Author: Nate Davis / Source: USA TODAY
USA TODAY
After sifting through tens of thousands of options — distilled by supercomputers from what could be almost infinite combinations — the NFL revealed the highly anticipated schedule for its 100th season Wednesday evening.
Who has reason to rejoice and who might wish the league had allowed those servers and the scheduling honchos more time to find an ideal 256-game itinerary?
Read on …WINNERS
Tradition: The NFL made the correct call, kicking off its celebration of a football century by featuring its longest-running rivalry, Packers-Bears, for the 199th time in the regular-season opener. Letting Chicago, longtime home of George “Papa Bear” Halas, host was also a nice touch. (Now if only we could still see Soldier Field’s iconic columns from field level …)
Jason Garrett: Feels like a hot seat kinda season for Dallas’ coach, who’s never guided the Cowboys to the postseason in successive years. But the first three games for America’s Team (and five of the first six) are against non-playoff opponents — a pretty good opportunity to build some early momentum for the potentially embattled Garrett.
Lamar Jackson:Baltimore’s second-year quarterback will open a season as the starter for the first time … and face the four worst defenses (Miami, Cleveland, Kansas City, Cincinnati) from 2018 over the first six weeks.
Bills’ early Christmas shopping: Buffalo’s players basically won’t lose sight of New York in September, opening with two games just outside New York City — stock up for the kids now, fellas — against the Jets and Giants before hosting the Bengals and Patriots.
Browns’ weekend shopping:Four prime-time games! What will Cleveland players and fans do with all of this newly granted free time on Sunday afternoons at 1 p.m.?
Shared spotlight: Good to see almost every team (sorry, Bills) get at least one prime-time date. Even I want to see the Dolphins … once.
Mexico: A torn-up field at Estadio Azteca forced our neighbors to the south to surrender Chiefs-Rams last season, a game that turned out to be one of the most memorable regular-season shootouts ever. But the NFL will export Chiefs-Chargers — they also provided a dramatic contest late last season — Nov. 18 in a showdown of clubs that shared the AFC’s best record (12-4) in 2018.
History: To further tout the centennial season, the league has designated an “NFL100 Game of the Week” throughout the season in order to provide, according to its news release, “a nod to a momentous game played, a fierce rivalry that spans decades, a matchup of original teams and/or a game in which history was made.”
Patriots:This worked out pretty well. The champs open with eight consecutive tilts against teams that didn’t reach the playoffs last season. They’ll also get to limit travel expenses, leaving the Eastern time zone just once,…
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