schedule comin

zn wrote:

Nuts is strictly negative.

I like that. Strictly negative.

Bash on, regardless.

wv wrote:

Eight Teams That Got Screwed by the 2026 NFL Schedule

Conor Orr’s annual look at teams that have tough rest differentials, unwieldy stretches or other disadvantages.

Los Angeles Rams

This schedule is absurd. Seven prime-time games. A season opener in Melbourne, Australia. One of the worst net rest differentials in the NFL. Four 2025 playoff teams in the first five weeks. Thanksgiving Eve. Christmas in prime time against the Seahawks. Two Seahawks games in three weeks to end the season. This, for a team with a 38-year-old starting quarterback who couldn’t get through training camp last year without a space-age health trailer. This is how the NFL unwittingly vanquished the Chiefs last year and is seemingly attempting to do it again with the Rams. There’s a reason Sean McVay cautioned ESPN to hold their horses when talking about the Seattle games at the end of the season because it’s unlikely the Rams will get there totally unscathed. While it’s a reality of the business, it’s disappointing to see the league’s premier offense get absolutely picked apart by factors that are totally within the league’s control.

https://www.si.com/nfl/eight-teams-screwed-2026-nfl-schedule?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

Are prime time games worse somehow? The only argument there is that they are later in the day, but is that really a disadvantage? And if so, isn’t the disadvantage washed out by the fact that the other team is also playing at an unusual time? Arguably the Rams will be more accustomed to weird times than their opponents.

They have 10 days or something to get ready for Thanksgiving Eve, and the Packers do also. Christmas seems like the same deal to me.

I don’t think the calendar dates are the problem, as erratic as they are. I think it’s that almost all of their games are against viable playoff teams.

I only see six games where I feel pretty confident about the Rams winning. And even a couple of those are iffy. That leaves 11 games that are basically even-ish, in my view.
So if they win half of those even-ish games, AND if they dont get upset in the six games they ‘should’ win — that would be 11 and 6, or 12 and 5. There-abouts.

That would be great.

At least they dont have to play the Texans defense this year. But they do get Denver, Philly, Chargers, Seattle-twice.

Good Offenses – they get 49ers-twice, Packers, Cowboys, Bills, Chiefs.

Its annoying to play Philly in Philadelphia again, because a head-to-head loss with the Eagles could easily play into the home-field situation.

I dunno guys.

There is No F’ing way ANY team with this schedule is getting the no.1 seed. Aint happening. A team with an easier schedule will pile up more wins against weak teams.

I’d say that first game is slightly important. Ya know.

==================
2026
Week 1: San Francisco 49ers, 8:35 p.m. Thur (Australia)
Week 2: New York Giants, Mon 8:15 p.m.
Week 3: at Denver Broncos, 8:20 p.m.
Week 4: at Philadelphia Eagles, 1 p.m.

Week 5: Buffalo Bills, Mon 8:15 p.m.
Week 6: Arizona Cardinals, 4:05 p.m.
Week 7: at Las Vegas Raiders, 4:25 p.m.
Week 8: Los Angeles Chargers,

Week 9: at Washington Commanders, 1 p.m.
Week 10: at Arizona Cardinals, 4:25 p.m.
Week 11: Bye
Week 12: Green Bay Packers, Wed. 8 p.m.
Week 13: Kansas City Chiefs, Thur 8:15

Week 14: at San Francisco 49ers, 4:25 p.m.
Week 15: Dallas Cowboys, 4:25 p.m. ET, CBS
Week 16: at Seattle Seahawks (Christmas), 8:15 p.m.
Week 17: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week 18: Seattle Seahawks

wv wrote:

Listened to Cowherd and Middlekauff. Middlekauff said the Rams went to the league and asked for the 49ers to be the Australia opponent. Cause the 49ers essentially get a home game when they play the Rams in LA.

w
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I’m skeptical of that.

Rams: “Hey, we’d love to play the 49ers in Australia.”
NFL: “Oh, okay.”

wv wrote:

Well, fwiw, here it is. Middlekauf seems rather emphatic about it. About the 4 or 5 minute mark.

I dunno. That sounds to me like a guy who is just echoing what Shanahan said. And Shanahan did complain about it, and he cited the 49er fan attendance as a reason, but I can’t tell if that’s just smack talk or not. What would you expect them to say?

And how would Middlekauf know what Demoff is saying to the league office? You think Demoff just calls the switchboard and starts talking to the receptionist about why he’s calling?

I just… am skeptical. I work in public education, and I can tell you that NOTHING happens here administratively without the admins considering what could go wrong. Legally.

And the NFL, I am 100% certain, is simply not going to act in a way where their impartiality can be legitimately called into question.

As a teacher, I face this all the time. If a kid comes to me to ask for something, an extension on an assignment say, my first thought after considering whether it’s a reasonable request or not is to consider whether I can defend it. What will I do when another kid, or the whole class, says, “Hey, you gave her extra time. Give all of us extra time.”

I cannot imagine the league office saying, “Okay, sure, we can give you the 49ers” without knowing that every team in the league can then say, “We want to play the Lions on our frozen tundra in December” or whatever. Why are you conceding something to the Rams that you won’t concede to every other team in the league?

You just cannot do that kind of shit. Absolutely cannot. Especially when you serve at the pleasure of the people likely to be pissed off by your decision.

So I don’t buy it. I think Middlekauf is recycling what Shanahan said without thinking very deeply about it, and reinforcing it with his personal experience at SoFi several years ago. It seemed plausible to him.

FWIW, btw, I don’t think the 9er fan presence has been as strong recently, not since the Rams sent them out of the house early in the NFC Championship. But, you know, I don’t have data on that. Just an impression.

Zooey wrote:

That’s bullshit. It’s bullshit.

Well, I’m not convinced its bullshit, but I don’t believe it, either.

Like most things in wv-brain, it goes in the ‘i dunno’ pile.

Its a good game to start the year, I think. San Francisco. Good place to start.
McVay vs Shanahan: round 19.

6-11 reg season
1-0 playoffs

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