Week 1 Schedule Question

What is the purpose of scheduling mostly in-conference games during week 1?

If I'm reading the games correction, only Bengals@Seahawks, and Texans@Saints are inter-conference games. Everything else is NFC vs. NFC or AFC vs. AFC.

I realize there are 3 times more conference games, but each team plays 4 inter-conference games of 16, so each week, there should be 4 scheduled on average. We finish our AFC North match-ups by week 7, but 3 of the last 4 are divisional (with the perennial, nearly-division-like-foe Panthers in there, too).

Is this an effort to maximize the playoff drama between division and conference rivals at the end of the season and to begin the year with the same? Or is it all just random chance?

I would guess largely random. I thought no they do intentionally do some good match-ups, like Packers-Bears kicking off the season. I know they have goals for the last week or two of the season but I've not heard of any intentional plans for Week 1.

HawkGA":1bdvsf5h said:

I would guess largely random. I thought no they do intentionally do some good match-ups, like Packers-Bears kicking off the season. I know they have goals for the last week or two of the season but I've not heard of any intentional plans for Week 1.

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Yeah, week 17 is almost entirely divisional games, and week 16 has a lot of division and conference games. I'd love to know how much they tinker with it beyond just "making it all fit."

Well I'm sure they set the stealers' season schedule in the most advantageous way possible first, and then work out from there.

hawksfansinceday1":v969qo0v said:

Well I'm sure they set the stealers' season schedule in the most advantageous way possible first, and then work out from there.

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...and New Englands.......You are welcome.