for saying this — you don’t plan on going there. soon to play again. So someone else can have that job.”
It’s a quote that’s sure to be brought up if the Ravens venture overseas this year, something that’s a possibility, with the Titans and Jaguars two of three teams (along with the Buffalo Bills) scheduled to host opponents in London this year. season. The NFL would certainly have an interest in showing a potentially very explosive offense to an international audience, with Jackson seven months away from being drafted by the Ravens the last time they played in London.
Who has the toughest/easiest schedule in the AFC and NFC?
Based on the combined winning percentage of opponents in 2022, only six teams in the AFC — the Jaguars, Steelers, Browns, Titans, Colts and Texans — have an easier schedule than the Ravens this season. Among all 32 NFL teams, the Ravens will have the 12th easiest schedule, with their opponents winning 48.4 percent of their games last season.
As for the league’s toughest schedule, it belongs to the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles, whose opponents won 56.6 percent of their games last season, with 10 making the playoffs. Right behind them are the Dolphins, who, after going 9-8 last season and losing to the Bills in the wild-card round, have a brutal stretch of games on the road against the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, Eagles, Bills, Chargers, New York Jets led by Ravens and Aaron Rodgers.
The league’s easiest schedule, meanwhile, belongs to the Atlanta Falcons, who went 7-10 last season and whose opponents this year won just 41.7 percent of their games a season ago. There are also only four playoff teams in that bracket, the fewest allowed under the NFL’s scheduling rules. The next easiest schedule, meanwhile, is the New Orleans Saints, whose opponents won 42.7 percent of their games last season. In each of the last seven years, at least one of the two teams with the easiest schedules in the league has made the playoffs.
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