Tag: 2022 schedule

Chiefs 2022 schedule preview, Week 3: Colts

Our @Nicolas_Roesch takes an early look at the #Chiefs’ Week 3 opponent and some things to monitor as the #Colts progress through the offseason.

In Week 3 of the 2022 NFL season, the Kansas City Chiefs go back onto the road to take on the Indianapolis Colts.

Kansas City will have 10 days to prepare for this game after facing the Los Angeles Chargers on “Thursday Night Football” the week before. The Colts made a few big trades this offseason, starting with trading away former starting quarterback Carson Wentz to the Washington Commanders.

They followed that move by trading for long-time Atlanta Falcons starting quarterback Matt Ryan. On the defensive side of the ball, Indianapolis traded for Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Yannick Ngakoue. The Colts’ big free-agent signing this offseason was five-time Pro Bowl cornerback Stephon Gilmore, who inked a two-year contract with the team.

After losing Matt Eberflus the Colts signed long-time defensive coordinator Gus Bradley this offseason. Chiefs fans should know Bradley well after his time as the Chargers’ and Raiders’ defensive coordinator. In Week 16 of 2021, with a 9-6 record, it appeared Indianapolis was on track to make the postseason. They would drop their final two games and fall short of those postseason goals.

Let’s take a look at some of the Colts’ key players and their outlooks heading into the regular season:

5 teams that could put Alabama on upset watch in 2022

Alabama is seeking national championship No. 19, but could any of these teams soil their chances at another title run?

The Alabama Crimson Tide football team will take the field to begin the 2022 college football season in just a few months against Utah State. After a somewhat disappointing 2021 season that resulted in a loss to Georgia in the national championship, Alabama seeks revenge.

After a rough 2019 season that saw Alabama miss the College Football Playoff altogether, the roster returned plenty of impactful talent in 2020 and ran the table to earn national title No. 18. Crimson Tide fans hope 2022 goes in a similar direction.

Though the roster is loaded and the odds are in their favor, there are a few programs on the regular schedule that could lead to a potential upset.

Here are five teams on Alabama’s 2022 regular-season schedule that could put the Tide on upset watch.

Chiefs 2022 schedule preview, Week 2: Chargers

Our @Nicolas_Roesch takes an early look at the #Chiefs’ Week 2 opponent and some things to monitor as the #Chargers progress through the offseason.

Week 2 will be the Kansas City Chiefs’ home opener as they host the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday Night Football.

The Chiefs and Chargers split their 2021 season series with both teams losing on their home turf. Kansas City won its seventh-straight AFC West title and Los Angeles finished third in the division at 9-8, barely missing the playoffs. The Chargers have responded to their disappointing 2021 campaign by having a very active offseason.

They wasted no time in giving receiver Mike Williams a three-year $60 million contract extension. Following that move, the Chargers bolstered their defense by trading for linebacker Khalil Mack and signing defensive linemen Sebastian Joseph-Day and Austin Johnson. They didn’t stop there as they also signed all-pro cornerback J.C. Jackson a big five-year $82.5 million contract.

Los Angeles is loaded on both sides of the ball and has set itself up to be all-in on a Super Bowl run for the next few years. However, the Chargers have been a snake-bitten franchise and have come up short despite some impressive rosters over the years. A lot will be riding on the shoulders of second-year head coach Brandon Staley, who’s situational play calling was at the center of controversy a few times last season.

Let’s take a look at some of the Chargers’ key players and their outlooks heading into the regular season:

Podcast: Discussing Jags’ addition of Ethan Waugh, schedule release

In Episode 12 of @TDJaguarsPod, the Jags Wire crew discussed the newest addition to the Jags’ front office in Ethan Waugh and much more.

The NFL revealed the full schedules of all 32 teams a few weeks ago. As expected, the Jacksonville Jaguars were only given one primetime game in the process, but that didn’t seem to take away from the excitement of their reveal.

In Episode 12 of “Touchdown Jaguars,” Jags Wire contributor Phil Smith and I discussed our thoughts on the Jags’ schedule release. A few topics we went over along the way were the Jags’ late-season primetime matchup against the New York Jets, the lack of early home games, the toughest stretch of the schedule, and much more.

We also discussed the Jags’ addition of assistant general manager Ethan Waugh and what it means for the team. For the fans who missed it, the Jags named Waugh to the staff on May 18 and he will join them after spending 17 seasons with the San Francisco 49ers.

To listen to the full episode, hit play below:

 

Where do Oklahoma and their 2022 opponents rank in updated ESPN SP+ ratings?

How do the Oklahoma Sooners and their 2022 opponents rank in ESPN’s updated SP+ ratings?

It’s projection season, and the Oklahoma Sooners are the favorites in the Big 12 several months from the start of the 2022 regular season. According to ESPN’s SP+ ratings (ESPN+), the Sooners look like one of the best teams in the country.

SP+ considers returning production, recent recruiting results, and recent history of success. With departures for the NFL and through the transfer portal, the Sooners were No. 71 in returning production in February.

Their recruiting has been excellent in the last five years, regularly finishing with top 15 classes. While they lost quite a few of those recent signees to the transfer portal, Brent Venables and his staff did an excellent job of retooling their roster through the portal to account for the losses on the roster. That’s part of why the Sooners are still so highly thought of.

And despite not winning the Big 12 in 2022, the Sooners still finished the season with 11 wins, the seventh time they accomplished such a feat in the last nine seasons. They had nine wins during the COVID-19 season. Though they were never able to break through to a national championship game, the Sooners have been one of the most successful teams in the country over the last decade.

Heading into 2022, the Sooners’ strength of schedule should allow for them to stack up quite a few wins. According to the FPI, the Sooners’ strength of schedule ranked No. 42 in the country and No. 8 in the Big 12. 247Sports ranked it as the sixth easiest among 2022 contenders.

Some of that can be reflected in their schedule for 2022 relative to ESPN’s SP+ ratings. They have three opponents on their schedule that rank outside the top 100 in SP+; Kansas, UTEP, and Kent State. The highest-ranked team on the schedule is the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Though they won just three games in 2021, they’re a team that many think highly of heading into 2022 (for some reason).

The highest-ranked Big 12 team is the Texas Longhorns. With their offense, Texas should be really good in 2022. If they can improve upon one of the worst defenses in the country from 2021, they’ll be a contender in the Big 12 as long as Quinn Ewers lives up to the hype.

Defending Big 12 champion Baylor comes in at No. 40, the fifth highest-rated team in the Big 12. They lost a lot of talent to the NFL, like the Sooners did, but seem like a team due for a bit of regression after going from two wins to Big 12 champs in one season.

Taking a look out west, the USC Trojans look like a team that will depend heavily on their offense. They rank 24th in offensive SP+ and 84th in defensive SP+. While it will take time for Riley and the Trojans to rebuild a four-win team from 2021, some of the same problems may persist for Oklahoma’s former head coach.

Let’s take a look at how Oklahoma’s 2022 opponents (and USC) rank in ESPN’s SP+ ratings.

Categorizing opposing quarterbacks on Packers 2022 regular season schedule

The Packers’ talent-rich defense will face a mix of likely MVP candidates, experienced veterans and young guns at quarterback during the 2022 season.

Which quarterbacks are on the Green Bay Packers’ 2022 regular-season schedule?

The Packers invested significant resources on the defensive side of the football and may now boast the most talented defense in football, at least on paper. General manager Brian Gutekunst re-signed linebacker De’Vondre Campbell and cornerback Rasul Douglas, signed defensive lineman Jarran Reed and used first-round picks on linebacker Quay Walker and defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt. In all, the Packers are likely to start seven first-round picks on defense in 2022. Three others were prized free-agent acquisitions.

The quality of any NFL defense is in its ability to combat the game’s best quarterbacks. Getting to the Super Bowl requires beating the top passers. The Packers hope an elite defense can help make up for any potential regression on offense created by losing weapons – including Davante Adams – in the passing game.

The regular season will provide tests for Joe Barry’s defense. Here’s a look a the quarterbacks on the Packers’ schedule in 2022, categorized by three different tiers: likely MVP candidates, experienced veterans and young guns.

Lions schedule: Too-early game-by-game predictions for all 17 games

An early prediction on all 17 games on the Detroit Lions 2022 schedule

It’s time once again for the too-early “schedule game”. You know how it goes. We get the Detroit Lions schedule finalized and then it’s a requirement we go through and predict wins and losses for each game. It’s a time-honored staple of sports radio and fandom!

I have a slightly different process than most folks in doing it. I actually go through each game three times. I guesstimate the best possible outcome for the Lions, the worst possible outcome, and then which one is more likely given the opponent and my general feeling towards that team in 2022.

In this exact prediction piece in 2021, I had the Lions finishing 5-12.

Saints land just 3 prime time games on 2022 schedule

The Saints landed just 3 prime time games on their 2022 schedule, not including an early kickoff from London:

Well, that’s disappointing. The New Orleans Saints have been one of the NFL’s top draws for prime time games in front of a national audience in recent years — the team received five high-profile night games in 2021, plus four of them in both 2020 and 2019. But this year, without Sean Payton and without Drew Brees, Saints fans will only get to see three games in prime time (barring flex scheduling changes later on, and not counting the early-morning kickoff from London, of course).

It does make sense. Payton and Brees were the architects of nearly two decades of success in New Orleans. The team sunk to its worst record in years once Brees retired, and now they’re without a known quantity at head coach. The league executives and shadowy television figures plotting out the NFL schedule aren’t ready to keep the Saints in too bright a spotlight if things get ugly.

And their first prime time game is going to be quite a challenge. The Saints won’t take the big stage until a Thursday night road game with the Arizona Cardinals on Oct. 20, which happens to be the first game in which Cardinals star receiver DeAndre Hopkins will be returning from a six-game suspension. The Saints will need Pro Bowl cornerback Marshon Lattimore to be on top of his game in that heavyweight fight.

Just two weeks later, though, and the Saints will be in prime time again; this time playing hosts to the Baltimore Ravens in a Monday night kickoff on Nov. 7. Expect a lively crowd at the Caesars Superdome, and New Orleans needs the help given how well Baltimore has performed against the black and gold. They’ve rarely made the trip as a rare opponent in the AFC, and the Ravens have won both games played in New Orleans (in 2014 and 2006). This is also the only Saints prime time game in New orleans.

Our final prime time game might be the Saints’ biggest game of the year. It’s their final kickoff prior to their bye week, and it’ll be a high-stakes divisional road game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Dec. 5. Hopefully the Saints defense can throw their weight around as well as they did in last year’s nighttime 9-0 thrashing, but you’d like to think New Orleans’ offense can put more points on the board this time around. Curiously, it’s also scheduled for a Monday night, meaning the Saints are one of a few teams not expected to be featured on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” special this year.

Regardless of when and where they’re playing their opponents, it’s shaping up for just as exciting a Saints season as any other we’ve witnessed in recent years. Check here for tickets.

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Ranking every game on Colts’ 2022 schedule from toughest to easiest

Every game on the Colts’ 2022 schedule ranked from toughest to easiest.

The Indianapolis Colts released their schedule for the 2022 regular season last week, giving us an idea of what their path to the playoffs will look like.

We went through giving our game-by-game predictions for the upcoming campaign and while the Colts came out with a strong record, the path will not be easy for Indy. Eight of their 14 opponents made the playoffs during the 2021 season.

A lot has changed over the offseason so we’re working with the best possible information we have, but here’s a ranking of each game on the 2022 schedule from toughest to easiest:

Lions get a favorable strength of schedule for 2022

The Lions have one of the easiest schedules in terms of opposing win percentage from a year ago

One of the reasons the Detroit Lions could rise in the standings in 2022 is a simple matter of the strength of schedule. The Lions have one of the easier schedules in terms of opponent win percentages from a year ago.

The Lions have the fifth-easiest schedule in 2022 when accounting for the aggregate win percentage of the 17 teams on the upcoming schedule. Only the four teams in the NFC East have lighter percentages than Detroit’s .467. And the Lions play all four of those teams — Dallas, New York Giants, Philadelphia and Washington. Detroit gets the advantage of opening at home against the Eagles and Commanders, too.

It helps that the Lions are playing a fourth-place schedule, of course. Finishing in last in the NFC North in 2021 at 3-13-1 set up Detroit to play fellow bottom-dwellers from a season ago in the AFC South and NFC South. Those two teams, Jacksonville and Carolina, combined to finish 8-26.

In 2021 the Lions sputtered to their last-place finish with one of the NFL’s tougher schedules. Detroit faced an aggregate .529 win percentage from 2020 in 2021.