Ravens 2013 Schedule 5th Toughest

[MadJack]

:facepalm:

http://www.baltimorebeatdown.com/2013/2/8/3967434/ravens-2013-schedule-5th-toughest

For the honor of winning the AFC North, the Baltimore Ravens get to play a "first-place schedule," meaning that they will be playing the first place teams in all three AFC divisions in the 2013 NFL regular season.

In addition to the Baltimore Ravens rotating schedule finding the AFC North playing all four teams in both the AFC East and NFC North, they will also play the first place team in the AFC South and West. That means they will once again face the Houston Texans and Denver Broncos in the 2013 regular season.

Their schedule, which won't be released for a few more months, is the 5th toughest in the NFL, based on 2012 records, according to a story on NFL.com. The combined record of the Ravens' next year opponents was 137-119 in 2012, a winning percentage of .535.

The only other teams facing a stronger strength-of-schedule next season than Baltimore are the St. Louis Rams (.539), New Orleans Saints (.539), Detroit Lions (.539) and Carolina Panther (.543), whose opponent's 138-116-2 record is the toughest in the entire league.

The Denver Broncos have the weakest schedule (.430) next season, but that's because they play in the AFC Worst, er, West, as four of the five easiest schedules belong to the four teams in that division.

The Ravens will have seven of their 16 regular season games against teams that made the playoffs last season, and that does not include facing the Pittsburgh Steelers twice. The will see both opponents from the AFC Divisional Round (Broncos) and AFC Championship Game (New England Patriots) once again.

They will also face the Cincinnati Bengals (twice), Houston Texans, Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings in 2013, all of whom made the post season this past year, and will love to dethrone the reigning Super Bowl Champs.

Repeating as Super Bowl Champions is a tough task and the combination of losing their free agents to teams that want playoff experience on their rosters, picking last in the NFL Draft and playing a first-place schedule all add up to a significant challenge that will certainly test this Ravens team in 2013.

 

[bleedingpurple]

Well they will get a break when they play Green Bay

 

[Gags]

You and Harbaugh both... :0026

 

[Mr. Poon]

The strength of schedule as determined by a team?s prior year finish is perhaps the most overrated item in the NFL. Is there a difference in strength, yes, but the factor of a ?first place schedule? compared to a last place schedule is minimal. Out of a team?s 16 games, 14 are pre-determined and not going to change despite whether they finish 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th in a division. So that means a whopping 2 games are determined by that. Add in the fact of the parity level in the NFL and how often/easily teams can switch places and improve or drop in the division, and the prior year finish doesn?t matter that much.

 

[Old School]

gotta be some advantage of playing the AFC West ...and Denver surely gets an advantage playing those sad sack teams twice each.

for years the Steelers played a high school schedule..and if Cinc. and Clev. don't finally put it all together it will be more of the same.

 

[MadJack]

gotta be some advantage of playing the AFC West ...and Denver surely gets an advantage playing those sad sack teams twice each.

for years the Steelers played a high school schedule..and if Cinc. and Clev. don't finally put it all together it will be more of the same.

Bengals are a better team than the Steelers.

 

[Old School]

Bengals are a better team than the Steelers.

and you can have them both if they are facing N.E. or Denver in a playoff game..

 

[MadJack]

and you can have them both if they are facing N.E. or Denver in a playoff game..

What's the point? I thought you were comparing Steelers vs Browns and Bengals.

Broncos and Pats are better than both.

We all know the team to beat for the AFC. The team that has the better home record for the last 5 years and the team with the better overall record the last 5 years. And the same team looks improved over last years Championship team and still have 12 draft picks with Ozzie Newsome making those decisions. opcorn2

 

[MadJack]

I'm gonna continue my fun with you for several more years to come. :toast:

I just hope we get to crack some jimmies together one day this summer while we are discussing the matter. :toast:

 

[MadJack]

Looks like a possible 4 day weekend this summer with July 4th landing on a Thursday. :0003

An 11 hour drive for me is not a problem.

:0003

 

[Old School]

:0074

 

[MadJack]

Does your man have oysters too?

 

[Old School]

different waterman..

but living here on the greatest natural body of water we reap all the rewards.

including ..............

but ..of course you do have faint memories of such things..

 

[Mr. Poon]

gotta be some advantage of playing the AFC West ...and Denver surely gets an advantage playing those sad sack teams twice each.

for years the Steelers played a high school schedule..and if Cinc. and Clev. don't finally put it all together it will be more of the same.

Ravens have played that same high school schedule of Cincy and Cleveland every year that Pittsburgh has, well at least since they were Cleveland.

Last 10 years Pitt has won the division 4 times, Ravens 4 times and Cincy twice, so the Steelers have had the '1st place schedule' as many times as Balt.

No doubt the AFC West has been putrid in recent years. Go back to the 90's though, that was a pretty intense division.

 

[Old School]

Poon if we go back to the 90's I can still work 12 hour days..:00hour :00hour


having Clev. and Cinc in that Div. has helped the Steelers year in and year out since Moby Dick was a minnow.

when was the last time Clev was even a winner of a playoff game:shrug:

for that matter when was the last time Cinc. even played in the AFC Championship Game..

probably someone invented the cell phone during that time span..

 

[Mr. Poon]

I don't get your point. Baltimore has been playing Cleve and Cincy the same amount as Pitt has since 1999? :shrug:

 

[Old School]

point is that in their strength of schedule they may play what is called a first place schedule after wining the Div..but is bogus as hell playing these two losers programs year after year after year..

yes Balt and Pitt reaped big time playing these bogus franchises.

when the NFC East was hell on the rest of the league and the winner there got what was called a first place schedule..you can bet your last nickle it was a true first place schedule when you banged heads with those powerhouses at the time..


16 games in a season and Pitt would have 4 W's before the waterboys carried the first glass of water to Ben to get the beer down from the night before..

hope I made myself clearer..:0074

 

[Mr. Poon]

No, I don't get it, its just as easy for Pitt as it is for Balt.

 

[Old School]

yes as easy for both ..

point being 2 shit teams made it easier year in and year out for one of the teams to win the Div.

yes Cinc won a Div. crown..

Christ after 25 years of trying to repeat as a Super Bowl contender ..ya gotta have something go right because the others happen go sour one year .

moot point anyway..

they will add the 2 additional playoff teams and the whole league will be as weak as that sorry as NBA and teams scoring 72 points for the whole game.

 

[poolplayer8888]

Well they will get a break when they play Green Bay

Good one LOL