The 2023 NFL schedule has been released. There are going to be a ton of top-end matchups on the slate. We can’t wait.
However, there are also some pretty interesting takeaways from Thursday’s schedule release. Aaron Rodgers and his New York Jets have several primetime matchups. The league has to hope that he doesn’t follow the same path as we saw from another all-time great Packers QB once he headed to the Jets.
The 2023 NFL schedule kicks off with the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Detroit Lions on Thursday Night Football. What does this tell us about the Lions’ relevance around the league?
These are among the top takeaways from Thursday’s release of the 2023 NFL schedule.
Related: Sportsnaut’s updated 2023 NFL Playoff and Super Bowl predictions
NFL banking on Aaron Rodgers not following down Brett Favre’s path
After 16 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, Brett Favre was traded to the New York Jets ahead of the 2008 campaign. The NFL was expecting the all-time great quarterback to do his thing in the nation’s largest media market. In fact, schedule makers opted for four Jets primetime games that season. New York finished at a mediocre 9-7 with Favre accounting for 22 touchdowns and 22 interceptions in his only season with the Jets.
Fast forward 15 years, and Aaron Rodgers heads to Jersey after a brilliant 18-year career in Green Bay. It’s been one of the top off-season storylines around the league.
Knowing full well the interest in this marriage, the 2023 NFL schedule includes the first Monday Night Football Game taking place on the 22nd anniversary of 9/11 with Rodgers’ Jets hosting Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills miles from where the terrorist attacks took place. The New York Jets’ schedule also includes the NFL’s first Black Monday game against the division-rival Miami Dolphins. These are two of five primetime games on the Jets’ schedule. Let’s see how it works.
Related: 2023 NFL schedule updates and more
High expectations for the Detroit Lions
Detroit will open its season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. The NFL had ample possibilities for this game, including Kansas City taking on the Buffalo Bills or a rematch of the Super Bowl with Philadelphia. Instead, it opted to go with a team that won eight of 10 to conclude last season.
It’s the clearest indication yet that the league believes Detroit will be among the most entertaining in the NFL this coming season. Led by Jared Goff, Detroit finished fifth in the league in scoring last season. It has a talented young core and one of the best head coaches in the NFL. Despite the shock factor that came with these Lions opening the season on Thursday Night Football, it should be a fun environment inside Arrowhead Stadium.
NFL schedule seemed to value Germany over the United Kingdom
The NFL released its international series schedule before the broader schedule being unveiled Thursday evening. There are three games in the United Kingdom and two in Germany as the league makes its way back to Frankfurt. Check the entire slate out here.
What’s interesting is the fact that the league opted to send the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs to Germany for a Nov. 5 game against the Miami Dolphins. We have not seen such a high-profile game be played across the pond since the NFL expanded its schedule to overseas.
Of the three games set to take place in the UK, the Buffalo Bills taking on the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 5 has to be seen as the best. Even then, it is surprising that the NFL opted to send the defending champs to Germany instead of Western Europe.
Related: Top-10 games on the 2023 NFL schedule
NFL going back to old-school rivalries
Just look at some of the rivalries the 2023 NFL schedule includes when it comes to primetime games and nationally televised broadcasts. It’s an absurd number of old-school rivalries, telling us that the league knows how to entice the average fan.
Sunday Night Football Games include the Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants (Week 1), Pittsburgh Steelers at Las Vegas Raiders (Week 3), Dallas Cowboys at San Francisco 49ers (Week 5), Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys (Week 14) and Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings (Week 17).
Monday Night Football consists of the Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers (Week 2) and Chicago Bears at Minnesota Vikings (Week 12). None of this takes into account a Thanksgiving slate that includes the Washington Commanders at the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers taking on the Seattle Seahawks.
NFL schedule tells us who league expects to be good in 2023
The Aaron Rodgers outlier aside, the NFL schedule was a bit of a tell when it comes to who the league believes will be contending for a Super Bowl this coming season. It’s not much different than the current Vegas odds to hoist the Lombardi Trophy. Look at these primetime games by team and tell us what you think:
- Kansas City Chiefs: 6
- Dallas Cowboys: 6
- Buffalo Bills: 6
- Philadelphia Eagles: 5
- San Francisco 49ers: 5
- New York Jets: 5
- Cincinnati Bengals: 5
It’s not a coincidence that these are seven of the top-eight teams in Sportsnaut’s most-recent NFL power rankings. The only exception are the Miami Dolphins who have three primetime matchups.
Prelude to Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas
Whether it’s hosting multiple Pro Bowls or the NFL Draft in Las Vegas, it’s pretty clear that the NFL sees Sin City as an extremely marketable region. In releasing the Las Vegas Raiders’ schedule for the 2023 season, the NFL magnified that in a big way.
Despite the Raiders being seen as a bottom-end team heading into the 2023 campaign, they still have four nationally televised games on primetime. All four of those come at home inside Allegiant Stadium in Northern Nevada:
- Pittsburgh Steelers: Week 3, Sunday Night Football
- Green Bay Packers: Week 5, Sunday Night Football
- New York Jets: Week 10, Sunday Night Football
- Los Angeles Chargers: Week 15, Thursday Night Football
Let’s put this into perspective when looking at the 2023 NFL schedule. Pittsburgh is a rivalry game dating back to the 1970s. Raiders star Davante Adams will face off against his former Packers team Week 5. Aaron Rodgers, who the Raiders were linked to, will head to Sin City in November. Meanwhile, the Raiders and Chargers are AFC West foes. Yeah, the NFL is really pimping the coming Super Bowl in Vegas.
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