The NFL offseason never truly sleeps, and Thursday night will feature one of the league’s annual traditions: the release of the regular-season schedule.
Some games will be revealed before then, however. Ahead of the unveiling of the full slate of games at 8 p.m., the NFL will announce its five international games and new Black Friday tilt on Wednesday and what it calls “select” individual games on Wednesday and Thursday morning.
ESPN will also have a two-hour show highlighting the “Monday Night Football” schedule, with ESPN+ airing a separate schedule release special at the same time. “NFL Live” will also reveal 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’ll get nine home games and eight away games in 2023. Aside from the usual divisional matchups, they’ll play games against teams from the AFC South, East and West and NFC West and North.
With the Ravens’ schedule set to be announced, here are five things to know:
Who are the Ravens playing at home?
In addition to the usual 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 what will be three straight trips to 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 the 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 prime-time games will the Ravens have?
Last season, the Ravens had three prime-time games (Week 5 vs. Cincinnati; Week 8 at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Week 9 at the 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 to play a maximum of six prime-time games, and with the Ravens having re-signed star quarterback Lamar Jackson and added two-time All-Pro wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., it’s likely they’ll get three, if not more, night games.
The Bengals, whom the Ravens nearly upset in the AFC wild-card round of the playoffs last season, seem like a no-brainer, with the 49ers, Chargers, Dolphins, Seahawks and Jaguars intriguing possibilities as well.
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 drubbed 44-7, coach John Harbaugh didn’t hold back his feelings about the experience, saying, “To be honest with you — and maybe I’ll get into trouble for saying this — don’t plan on going over there any time soon to play again. So, somebody else can have that job.”
But six years later, the Ravens and Harbaugh are headed back overseas.
The NFL unveiled its slate of five international games on Wednesday morning. The Ravens will play the Tennessee Titans on Oct. 15 in a Week 6 matchup at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The Titans, who were announced as one of the international host teams in January, last played overseas in 2018, losing to the then-San Diego Chargers, 20-19.
Harbaugh’s quote will surely be brought up when the Ravens venture overseas this year. But the NFL chose to show off a potentially explosive offense built around one of its most exciting stars in Jackson, who was 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 opponents’ combined winning percentage 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 having won 48.4% of games last season.
As for the league’s toughest schedule, that belongs to the reigning NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles, whose opponents won 56.6% of their games last season, with 10 reaching 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, get a brutal slate of road games against the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, Eagles, Bills, Chargers, Ravens and Aaron Rodgers-led New York Jets.
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 just four playoff teams among that group, the fewest allowed under the NFL’s scheduling guidelines. The next easiest schedule, meanwhile, is that of the New Orleans Saints, whose opponents won 42.7% of their games last season. In each of the past seven years, at least one of the two teams with the easiest schedules in the league has made the playoffs.
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