THE WINNERS AND LOSERS FROM THE 2022 NFL SCHEDULE

NFL / Football

Written by Joel Lefevre

The 2022 NFL schedule has been released as fans prepare to mark down notable dates and marquee matchups for their favourite teams. From the opening game on September 8 between the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Rams, there are several intriguing contests filled with fascinating storylines. Here are the big winners and losers, in my opinion heading into week one.

Tom Brady | Source (Background Photo): AP

Winner: Minnesota Vikings

After missing the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, Minnesota finally said goodbye to Mike Zimmer as they aim to re-invigorate their fortunes in 2022. The fresh-faced Kevin O’Connell should bring a new vibe and energy to this team, and the schedule makers have given him a great slate of games.

Minnesota opens the 2022 campaign with a tough outing at home to their biggest rivals, the Green Bay Packers, at U.S. Bank Stadium. Not the most straightforward game to kick off your season, but after that, there are some winnable encounters that could favour them.

From weeks 3-6, they have a good chance to pick up points, taking on three teams who missed the postseason last year, including the Detroit Lions and the New Orleans Saints. They also have a home date with the Chicago Bears, followed by a matchup with the Dolphins in Miami before their bye week. The end of October will feature some challenging games versus Arizona, Washington, Buffalo, and Dallas.

Should they keep pace and win some of those early games, Minnesota could have a good chance of claiming a Wildcard spot, given who they face near the end of the season. Five of their final six games are against non-playoff teams from a year ago, beginning with the Detroit Lions, then the Colts, and New York Giants before wrapping up the season in the Windy City against the Bears. The Vikings always seem to be in the playoff conversation when we hit late December, with seven or more wins a season since 2014, and there is no reason to believe that they won’t be in the mix again in 2022.

Winner: Philadelphia Eagles

Even before the schedule came out, the Eagles looked like a strong team who could make some noise in the NFC East. They have made the playoffs in four of the past five seasons and based on their schedule, we should see them be a Wildcard team at worst this upcoming year. They had five Pro Bowlers in 2021, and Jalen Hurts should thrive in his third season with a big-play receiver at his disposal in A.J. Brown.

There are many weapons on this team, and there is the potential for them to have a big campaign given their competition. The season begins on the road against a rebuilding Lions team before hosting the Vikings in the Monday Nighter and then welcoming former coach Doug Pederson and the Jaguars to start October. Their final six encounters will be against the New York Giants (twice), New Orleans Saints, Dallas Cowboys, Tennessee Titans, and Chicago Bears.

The NFC East is a complex division, though looking at Nick Sirianni’s talent, the Eagles don’t have to be exceptional to return to the postseason. A solid, consistent performance week in and week out should be enough to propel this team to at least another playoff appearance.

Winner: New York Giants

Since finishing 11-5 in the 2016 regular season, there have been some very lean years for the New York Giants. With no more than six wins in a season over their past five campaigns, this team needed a break in the worst way, and that’s what the 2022 schedule provided them.

The four-time Super Bowl champions play four of their first six games in East Rutherford, with one of those road games being in a neutral venue in London against the Green Bay Packers on October 9. Over the 18-week season, they play consecutive home games three different times, which should be a big boost for a squad that won three of their four games in 2021 at MetLife Stadium. They play 13 games against NFC teams this season, seven of which missed the playoffs last year, while all four of their AFC opponents were below the postseason line a year ago.

With the addition of Kayvon Thibodeaux and Evan Neal in the draft, this team could have a big bounce-back campaign. There is a lot of raw talent on this team, and the offensive mind of Brian Daboll would be wise to play aggressively and utilize his weapons to bring this franchise back to a decent standard. There is much room for them to grow, but there are no limits to how high this team could finish, given their schedule.

Winner: Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens are in a tough division, the AFC North, which features the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns, and the reigning conference champions, the Cincinnati Bengals. Baltimore missed the playoffs last year for the first time since 2017, but this franchise should not take long to return to the postseason.

Like they always seem to do, the Ravens added some talented, NFL-ready players in the draft, led by safety Kyle Hamilton, an imposing defender in the middle of the field, who they were lucky to get at number 14.

While they end the season with challenging games against division rivals the Steelers and Bengals, there are plenty of winnable games before that for this team. What sets the Ravens apart from the other teams in their division has to be some of the teams that they face which no other team in the AFC North has the luxury of playing. That includes the Jacksonville Jaguars, Carolina Panthers, and Atlanta Falcons, teams who all are facing some question marks heading into 2022.

Assuming Lamar Jackson is healthy, and the newcomers perform the way we expect, the talent and the schedule suggest we should be seeing John Harbaugh and Baltimore in the playoffs.

Loser: Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta is a far cry from the team who were oh so close to capturing their first Super Bowl in the 2016 season. Arthur Smith will not have Matt Ryan to depend on, and there are plenty of question marks surrounding Marcus Mariota, who has been warming the bench over the past few seasons.

The schedule was not kind to them either, as they take on the Buccaneers and Rams in two of the first five weeks of the season. Week five to nine will be challenging and could determine how this NFC South franchise will fare in 2022. From October 9 to November 6, they face the Bucs, 49ers, Bengals, Panthers, and Los Angeles Chargers, with all of those squads except the Panthers projected to be playoff teams this year. It doesn’t help that there are plenty of unproven players at receiver. Drake London should be a great player in this league, but other teams might be able to double-team him without fear of being burned by their other pass catchers.

Loser: Arizona Cardinals

Kyler Murray and the Cards were only saved last season by their hot start to the 2021 campaign, where they began 7-0. Losing DeAndre Hopkins for the first six games will not help their cause to start this season as well as their previous one.

After being blown out in the playoffs last season, the Cards have as difficult an opening to this regular season as they could have imagined. They open against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, who have made the AFC championship game in each of the last four seasons. They follow that up away to the revamped Las Vegas Raiders before ending the month of September against the reigning Super Bowl champion LA Rams.

Nine of their games this season will be against teams who made the playoffs last year, facing both the NFC championships from squads from last year, the 49ers and Rams, twice. Their final five games are against the Patriots, an upstart Denver Broncos team, the Bucs, the Falcons and the Niners. Without the presence of Hopkins in the early going and so many elite teams, Murray will have to prove how good he really is.

Loser: Kansas City Chiefs

One of the most potent offensive units in recent years may have gotten the most demanding schedule of all the Super Bowl contenders. The AFC West may be the toughest division to predict this season as all four teams have enough talent to finish first. Andy Reid’s team did not get a lot of easy matchups when the schedule was released.

Three of their first four games are on the road, all against teams in or near a playoff position last season. There are a few potential easy wins to pick up against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Seattle Seahawks, and Houston Texans, but Mahomes will have to earn his wages to maintain the Chiefs' status of contenders. They face a road encounter against the AFC champion Bengals in early December, plus a home date against the Buffalo Bills in mid-October, two teams they are starting to develop quite the rivalry with. Given the character and talent on this roster, they may rise to the occasion and come out on top, but we could also see them drop off a little from the previous season seeing how many challenging games they have.

Loser: New England Patriots

Another team that will face a daunting challenge this season will be the New England Patriots. They had virtually no competition in the AFC East for the longest time, but those days are long gone. Bill Belichick opens the season against a speedy and talented Miami Dolphins roster before continuing on the road to face the Steelers at Heinz Field, then taking on the Ravens at home before going back on the road to Lambeau Field against the Green Bay Packers.

After their match with Green Bay, they have a few winnable games against the Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears, and New York Jets, but it does not get much easier after that. In terms of Super Bowl odds, three of their final six games of the regular season are against teams near the top of that list, facing the Buffalo Bills twice and taking on the Bengals once. Like the Chiefs, the Pats' veteran leadership and brain trust could enable them to navigate this tough stretch and still make the playoffs, but it will be no easy task.