Early Bye Week in 11 Straight Seasons?

[Ravenslifer]

I'm actually less worried about SD this year. Last year was our secondary's first real look at playing receivers that size, and we had a rookie D-coordinator. Pees faced them 3 times as D-coordinator of New England, beat them twice. The one time he lost was 08 when Matt Cassel was the starting QB. In 06 he held them to 21 points, and 07 he held them to 14. And I'd say the group he has now, even without Suggs, is easily better than any of those New England units he had in terms of overall talent.

Oh, and one more thing - last year their number 1 receiver was the now departed Vincent Jackson. Now they have Malcolm Floyd, Robert Meachum, Eddie Royal and a bunch of unproven guys. Only Floyd has that freakish size, the rest of the guys are 6'3 or smaller.

[usmccharles]

[quote name='bpytnjr58' timestamp='1345230457' post='1121154']
Still trying to figure out the schedule makers having Ravens/Steelers play twice in three weeks late in the season. Not so much concerned about the bye week.
[/quote]

This 100x. When i first looked at the schedule i was like...."really." I honestly wouldnt be suprised if we come out of that 1-2 in those three weeks. last year we lost both games after we beat the steelers, this year we play at pitt then go to san diego...thats insane.

[Ravenslifer]

The schedule is also favorable to us in a lot of ways. We get Brady and both Manning brothers at the Bank. I'd say the only elite QBs we face on the road this year are Roethlisberger and Rivers.

[ravefan52]

[quote name='Purple Punishment' timestamp='1345130997' post='1120350']
What strikes me as odd is how yet again the Patriots who are supposedly the best in the AFC get a nice easy weak schedule for the umpteenth time. Just hand them the playoffs on a silver platter NFL
[/quote]
That makes me kind of mad. They play away at: Tennessee, Bmore, Seattle, St. Louis, Jacksonville. The home games are against: Arizona, Denver, Indi, Houston, San Fran. Not included division games with Jets, Bills, and Dolphins. This schedule is wayyy to easy for an AFC champion. The only hard away game is here and the only other tough opponents they have is the texans and 49ers and they get them at home. According to [url="http://www.theredzone.org/Features/NFLStrengthofSchedule.aspx"]http://www.theredzone.org/Features/NFLStrengthofSchedule.aspx[/url] the Patriots have the easiest schedule. I know there is a specific way they create the schedule, but the patriots got really lucky.

[RavensAllTheWay]

All bye weeks are in the first half of the season. They usually range from weeks 4-11, or somewhere along those lines. We've had them in the 7-8 range for the most part, but last year was 5. This year, it's 8, which is not necessarily early compared to the rest of the league.