Starting with the AFC East, here is my first look at each team’s 2014 schedule:

Buffalo Bills: Typical of teams who routinely miss the playoffs, Buffalo will play 15 Sunday games, plus the mandatory Thursday affair.  The Bills haven't played a "Monday Night Football" game since 2009 and haven't played on Sunday night since 2007. Buffalo will not play in Toronto this year.  The early schedule is tricky, filled with teams just like Buffalo who are fighting more to make the playoffs as opposed to winning a Division.  Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz returns to Detroit on 10/5 in what should be an interesting game.  That could cause a focus problem when Tom Brady and New England visit Buffalo the next week.  No game can be taken lightly, and playing Minnesota between Divisional games vs. New England and the NYJ could be a problem.  December is rough. Three of their final four games are the road, with the lone home game vs. tough Green Bay.  They’ll likely face Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady during this stretch.  QB Manuel needs to win early on.

Miami Dolphins: Miami is just 4-8 against Division opponents the past two seasons.  They open hosting New England and at Buffalo and must understand that playoff tiebreakers could be at stake right away.  Miami has not fared well after facing Buffalo but that has to change when hosting KC if these Dolphins are to end a five-year playoff drought.   In this game LT Albert will face his old team.  Game #4 is in London vs. Oakland, so technically Miami gets an edge with only seven true road games.  Miami has a pair of back-to-back road games and in each case they must be wary of a letdown in the 2nd affair.  Can they get up for Jacksonville after traveling to Chicago?  Can they rebound from a trip to Denver and play on the road on MNF the next week?  In that game, new RB Knowshon Moreno will making a return trip to visit his old team.  Miami will have a short week after facing the Jets, which may not bode well for a team that doesn’t always win at home when they are supposed to.  In a side note, Miami does not play back-to-back home games until the final two games of the season.  Last year Miami missed the playoffs when they lost on closing day to the Jets, Miami hosts the Jets to end ’14.  Games between these teams are always interesting.

New England Patriots: New England has been known to start fast and the ’14 schedule gives them a great chance to do so once again.  New England's first three opponents (Miami, Minnesota, Oakland) had a combined record of 17-30-1 a season ago.  The Pats play on the road 10/12, and then do not go on the road again until 11/16!  The home games are vs. The Jets (new CB Revis will be focused), Chicago and Denver, who beat the Pats to get to the Super Bowl last year.  The bye week follows in a perfect spot, enabling the Pats to refocus before a Sunday Night game at Indy and QB Luck.  There could be a small letdown hosting the Lions the next week, this before a couple of sneaky tough games at Green Bay and at San Diego, also on Sunday night.  Playing a prime time schedule can mean irregular weeks, so New England could slip in an occasional clunker given the pace of the mid to late schedule.  New England has four games out of their time zone (only one in ’13).  The Pats end ’14 with three straight Divisional contests.  Maybe the AFC East won’t be in jeopardy, but these games could dictate who finishes second.

New York Jets: The Jets better win their opener hosting Oakland, as the schedule is quite challenging early.  Games 2-4 are vs. NFC North teams Green Bay, Chicago and Detroit, two of them on the road.  Games 5-7 are at San Diego, Denver, and a short week to a game at New England.  By this time they will have faced Aaron Rodgers, Jay Cutler, Matthew Stafford, Philip Rivers, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady!  Their pass D% slipped from top three status a year ago and this will be quite a challenge.   The Jets faltered on the road in ’13, going 2-6 but in the past they played tough on foreign soil.  The goal would clearly be 4-3 after this schedule, and Rex Ryan is 11-6 in games played in September.  Of course Geno Smith threw 13 interceptions on the road in ’13.  The Jets have won their last two at famed Lambeau Field and have played very well in San Diego.  When the Jets face Denver they will have Eric Decker.  Will Decker be a factor without Peyton Manning?   Second place in the AFC East is up for grabs, so having 10 and 14 days off before facing Buffalo is a bonus.  A potential “trap” game is 12/7 at Minnesota, this time outdoors.  The Jets will have just played bitter rival Miami on Monday night!  The game at Tennessee on 12/14 marks the return of former Titan RB Chris Johnson.  That will be an easy motivator for him.  The Jets lost at Tennessee in each of the last two seasons.  The final two games are in their Division.  They host New England (beat them at home in ’13) and conclude the season for the third time in four years at Miami. 

Continuing with the AFC North here is my first look at each team’s 2014 schedule: 

Baltimore Ravens: At first glance the Raven’s schedule has a nice pace to it.  Of course it would behoove them to start fast, as games 1-3 are all inside the Division!  They beat Cincy 44-13 the last time they opened vs. the Bengals.  Any Baltimore-Pittsburgh game is brutal (and close), so having 10 days to recover is nice.  Game #4 is hosting Carolina, and WR Steve Smith will be pumped up for that one.  An early trap game might be 10/12 at Tampa.  This one comes after a game at Indy and before a revenge game from ’10 in a host of Atlanta.  The bye comes 11/16.  The Ravens will have played nine games, and five of them will be vs. Divisional foes!   On November 30th Baltimore will host San Diego.  The Ravens will have a short week after playing on MNF at New Orleans.  San Diego will want revenge for the 4th and 29 “miracle” run by Ray Rice which ultimately was the biggest reason why the Ravens even had a chance to get to and win the Super Bowl.  Games against Miami (12/7, at Miami) are usually close.  December is manageable, with the Ravens facing far easier QB’s late (Jacksonville, Houston, Cleveland).  These teams went 10-38 in ’13.  This will be the first time the Ravens have finished the regular season at home since ‘10.

Cincinnati Bengals: Based solely on won-loss records, Cincy has a fairly easy schedule.  Based on reality however, these Bengals will need to be on their toes all season long.  The good news is facing New England with two weeks rest (The Pats have six days, coming off MNF) and a nice three game home stand vs. Baltimore, Jacksonville and Cleveland.  The bad news is breaking in two new coordinators in games one and two vs. rival Baltimore and at Atlanta, a tough three game road stretch at New Orleans, Houston and Tampa, and facing two of three Divisional rivals on the road in December, plus hosting Pittsburgh and facing Denver and Peyton Manning in prime time.  Despite the time off disparity, New England will be at home on Sunday Night and they have the revenge motive from last year.  Cincy has to play better on the road in prime time, having won just once in their last six such attempts.  Games after New England are vs. Carolina, at Indy and vs. Baltimore.  Cincy has to play Pittsburgh twice in December, and the Steelers are usually on their game by this time.  The finale is at Pittsburgh, and it comes after Cincy plays on MNF vs. Denver.  The Bengals need to build up some equity long before the calendar turns to December.

Cleveland Browns: New coaches like to ease into their first schedule, but Mike Pettine will take his Browns to Pittsburgh and then host New Orleans and Baltimore in games 1-3.  Some analysts dislike the placement of their week four bye, but I like it for two reasons.  First, games 1-3 are so tough that the Browns will need a break and second, new coaches with early byes have a chance to regroup and make scheme and practice schedule changes before it is too late to do so.  The game is fast for rookies in the NFL and just as fast for rookie head coaches.  Yes, they play 13 in a row without a break, but most of the games are Sunday at 1:00PM, enabling them to get into a nice routine.  In the next nine games, Cleveland will face just one team with a winning record from ’13 (Cincy).  Still, games 11-16 are not easy, especially for a team with its third head coach in as many years.  After playing at Atlanta and Buffalo, the Browns face Indy and Cincy at home before closing at Carolina and Baltimore. 

Pittsburgh Steelers: Pittsburgh has a decent schedule for ’14 but face the challenge of navigating through five prime time games as well as being the ONLY NFL team with four sets of back-to-back road games.  The good news is that three of these situations are manageable.  The Carolina trip comes 10 days after the battle at Baltimore.  Facing Cleveland and Jacksonville back-to-back is not stressful, although these are October games and historically the Steelers are poor road favorites this time of year.  There is an extra day between trips to the Jets and the Titans as that Titan game is on Monday night.  The only tough road trip comes in December.  Pittsburgh comes off a home game vs. New Orleans before traveling to Cincy and Atlanta.  Is this the year Pittsburgh gets off to a better start?  The toughest stretch prior to December is vs. Houston (Monday night), Indy and Baltimore (Sunday night), but all three games are at home!  The bye week is late, coming November 23rd.  The NFL scheduled both Baltimore-Pittsburgh games in prime time, perhaps due to the fact that nine of the last 11 meetings have been decided by three points or less.  Pittsburgh’s Monday game at Tennessee is the only time they play away from the Eastern Time zone!

Continuing with the AFC South here is my first look at each team’s 2014 schedule:

Houston Texans: Finishing last in the AFC South has some benefits.  Gone is last year’s first place schedule which also included games vs. the ultra-tough NFC West.  This year the decently talented Texans square off twice vs. Divisional rivals Jacksonville and Tennessee, plus face 4th place teams Cleveland, Buffalo and Oakland.  Add in games vs. Dallas, Washington, Cincy and Pittsburgh and it is clear that the new staff has a chance to return this team to the playoffs.  Games 1-5 are all against teams which missed the playoffs last year.  The toughest stretch would be games 6-9, right before their bye week.  The host Indy on a short week, play at Pittsburgh on Monday Night, have less time to prepare for another road game (Tennessee) and conclude by hosting ’13 playoff team Philly.  Several Titan games have interesting storylines.  The week two game at Oakland pits them against Matt Schaub.  The Eagles might have as many as seven ex-Titans on their roster when they visit Houston.  Ben Tate will see his former team when Cleveland hosts Houston on 11/16.  Fired head coach Gary Kubiak is now the offensive coordinator of Baltimore.  Kubiak returns as a visitor on 12/21, as does TE Owen Daniels, who reportedly was not happy being released by Houston.  That Raven game is the only out of Division game Houston will play in the final five weeks of the season.  Indy has never won at Houston (0-12).  Houston faces Jacksonville twice down the stretch.  The Jags beat the Texans twice last year.  Houston will not face any team coming off a bye week, another nice perk to the schedule.

Indianapolis Colts: Indy has five prime time games beginning with a revenge game at Denver the first Sunday and a Monday Night game hosting Philly the very next week.  Indy last won their opening game in ’06.  Indy may be the Divisional favorite, but the schedule has some pressure points.  The Colts are 0-12 lifetime at Houston.  This year they must play at Houston on a Thursday, leaving them little time to prepare.  Three teams will have a bye week before facing the Colts.  They are the NYG, New England and Jacksonville.  The Colts have their bye before New England, so both teams will have extra time as QB Luck tries for his first victory vs. the Pats.  A 4th team, Tennessee, gets 10 days off before hosting Indy the final week of the season.  The New England game is the first of three in a row at home.  The games after New England start out must easier (Jacksonville, Washington, at Cleveland, Houston).  That helps, but closing at Dallas and Tennessee might make things interesting.  New WR Hakeem Nicks will face his old team, the NYG at New York on a Monday Night!  Finally, former Cleveland head coach Rob Chudzinski was given virtually no chance to succeed with the Browns.  He was fired after just one season.  On 12/7, Chud, along with former first round draft pick Trent Richardson will return to Cleveland as part of this Colt team.  That should be fun!

Jacksonville Jaguars: Jacksonville improved in the second half of ’13 but starts the new season by playing three road games in September, plus hosting Divisional titlist Indy.  On paper the Jags seem to be on the right track, adding some interesting talent through free agency.  In reality, the team still has plenty of holes and is in the midst of a deal made by their owner that sees them in London for the second of three straight yearly appearances.  The Jags will not have a true home game after October 26 until the very last day of November!  The good news is that they have 14 Sunday games in the USA, allowing them to have consistency in game planning and perhaps sneak up on a few teams who might have short weeks or are focused on games of more “significance”.  If Jacksonville does survive September and a mostly homeless November the closing stretch is quite manageable.  It includes two games vs. Houston, home games vs. the NYG and Tennessee (Thursday Night) and a road game at Baltimore.  The Jaguars have lost their last seven Week 17 road games but have 10 days before playing Houston on 12/28. 

Tennessee Titans: The Ken Whisenhaut era begins with a game at KC, the first of three tough September road games.  The only home game is Dallas, meaning Tennessee may be underdogs all month.  October games are easier, with home games against QB challenged Cleveland, Jacksonville and Houston, plus a road game at Washington.  Tennessee does get to host a Monday Night game and it comes on 11/17 vs. Pittsburgh, a team that they have actually faced each of the past seven years!  Tennessee has won the last two outings.  The Titans will have one less day to prepare for a road game at Philly after that, an opponent they are not familiar with.  Tennessee has a favorable December schedule, with three home games and 10 days between a week 16 game at Jacksonville and their closing game hosting Indy.  The Jacksonville game might be sneaky tough as it closely follows a game vs. former RB Chris Johnson and the NYJ.  If Tennessee can get to December at 6-6 they might be able to make a playoff push.  If so, the closing game vs. Indy could be very meaningful.  The Colts have dominated the Titans of late, winning the last five contests, and 10 of the last 11.

Continuing with the AFC West here is my first look at each team’s 2014 schedule:

Denver Broncos: Denver will be tested in ’14 with games vs. the tough NFC West along with New England, Indy, Cincy and of course KC and San Diego twice.  Games 1-3 are home to Indy and KC and the Super Bowl rematch at Seattle.  Denver lost at Indy in ’13.  The bye is early, followed by winnable games vs. Arizona and at the Jets.  The game at New York marks Peyton Manning’s return to the site where Denver lost to Seattle in last year’s Super Bowl.  They’ll host the 49ers on Sunday Night before hosting San Diego on Thursday Night.  San Diego has been tough to beat, even at Denver but the Chargers won’t have much time to prepare for this road test.  Denver has 10 days off before embarking on a three game road test that begins at New England and continues with Oakland and the Rams.  This will be the 4th straight regular season road trip to New England.  On 11/23 Knowshon Moreno and Miami visit to Denver.  Six of Denver’s last nine games are on the road, including December tilts at San Diego and at Cincy on the final Monday Night game of the year.  Denver closes the season at home vs. Oakland.

Kansas City Chiefs: Last year KC had a 4th place schedule which included games vs. the NFC East.  This year they have a 2nd place schedule and games vs. the NFC West!  Games 2-5 are particularly tough.  It starts with road trips to Denver and Miami.  Next is New England.  That game is on Monday Night, at home.  That leaves them a short week before traveling out west to play San Fran.  The SF game will be an emotional one with disposed QB Alex Smith returning to play his former team, led by Colin Kaepernick, the man who took his job.   KC gets a much needed bye after that, before playing San Diego.  San Diego and KC usually play some very closely contested games.  The Chiefs lost twice to the Chargers last year, both times at the very end of the game.  KC may need to at least split with San Diego in ’14.  KC hopes to be no worse than 2-4 at this point with their next trio of games being at home to the Rams and Jets, followed by a trip to Buffalo.  The next game is home to Seattle, which could be a good one, but KC won’t have much time to refocus after that with a Thursday game at Oakland to follow.  At least this gives them 10 days before hosting Denver on Sunday Night.  Four of their last six games are in the Division so KC will have a chance to make a late playoff push.  The other two games are tough road affairs at Arizona and at Pittsburgh.

Oakland Raiders: Based upon last year’s records the Raiders will have the NFL’s toughest schedule in ’14.  My preliminary Power Ratings will come out after the draft, and at that time I will determine if that is true.  There’s certainly a good chance Oakland will be right in the mix for the toughest schedule given that they play 10 of 16 games vs. the AFC West and NFC West, plus have only seven true home games thanks to a London affair “hosting” Miami.  Oakland visits the east coast twice early, at the Jets in week one and at the Patriots in week three.  Game two is hosting Houston, Matt Schaub’s old team.  Game four is in London, meaning Oakland will likely leave from Boston (after playing New England) and spend a week overseas.  Let’s hope Oakland gets double bonus mileage, as according to one source the Raiders will travel more miles than anyone in the NFL.  The sum total is over 36,000 miles, and according to that same source, it’s approximately 10,000 miles more than Seattle, the second most traveled team.  How slow a start will this be for a team that is constantly undergoing radical roster change?    Oakland’s first Divisional game is not until week six when they host San Diego.  Normally an Oakland-Arizona game wouldn’t get much buzz, but in this case it matches Carson Palmer and more importantly, left tackle Jared Veldheer against their old Raider team.  The Veldheer situation was awkward to say the least.  There’s no rest for the weary, as Oakland’s next three games are vs. Super Bowl participants Seattle (road game) and Denver, followed by a trip to San Diego.  Oakland’s December schedule isn’t much easier as they host San Fran, travel to KC, host Buffalo and end the season at Denver.  It’s going to take quite an effort for Head Coach Dennis Allen to survive ’14, especially if the Raiders can’t handle the brutal early travel schedule. 

San Diego Chargers: The Chargers face opponents with a combined winning percentage of 56.3. The Oakland Raiders have the toughest schedule in the ‘14 season, facing teams with a combined winning percentage of 57.8 percent, followed by Denver (57.0 percent) and St. Louis (56.4).  San Diego opens ’14 at home as the second half of the traditional Monday Night doubleheader against Arizona.  Amazingly, these teams will have just played each other in the final preseason game, although starters are usually in street clothes for that week.  The Chargers remain home to host Seattle, but while the Seahawks have 10 days to prepare the Chargers will have less than six full days.  Could there be an additional letdown the following week in Buffalo?  Games 4-7 are all winnable as they host Jacksonville and the Jets, travel to Oakland and are back home to play KC.  The game at Oakland week six will be San Diego’s 1st Divisional affair.  It is worth noting that both Oakland as well as KC will be off a bye week.  San Diego’s bye week comes after a revenge game on the road game at Miami, their 9th game of the season.  Games 10 and 11 are almost must win types hosting Oakland and the Rams, as games 12-16 are at Baltimore (Charger revenge), home to New England on Sunday Night, home to Denver, at San Francisco(Saturday) and at KC.  That closing schedule is much different than ‘13, when San Diego finished with four of their last five games at home against presumably easier opponents.   The good news is that the Chargers finished an NFL-best 5-2 against playoff-bound teams in ‘13. 

Continuing with the NFC East here is my first look at each team’s 2014 schedule:

Dallas Cowboys: Once again the playoffs will be within reach based upon my first glance of the ’14 schedule.  Games 1-5 represent a solid chance for Dallas to break quickly out of the gate.  They host San Francisco in a solid matchup but then play road games at Tennessee and St. Louis and home games vs. New Orleans and Houston.  Last year New Orleans set a record with 40 first downs in a convincing 49-17 victory.  At the very least Dallas “expects” to be 3-2 heading west to play a Seahawk team coming off a Monday Night road game further east (Washington Redskins).  Can Dallas take care of business at home vs. Divisional rivals New York and Washington?  The Cowboys are just 22-18 the last five seasons at home, and that kind of “success’ does not usually translate into making the playoffs.  The game hosting Arizona on 11/2 is their third in a row at home.  Dallas has lost their last three meetings with Arizona.  Again, winning at home is a must.  Dallas has only seven true road games thanks to their date in London vs. Jacksonville on 11/9.  After the bye the Cowboys will play four of their last six on the road, including three of their remaining four Divisional games.  All four road games (three in Division, plus Chicago) could be played in tough weather conditions, something that Romo and the Cowboys have not always thrived in.  As usual, Dallas is hosting a game on Thanksgiving, but this time they will play consecutive Thursday games.  Their opponent, Chicago will also have exactly one week between games.  This will give Dallas extra time before staying on the road to face Philly.  The finale is at Washington, and if history repeats itself it could be the fourth straight year a playoff berth is on the line.  Will the fourth time be a charm?

New York Giants: The opener on Monday Night at Detroit looks like a really fun matchup, but a critical one for the Giants who want to avoid the kind of start they encountered in ’13, when they were winless early on.  The Giants beat the Lions at their place in ’13 so repeating that feat won’t be easy.  They’ll have a short week before hosting Arizona, and a shorter week later in September traveling to Washington.  The NYG will know where they stand before their 10/26 bye week as they play road games at Philly and Dallas the previous two weeks.  The bye comes at a crucial time considering the next three games are hosting Indy on Monday Night, heading to Seattle on a short week and hosting powerful San Fran.  Can this team reduce turnovers and stay in closer contention this time around despite this tough stretch?  If so, the “easy” part of the schedule is down the stretch.  The road games are vs. Jacksonville, Tennessee and St. Louis, all non-playoff teams from a year ago.  The home games are all vs. their Divisional rivals!  The NYG must avoid a letdown vs. Jacksonville after playing a Sunday Night game vs. bitter rival Dallas.  The Giants finish at home (vs. Philly) for the fourth straight year. They are 3-0 in those season finales.

Philadelphia Eagles: No team and new staff had a tougher schedule to start ’13.  The early slate included three games in 11 days, followed by a three game road trip.  This time around the Eagles open with four of six at home, and four of six vs. teams who missed the ’13 playoffs.  Games 7-9 are tossups right now, featuring road games at Arizona and Houston and a Monday Night game vs. Carolina.  Games 10-16 are tricky.  It starts with the short week heading to Green Bay, followed by a “trap” game vs. Tennessee and a short week to a Thanksgiving game at Dallas.  That’s the dreaded three games in 11 days once again.  The ending schedule is home to Seattle and Dallas and on the road at Washington and the NYG.  Storylines for Eagle games start with week three when Philly hosts Washington and former Eagle WR Jackson.  This could get emotional in front of the rabid Eagle fans.  The 10/26 game at Arizona (meeting for the 4th straight year) could get a bit testy as the two coaches traded insults in their initial meeting a year ago.  On 11/2 the Eagles travel to Houston, the place where former Texan’s Ryans and Barwin used to play.  It’s also interesting that Philly won’t face Dallas until Turkey day, but then they will face off again just 17 days later.

Washington Redskins: September is manageable with games at Houston, vs. Jacksonville, at Philly on Sunday Night and home to the NYG on a Thursday.  Playing at Philly and former WR DeSean Jackson’s home crowd will be a massive test.  Still, if RG III is healthy and the new staff corrects Mike “the ruler of all things” Shanahan’s management errors than 2-2 and hopefully 3-1 is in play.  Can Washington play better inside the Division?  Washington remains on prime time TV 11 days later, hosting Seattle on Monday Night.  Seattle will have two weeks to prepare as Russell Wilson and RG III trade draft stories.  Hopefully this game goes better than the last, which saw Griffin tear up his knee in the “come from ahead” playoff loss.  There could easily be a letdown the next game at Arizona with less time to prepare.  The schedule maker did them no favors in weeks 8-9, as once again a critical Monday Night game (Dallas) is followed by a short week road game (Minny).  That game pits the two former Cincy coordinators (Gruden, Zimmer) turned head coaches against each other.  Unlike other analysts, I dislike the late bye for a brand new head coach.  Corrections will now be made, but will it be too late?  On 11/30 the top two picks in the ’12 draft square off as Indy and QB Luck host RG III.  If Washington is still in the hunt it helps that a) all their prime time games will have already taken place in weeks 1-8, and b) games 14-16 are all inside the Division.  Washington will host Dallas in the finale with an extra day’s rest thanks to a game 15 Saturday matchup at home vs. Philly.  

Continuing with the NFC North here is my first look at each team’s 2014 schedule: 

Chicago Bears: Chicago is forever coveted by the networks so once again the Bears will play the maximum five night games, plus play on Thanksgiving against the Lions. The 1st pair of night games begins 9/14 at San Francisco and 9/22 at the Jets.   The 49ers' game in their brand new stadium begins a stretch where the Bears are on the road four of the next five weeks!  Chicago seeks revenge 9/28 hosting Green Bay, who knocked them out of the playoffs in week 17 a year ago.  The Packers will have a motivated Julius Peppers on their side of the ball for the rematch.  Games 5-9 are at Carolina and Atlanta, home to Miami and at New England.  I’m not sure the Bears will go into the bye with a winning record.  Both Green Bay and Chicago have two weeks to prepare for a Sunday Night game in Wisconsin.  Chicago stays in the Division to host Minny in a game that Jared Allen will get to face his old team.  The reunions continue when Tampa and QB Josh McCown visit the windy city 11/23.  Speaking of windy, the Bears hope that it’s a cold day for the warm weather Bucs.  Not a one of games 12-14 will be played on a Sunday.   After playing on consecutive Thursdays the Bears will have 11 days before hosting what they hope is another cold weather game vs. dome team New Orleans.  They’ll have a short week to hosting the Lions but it will also be a rare late season third straight home game that is atypical in the NFL.  The close a very schedule friendly December outdoors at Minny.

Detroit Lions: Jim Caldwell has to prove to me that he is a capable NFC head coach.  The Lions have talented players on both sides of the ball but Caldwell has to do what Jim Schwartz could not do; make them play more team oriented football.  The early schedule is challenging, starting with the Monday Night game vs. the Giants.  Caldwell immediately must deal with a short week and a road game at Carolina.  Their host of Divisional rival Green Bay is immediately followed up by a trip to New York to face the Jets.  Are Caldwell and company up to the task of motivating his players beyond Divisional games?  If so, the next three games are winnable as well (Buffalo, at Minny, New Orleans).  That Buffalo game marks the return of Jim Schwartz.  The bye week comes after a “road” game in London vs. Atlanta.  If all goes well the Lions will be in the race as of late November after hosting Miami and going to Arizona.  The Lions end ’14 with four of five games against their own Division plus a game at home vs. Tampa.  The first three are all at home but the final two will be outdoors at Chicago and Green Bay.  The Lions hope they are in the playoffs before that final game as they have not won in the state of Wisconsin since 1991.

Green Bay Packers: Green Bay and the rest of the Division will tackle the NFC South and AFC East in ’14.  The schedule starts out rough with a rematch of “ref-gate” at Seattle in the NFL opener and a pair of Divisional road games weeks three and four at Detroit and Chicago.  The pace of the schedule softens considerably after that with a pair of Sunday Night games sandwiched around a bye.  Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers will face each other for the first time in a home game 10/30.  The December schedule is also quite fair, although the Packers need to guard against a letdown at Buffalo after facing Atlanta on Monday Night.  Here are some other notes related to the Packer’s schedule.  9/21 (Detroit): Green Bay looks to avenge a 40-10 Turkey Day loss.  Side note: The Packers are 20-9 indoors under McCarthy.  9/28 (at Chicago): Green Bay has won 16 of 20 at Chicago.  10/2 (Minny, Thursday Night): The site of a 26-26 tie last year.  10/12 (at Miami): Joe Philbin vs. his old team.  Green Bay is just 1-6 at Miami.  10/26 (at New Orleans): The Packers last win in the Superdome came in 1995.  These last three meetings have produced 211 total points.  11/9 (Chicago): Bears QB Jay Cutler is 1-8 against Packers.  Green Bay is 7-1 in the game after the bye under McCarthy, tied for No. 1 in the NFL.  This is the first of four home games in a five week stretch.  12/14 (at Buffalo): Green Bay is 0-5 lifetime at Buffalo.  12/21 (at Tampa): The Packers square off against former Bear head coach Lovie Smith.  Smith lost his last six games vs. Green Bay. 

Minnesota Vikings: Minnesota could not return to the playoffs in ’13 but the good news is a more manageable schedule for this upcoming season.  They have 14 games scheduled for the early Sunday slot, plus one afternoon Sunday game and the mandatory Thursday Night game, this one at Green Bay.  The bad news is a rough opening first five games.  New Head Coach Mike Zimmer starts by going on the road to St. Louis, with games 2-5 home to New England, at New Orleans, Home to Atlanta and that short week road game at Green Bay.  I’ve always said new coaches need some September help, plus a relatively early bye week to get adjusted to the job, and Zimmer gets neither.  His bye week is not until 11/9.  To further delineate the pre-bye slate, Zimmer’s defense will face Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers in the first five weeks.  At least games 6-9 are vs. perceived “easier” teams Detroit, Buffalo, Tampa and Washington.  Still, not having a chance to take a week off and assess things is hard on a new staff.  Notes from games 5-9 include Adrian Peterson’s first trip to Buffalo and a trip to a rested Tampa team who will have former Viking coach Leslie Frazier as its defensive coordinator.  Post bye games 10-16 include four in Division, and four of the final six games are at home, including Green Bay, Carolina and the Jets all in a row.  Carolina will be off a bye week before they travel to Minny.  Chicago and former Viking DL Jared Allen will play the Vikings in weeks 11 and 17.  Minny has not won at Chicago since ’07 but winning Divisional games is a must for them to have a playoff chance.  Minny’s final road game is at Miami.  They are 0-3 at Miami, last winning in 1976.  The goal for this team is to survive the early part of the schedule, and hope any necessary adjustments can be made before the full bye week.  Of course sorting out who plays QB will be of prime concern.

Continuing with the NFC South here is my first look at each team’s 2014 schedule:

Atlanta Falcons: Can Atlanta forget about last year?  The good news schedule-wise is avoiding most of the top tier NFL teams such as Denver, New England and Indy in the AFC, and Seattle and San Francisco in the NFC.  The bad news is that Atlanta will play in London as the “home” team, meaning they have just seven “true” home games.  The season starts out with a bang, hosting New Orleans and then going to solid Cincinnati.  The Falcons are 3-3 in season openers under Mike Smith, with all three victories at home and all three losses on road.  Atlanta will not be big prime time players like they were a year ago.  With just one Monday game and one Thursday game the Falcons will have some consistency in preparation time, with fewer short weeks and perhaps, fewer emotional letdowns.  This will in fact be the 5th straight season Atlanta hosts a Thursday Night game!  The other piece of good news is that they will not face any team that will be off a week of rest.  December however is rough.  It starts with that Monday game at potentially very cold Green Bay, then continues with a short week to prepare for a usually December sound Pittsburgh team.  The (Divisional) closing games are at New Orleans and home to Tampa. 

Carolina Panthers: Carolina had a fairly tough schedule a year ago but after a 1-3 start caught fire.  Games 1-5 this year are vs. good teams, yet none of them went to the playoffs in ’13 or finished better than 8-8!  The games are at Tampa, Detroit, Pittsburgh on Sunday Night, at Baltimore and back home to host Chicago.  The Panthers need to start quicker this time around.  The toughest of these five looks to be Baltimore, the new home of former Panther WR Steve Smith.  Playing them after a night game vs. physical Pittsburgh will not be a bargain.  The bye week is late, after week #11.  Games 6-11 are far tougher (on paper), with road games at Cincy, Green Bay and Philly (Monday Night), and home games vs. Seattle, New Orleans on a short week and Atlanta, right before the bye and right after their Monday Night road game.  The 10/26 Seattle game will be their third try in as many years to beat Russell Wilson at home.  Twice they’ve lost close games.  The 10/30 game hosting New Orleans will be just their second Divisional game of the season.  The post-bye schedule includes three road games but also home games vs. Tampa and Cleveland.  Perhaps 3-2 will be enough to make the playoffs IF the Panthers take advantage of their September schedule.  No team has ever repeated as NFC South champions since the division came into existence in ‘02.

New Orleans Saints: Like Atlanta, the Saints do not play Denver, New England and Indy in the AFC, and Seattle in the NFC.  They will play San Francisco.  The season starts with three of four on the road, including games at Atlanta, Cleveland and Sunday Night at Dallas.  This will be the fourth time in five years that the Saints have played the Cowboys.  They won last year 49-17 and have won eight of the last nine in the series.  A pair of prime time games takes place 10/26 vs. Green Bay and Thursday Night, 10/30 at Carolina.  The Packers won a close one, 28-27 in ’12 but according to one source these Saints have won 13 consecutive home night games.  Carolina won the Division title by beating New Orleans late in ’13 so that should be a good game as well.  The schedule continues rough after that, first with three straight at home vs. San Francisco, Cincy, and Baltimore.  The Cincy game is the first of a three game stretch vs. the AFC North.  The Baltimore game is on Monday Night.  The Ravens are the only team Drew Brees has not won against.  Both Baltimore and the next game, at Pittsburgh, will be vs. teams with the benefit of just having a bye week.  The Steeler game is 11/30, so weather conditions here and at Chicago on 12/13 could be a factor.   The Bear game is on a Monday Night, so cold weather should be expected!  Unfortunately for the Saints, sandwiched between these two tough road games is an important Divisional game hosting Carolina.  They’ll have one less day to prepare for Atlanta before closing the season at Tampa.  The good news is that New Orleans has won 12 of their last 14 vs. the Falcons and eight of their last 12 games when visiting Tampa.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Just like Atlanta, Tampa avoids most of the top tier NFL teams such as Denver, New England and Indy in the AFC, and Seattle and San Francisco in the NFC.  Head Coach Lovie Smith is really re-working the roster and given the history of the NFC South, no team can be discounted.  Unfortunately, this is bad news.  The Bucs are the only team with 3 straight road games AND two other trips w back-to-back road games.  The consecutive road games appear in weeks 3-5.  The back-to-back road trips are part of a treacherous stretch of games which sees them away from home four times in a five week span between 11/16 and 12/14.  Is that fair?  Tampa may need to start 2-0 hosting Carolina and the Rams, as those three road games are Atlanta on a short week, Pittsburgh and New Orleans.  Tampa has lost six straight to New Orleans.  Baltimore is next, followed by a week off.  Tampa will likely need to go at least 2-1 in games 7-9 when they face Minny, travel to home challenged Cleveland and host Atlanta, who will be off their bye week.  From game #10 to game #14 the Bucs are at the Redskins, Bears, Lions and Panthers, with a home game against Cincinnati in the middle of that span.   Note that Washington will also be off a bye week, and the game at Chicago might be in cold weather, a situation the Bucs have traditionally not fared too well in.  Of course that game in Chicago carries extra meaning since Lovie Smith used to coach there until he was fired after a 10-6 record!  The Bucs close the year with a home game against NFC North champion Green Bay and NFC wild card New Orleans. 

Continuing with the NFC West here is my first look at each team’s 2014 schedule:

Arizona Cardinals: Arizona’s schedule is tough out of the gate.  They host San Diego on Monday Night, and then have the shorter week to prepare for a road game vs. the Giants before hosting San Fran.  Yes, they get a week off before traveling to play Peyton Manning and Denver, but the Broncos will have that same bye week and they’ve been deadly with rest.  This starts a string of 13 straight games, probably not a good thing considering the types of (physical) teams they must face.  At least the schedule has no back-to-back East Coast games.  Games 5-7 (Washington, at Oakland, Philly) are all winnable, but no sure things.  Palmer and Veldheer face off against their old raider team, while Arizona must face Philly after the Eagles have had a bye.  Next is a game at Dallas.  The Cardinals have won three straight over the Cowboys, and two of those games went into overtime.   Arizona comes home to face the Rams and then the Lions, a team they have beaten five consecutive times.  Seattle seeks revenge for a home loss to Arizona, a game in which the Cardinals reportedly ate some Skittles on the field right after the win!  Think Seattle will remember that?   Arizona hopes their success against Matt Ryan will continue on 11/30.  Ryan threw a total of nine interceptions in his last two games vs. the Cards.  Two of Arizona’s final three games, Thursday night at St. Louis and Sunday night at home against Seattle, are on prime time followed by a season finale in San Francisco.  The season ends with another Divisional foe, San Fran.  Will Arizona have anything left in the tank by then?  The Cardinals lost their last five games at the “old” home of the 49ers by an average of almost 18 points. The closest game was a 12-point loss last year.

St. Louis Rams: It’s not easy playing in the NFC West.  Consider this: The Rams face teams that in ’13 went 144.5-115.5 with a +643 point differential.   Let’s hope the draft is kind to them, especially defending the pass!  The September schedule is nice, but right after the bye things get crazy.  The Rams need to win at least two, and maybe this time slow down RB Murray of Dallas who has owned them (428 yards) the last two games.  After the bye the Rams will play an eight game stretch where they play seven playoff teams from a year ago. The only exception is a road game at 10-6 Arizona!  Overall they play nine of 16 games vs. teams who won 10 or more games in ’13.  Included in this stretch is a three-game road trip at KC, San Francisco and Arizona.  The trick will be to start fast, hold their own in this brutal stretch, and then take advantage of “softer” games down the stretch.  The final five games are Oakland, at Washington, Arizona on Thursday Night, the NYG, and at Seattle.  This will be the third consecutive year that the Rams will end their season at Seattle.

San Francisco 49ers: The 49ers have three sets of back-to-back road games but have to like their schedule much more than what they went through a year ago.  In ’13, the 49ers traveled about 33,000 miles in the regular season, including a trip to London. Then, they logged about another 9,000 miles in three road playoff games. The 49ers played five of their final six games on the road. This year they will travel about 19,000 miles. Their only game on East Coast is at the NYG.  They start the year hosting Dallas and then host Chicago Sunday Night.  The Bears are winless (0-8) at San Francisco since 1985.  Alex Smith has 10/5 circled on his calendar.  He returns to the site where he completed his last 26 of 28 passes before suffering a concussion and never returning as the starting QB.  The toughest challenge may be going to New Orleans on Nov. 9 and then to the NYG the following week.  The 23-20 loss to the Saints in ’13 was considered highly controversial to most observers (strange call favoring New Orleans in the fourth quarter).  Once this road trip is complete the 49ers will stay on the West Coast, with four home games and trips to Oakland and Seattle.  They play the hated Seahawks twice in a 17 day span, including Thanksgiving evening.  Somehow Jim Harbaugh has to solve the Seahawks' defense as Pete Carroll has had his way with the 49ers' offense. 

Seattle Seahawks: Seattle becomes “the hunted” this season.  The Seahawks had several close calls on the road in ’13 so it will be interesting to see how they handle success from a year ago.  They played four home non-Thursday prime time games and only one road non-Thursday prime time games the past three seasons, but this year they will play road games, Thursday, Sunday and Monday nights and have just the NFL opener on 9/4 vs. Green Bay as a home prime time game.  In total, Seattle will play only two teams (Oakland at home and Wash on road) that didn’t win at least 7 games last season.  The three games before the early bye are difficult, with Green Bay, at San Diego and then the Super Bowl rematch hosting Denver.  The Seahawks will have 15 days to prepare to play Washington on Monday Night.  Mid-year road games include at St. Louis (survived last year in a goal line stand) and at Carolina (two consecutive close wins at their site).  Seattle hopes for revenge hosting Arizona but then must regroup and play at San Francisco on Thanksgiving Night.  At least that gives them 10 days before traveling back east to Philly.  In total, five of Seattle’s final six games are against NFC West opponents, including games 14-16.  The game at Arizona is on Sunday Night.  The finale is at home, as usual, vs. the Rams.  This is the Third straight year and fourth in the last five Seattle ends its season with a home game against the Rams.