NFL Schedule Release: Full Season Predictions, Week 1 Lines, Storylines + More! - 5/13/21
Lots to get in to here. The Schedule dropped yesterday and I have been working pretty much all day Wednesday to provide an article I could be proud of. I'm not sure I got to that standard, to be honest, because I probably just spent too much time on the formatting for the Full Season Prediction section. I hope you at least scroll down there and check that out even though I still couldn't figure out the formatting perfectly. I do apologize for that. But I know I provided the content I wanted to so I will be at least proud of that.
Included in this article are some storylines including reunions, young QB matchups, and a few random notes.
I have also added the first Best Bets of the 2021 season with the Week 1 Lines from William Hill US.
Additionally, all of the primetime and international games are listed out by TNF, SNF, and MNF.
For anyone that isn't exactly sure what all of this nonsense about flex scheduling is, that you may have heard about, I included a brief section explaining what that is and giving a few guesses as to what games could be flexed out of Primetime.
Finally, I listed a few of my favorite Schedule Release Videos from teams that dropped yesterday. I highly recommend checking out the Panthers one if you have 10 minutes to spare.
With all of that being said, I hope you enjoy my NFL Schedule Release article.
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Storylines
I was planning on writing out actual storylines but by the time I got to this section it was past 3am, so I decided to do bullet points since pretty much every media outlet is doing storylines in depth. If you want some quick hitters then I have some listed below!
Notable Reunions:
- Brady and Gronk return to New England (Week 4)
- Cam Newton at Carolina (Week 9)
- Hopkins/Watt play HOU at home (Week 7)
- Darnold vs the Jets (Week 1)
- Tannehill plays Miami (Week 17)
- Jameis starts in Tampa (Week 15)
- Khalil Mack back in Vegas (Week 15)
- Andy Reid to Philly (Week 14)
- Stafford and Goff Meet in LA (Week 7)
Young QB Matchups:
- Trevor vs Burrow (Week 4)
- Trevor vs Tua (Week 6)
- Wilson vs Trevor (Week 16)
- Burrow vs Herbert (Week 13)
- Wilson vs Tua (Weeks 11+15)
- Lance vs Fields (Week 8)
- Lance vs Trevor (Week 11)
- Lance vs Burrow (Week 14)
- Herbert vs Hurts (Week 9)
- Herbert vs Mac (Week 10)
- Tua vs Mac (Week 1+18)
- Lance vs Hurts (Week 2)
- Hurts vs Wilson (Week 13)
- Mac vs Wilson (Week 2+7)
- Mac vs Trevor (Week 17)
Random Tidbits:
- Byes start in Week 6 this year and end in Week 14. Week 14 BYES: IND, PHI, MIA, NE
- Washington finishes season with 5 straight NFC East games
- Patriots play 3 different opponents coming off a bye. Panthers play no teams coming off a bye.
- Top 5 Most Miles to Travel: SF, SEA, LAR, LAC, JAX
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Best Bets: Week 1 Opening Lines
- DAL at TB -6 O/U 53
- JAX -2 at HOU O/U 46
- PIT at BUF -5.5 O/U 51
- NYJ at CAR -3.5 O/U 43.5
- AZ at TEN -2.5 O/U 51.5
- LAC -2 at WSH O/U 44.5
- MIN -2.5 at CIN O/U 47
- SF -7 at DET O/U 47
- PHI at ATL -4 O/U 47.5
- SEA at IND -2 O/U 52
- CLE at KC -6 O/U 53.5
- MIA at NE -2.5 O/U 45.5
- DEN at NYG -1 O/U 43
- GB at NO -1.5 O/U 51
- CHI at LAR -7 O/U 45.5
- BAL -5.5 at LV O/U 52
There are quite a few lines I really like from this bunch and would be willing to throw down early money on, with the expectation that they will change once we get closer to the season. Below are my Best Bets.
WSH +2: Chargers travelling from west to east normally does not mean good things and the fact that they are favored versus what I think is a fairly good Washington team is surprising. I feel like LA will outperform their 2020 season because they lost games in astonishing style every week. They just can't continue to re-write the book on losing. But I am going to have a hard time picking against Fitzy in any given game because of the magic.
WSH +2: Chargers travelling from west to east normally does not mean good things and the fact that they are favored versus what I think is a fairly good Washington team is surprising. I feel like LA will outperform their 2020 season because they lost games in astonishing style every week. They just can't continue to re-write the book on losing. But I am going to have a hard time picking against Fitzy in any given game because of the magic.
PHI +4: Why is Atlanta's team better in 2021 than 2020? They made a coaching change yes. But their starting lineup largely got worse because of the salary cap. Philly's team got better and I could easily see them winning this game outright. Atlanta doesn't have much of a home-field advantage, so I'll take the points.
SEA +2 & OVER 52: Russell always starts the season on absolute fire. I think this game will be one of the better games in Week 1 because both teams can score quickly but both also want to control the clock. That is why the O/U is only at 52. Seattle can easily put up 30 by themselves and I believe in Wentz to at least be a garbage time QB if it doesn't stay close.
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INTERNATIONAL GAMES:
- Week 5 - Jets at Falcons in London @ 9:30am EST (Tottenham Stadium) NFL Network only
- Week 6 - Dolphins at Jaguars in London @ 9:30am EST (Tottenham Stadium)
THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL:
- Week 1: Cowboys @ Buccaneers
- Week 2: Giants @ Washington NFL Network only
- Week 3: Panthers @ Texans NFL Network only
- Week 4: Jaguars @ Bengals NFL Network only
- Week 5: Rams @ Seahawks
- Week 6: Buccaneers @ Eagles
- Week 7: Broncos @ Browns
- Week 8: Packers @ Cardinals
- Week 9: Jets @ Colts
- Week 10: Ravens @ Dolphins
- Week 11: Patriots @ Falcons
- Week 12 (Thanksgiving): Bears @ Lions, Raiders @ Cowboys, Bills @ Saints
- Week 13: Cowboys @ Saints
- Week 14: Steelers @ Vikings
- Week 15: Chiefs @ Chargers
- Week 16: 49ers @ Titans
SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL:
- Week 1: Bears @ Rams
- Week 2: Chiefs @ Ravens
- Week 3: Packers @ 49ers
- Week 4: Buccaneers @ Patriots
- Week 5: Bills @ Chiefs
- Week 6: Seahawks @ Steelers
- Week 7: Colts @ 49ers
- Week 8: Cowboys @ Vikings
- Week 9: Titans @ Rams
- Week 10: Chiefs @ Raiders
- Week 11: Steelers @ Chargers
- Week 12: Browns @ Ravens
- Week 13: 49ers @ Seahawks
- Week 14: Bears @ Packers
- Week 15: Saints @ Buccaneers
- Week 16: Washington @ Cowboys
- Week 17: Vikings @ Packers
- Week 18: Will be determined after Week 17 has been played
MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL:
- Week 1: Ravens @ Raiders
- Week 2: Lions @ Packers
- Week 3: Eagles @ Cowboys
- Week 4: Raiders @ Chargers
- Week 5: Colts @ Ravens
- Week 6: Bills @ Titans
- Week 7: Saints @ Seahawks
- Week 8: Giants @ Chiefs
- Week 9: Bears @ Steelers
- Week 10: Rams @ 49ers
- Week 11: Giants @ Buccaneers
- Week 12: Seahawks @ Washington
- Week 13: Patriots @ Bills
- Week 14: Rams @ Cardinals
- Week 15: Vikings @ Bears
- Week 16: Dolphins @ Saints
- Week 17: Browns @ Steelers
SATURDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL:
- Week 15 (2 games NFL Network only): Jets @ Dolphins OR Patriots @ Colts OR Raiders @ Browns OR Panthers @ Bills
- Week 16 (Christmas): Colts @ Cardinals; Browns @ Packers
- Week 18 (2 games ESPN only): Will be determined after Week 17 has been played
Teams with Most Primetime Games
6 - Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers
5 - New Orleans Saints, Pittsburgh Steelers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Chicago Bears, Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks
4 OR 5 - Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts, Las Vegas Raiders, Buffalo Bills (Depending on the Week 15 Saturday games)
4 - Minnesota Vikings
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Flex Scheduling
I want to first explain what flex scheduling is and in what scenarios it could come into play. Then I will talk about a few games that I think could be prime games to flex out of.
To explain it as succinctly as possible, flex scheduling is when there is a primetime game (SNF/MNF only) that isn't as enticing to a national audience as another game. We have seen flex scheduling used for afternoon to afternoon slots but those are a bit random in comparison to primetime flexing. Since 2014, the NFL has allowed flex scheduling from Week 5 to Week 15 for Sunday Night Football only. However, in 2021 the NFL expanded it to Monday Night Football games from Week 12-17. A game can be flexed out 2 weeks prior to the game being played. There was a rule that only 2 SNF games between Weeks 5-10 could be flexed out, but I am unsure if that rule is still valid considering that MNF is now in the mix. The final thing to keep in mind, Thursday Night Games cannot be flexed and Monday Night cannot be flexed into Sunday Night. Only 1pm and 4pm games can be flexed to SNF/MNF.
All of that being said, here are the primetime games that I believe have a possibility of getting flexed down the road if some of these teams don't perform up to snuff.. Of course, I know nothing and this is just a prediction so take it with a grain of salt.
Week 7: SNF - Colts at 49ers
FOR
Washington at Packers OR Chiefs at Titans
Week 12: MNF - Seahawks at Washington
FOR
Rams at Packers OR Titans at Patriots OR Bucs at Colts
Week 16: MNF - Dolphins at Saints
FOR
Steelers at Chiefs OR Giants at Eagles
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Full Season Prediction
AZ Cardinals: 8-9 1 @ TEN 2 vs MIN 3 @ JAX 4 @ LAR 5 vs SF 6 @ CLE 7 vs HOU 8 vs GB
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 @ SF 10 vs CAR 11 @ SEA 12 BYE 13 @ CHI 14 vs LAR 15 @ DET 16 vs IND 17 @ DAL 18 vs SEA
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
ATL Falcons: 4-13 1 vs PHI 2 @ TB 3 @ NYG 4 vs WFT 5 vs NYJ BYE 7 @ MIA 8 vs CAR
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 @ NO 10 @ DAL 11 vs NE 12 @ JAX 13 vs TB 14 @ CAR 15 @ SF 16 vs DET 17 @ BUF 18 vs NO
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 vs MIN 10 @ MIA 11 @ CHI 12 vs CLE 13 @ PIT 14 @ CLE 15 vs GB 16 @ CIN 17 @ LAR 18 vs PIT
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
BUF Bills: 14-3 1 vs PIT 2 @ MIA 3 vs WFT 4 vs HOU 5 @ KC 6 @ TEN 7 BYE 8 vs MIA
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 @ JAX 10 @ NYJ 11 vs IND 12 @ NO 13 vs NE 14 @ TB 15 vs CAR 16 @ NE 17 vs ATL 18 vs NYJ
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
CAR Panthers: 4-13 1 vs NYJ 2 vs NO 3 @ HOU 4 @ DAL 5 vs vs PHI 6 vs MIN 7 @ NYG 8 @ ATL
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 vs NE 10 @ AZ 11 vs WFT 12 @ MIA 13 BYE 14 vs ATL 15 @ BUF 16 vs TB 17 @ NO 18 @ TB
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
CHI Bears: 9-8 1 @ LAR 2 vs CIN 3 @ CLE 4 vs DET 5 @ LV 6 vs GB 7 @ TB 8 vs SF
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 @ PIT 10 BYE 11 vs BAL 12 @ DET 13 vs AZ 14 @ GB 15 vs MIN 16 @ SEA 17 vs NYG 18 @ MIN
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 vs CLE 10 BYE 11 @ LV 12 vs PIT 13 vs LAC 14 vs SF 15 @ DEN 16 vs BAL 17 vs KC 18 @ CLE
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 @ CIN 10 @ NE 11 vs DET 12 @ BAL 13 BYE 14 vs BAL 15 vs LV 16 @ GB 17 @ PIT 18 vs CIN
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 vs DEN 10 vs ATL 11 @ KC 12 vs LV 13 @ NO 14 @ WFT 15 vs NYG 16 vs WFT 17 vs AZ 18 @ PHI
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 @ DAL 10 vs PHI 11 BYE 12 vs LAC 13 @ KC 14 vs DET 15 vs CIN 16 @ LV 17 @ LAC 18 vs KC
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 BYE 10 @ PIT 11 @ CLE 12 vs CHI 13 vs MIN 14 @ DEN 15 vs AZ 16 @ ATL 17 @ SEA 18 vs GB
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 @ KC 10 vs SEA 11 @ MIN 12 vs LAR 13 BYE 14 vs CHI 15 @ BAL 16 vs CLE 17 vs MIN 18 @ DET
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 @ MIA 10 BYE 11 @ TEN 12 vs NYJ 13 vs IND 14 vs SEA 15 @ JAX 16 vs LAC 17 @ SF 18 vs TEN
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 vs NYJ 10 vs JAX 11 @ BUF 12 vs TB 13 @ HOU 14 BYE 15 vs NE 16 @ AZ 17 vs LV 18 @ JAX
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 vs BUF 10 @ IND 11 vs SF 12 vs ATL 13 @ LAR 14 @ TEN 15 vs HOU 16 @ NYJ 17 @ NE 18 vs IND
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 vs GB 10 @ LV 11 vs DAL 12 BYE 13 vs DEN 14 vs LV 15 @ LAC 16 vs PIT 17 @ CIN 18 vs DEN
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 @ NYG 10 vs KC 11 vs CIN 12 @ DAL 13 vs WF 14 @ KC 15 @ CLE 16 vs DEN 17 @ IND 18 vs LAC
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 @ PHI 10 vs MIN 11 vs PIT 12 @ DEN 13 @ CIN 14 vs NYG 15 vs KC 16 @ HOU 17 vs DEN 18 @ LV
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
LA Rams: 13-4 1 vs CHI 2 @ IND 3 vs TB 4 vs AZ 5 @ SEA 6 @ NYG 7 vs DET 8 @ HOU
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 vs TEN 10 @ SF 11 BYE 12 @ GB 13 vs JAX 14 @ AZ 15 vs SEA 16 @ MIN 17 @ BAL 18 vs SF
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
MIA Dolphins: 11-6 1 @ NE 2 vs BUF 3 @ LV 4 vs IND 5 @ TB 6 @ JAX 7 vs ATL 8 @ BUF
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 vs HOU 10 vs BAL 11 @ NYJ 12 vs CAR 13 vs NYG 14 BYE 15 vs NYJ 16 @ NO 17 @ TEN 18 vs NE
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 @ BAL 10 @ LAC 11 vs GB 12 @ SF 13 @ DET 14 vs PIT 15 @ CHI 16 vs LAR 17 @ GB 18 vs CHI
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 @ CAR 10 vs CLE 11 @ ATL 12 vs TEN 13 @ BUF 14 BYE 15 @ IND 16 vs BUF 17 vs JAX 18 @ MIA
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 vs ATL 10 @ TEN 11 @ PHI 12 vs BUF 13 vs DAL 14 @ NYJ 15 @ TB 16 vs MIA 17 vs CAR 18 @ ATL
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 vs LV 10 BYE 11 @ TB 12 vs PHI 13 @ MIA 14 @ LAC 15 vs DAL 16 @ PHI 17 @ CHI 18 vs WFT
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
10 vs BUF 11 vs MIA 12 @ HOU 13 vs PHI 14 vs NO 15 @ MIA 16 vs JAX 17 vs TB 18 @ BUF
L L L W L L L L L
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 vs LAC 10 @ DEN 11 vs NO 12 @ NYG 13 @ NYJ 14 BYE 15 vs WFT 16 vs NYG 17 @ WFT 18 vs DAL
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 vs CHI 10 vs DET 11 @ LAC 12 @ CIN 13 vs BAL 14 @ MIN 15 vs TEN 16 @ KC 17 vs CLE 18 @ BAL
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
10 vs LAR 11 @ JAX 12 vs MIN 13 @ SEA 14 @ CIN 15 vs ATL 16 @ TEN 17 vs HOU 18 @ LAR
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 BYE 10 @ GB 11 vs AZ 12 @ WFT 13 vs SF 14 @ HOU 15 @ LAR 16 vs CHI 17 vs DET 18 @ AZ
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 BYE 10 @ WFT 11 vs NYG 12 @ IND 13 @ ATL 14 vs BUF 15 vs NO 16 @ CAR 17 @ NYJ 18 vs CAR
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 @ LAR 10 vs NO 11 vs HOU 12 @ NE 13 BYE 14 vs JAX 15 @ PIT 16 vs SF 17 vs MIA 18 @ HOU
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
9 BYE 10 vs TB 11 @ CAR 12 vs SEA 13 @ LV 14 vs DAL 15 @ PHI 16 @ DAL 17 vs PHI 18 @ NYG
W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L W/L
NFC Playoffs:
1: Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs BYE
2: Green Bay Packers vs 7: Seattle Seahawks
3: Los Angeles Rams vs 6: Dallas Cowboys
4: Washington Football Team vs 5: New Orleans Saints
AFC Playoffs:
1: Kansas City Chiefs vs BYE
2: Buffalo Bills vs 7: Miami Dolphins
3: Cleveland Browns vs 6: Los Angeles Chargers
4: Indianapolis Colts vs 5: Baltimore Ravens
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Hope you guys enjoy this! I put a lot of work in well into the wee hours. Let me know in the comments or at @KyleTheCommish on Twitter.
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