It is now nearly a week since the NFL announced the schedule.
While everyone knows when every team is due to play, revealing the schedule is still a showpiece event for the league.
Where do you start? When do you play your divisional rivals? How many Prime Time games are you going to get? Has your team been selected to play internationally? When is the bye week?
Analysing the schedule
Everyone analyses their team’s schedule to the Nth degree. Plotting their pathway to a playoff berth while destroying their rivals along the way. Casting a quick glance at opponents’ schedules to see who has the ‘easier’ games. It is all fun and part of the offseason.
Unfortunately, at this time of the year, it is very difficult to make any real predictions as there are still far too many variables before the season gets underway.
I do not want to bore you all with game-by-game predictions where I tell you the Colts go 17-0. Instead, I wanted to highlight a few games that stood out to me when the schedule was announced.
Stand-out games
Week 1 is always a day to mark on the calendar. After months of talking and discussion, this is when the real action starts.
For the Colts, the Miami Dolphins come to town and this could be a tricky start. While the Fins seem to be going through a bit of a rebuild, they still possess an awesome offence and provide a good barometer to start the campaign. The Colts have not won a Week 1 game since 2013. Is this the year?
Next up are the divisional games. You know you have to play your divisional rivals twice. When, and at what point, is the interesting part.
The stand-out to me this year was the Tennessee Titans, only because they have the number one pick from the 2025 Draft now playing quarterback. In Cam Ward, a new star has entered the division so it is important that Indy lay down a marker.
International break and primetime
The Colts are going international this year! They will play a historic first-ever NFL game in Berlin, Germany. Their opponents will be the Atlanta Falcons in what should be a very competitive and exciting game. The team then return to the States for their bye week.
The next game that caught my eye is the Prime Time game. Maybe it is an indication of how the rest of the league view the team, but the Colts only play one game in a primetime slot in 2025.
This will be a home game against former NFC Champions the San Francisco 49ers. The game is due to be played in Christmas week. It could be a nice start to the festive season!
Everything is ranked and scored in the NFL, and the schedule is no different. The so-called ‘strength of schedule’ is a tool used to analyse how tough your games are. There are many different metrics used to determine this. However, every game is difficult in the NFL. And it is far too early to predict with any degree of confidence as we are still in May.
That being said, for now, we can all dream of the perfect season. The Colts are going 17-0 and winning the lot!
