mentioned they start the year the same way. They did last
year facing the Cowboys, but it's Buccaneers at Cowboys this
year instead of cowboys bucks, which was the
season opener. Great game to start the season. Peter. What
stands out to me early in the Slate? They go to the Saints
for week 2, and that's not even a 425 game. That's all 1:00
cluster game. And I think the NFL is trying to dilute
the cluster of 1:00. Eastern games. I know you still want to leave
some decent games there,
but I was very surprised when you consider that the Saints
are 4 and 0 in the regular season against
the Tom Brady. Buccaneers
that that game doesn't have a bigger platform especially early
before we know whether or not the Saints without Sean Payton
are going to be any good. Just like the Seahawks Dynamic. We
don't know if they're going to be good. I think they are and
I think they'll give the Bucks a run for their money
and I'd rather have that game at 425 or in a prime time window.
Hey, look,
I looked at the Bucks schedule. Last night and Mike, not only
in the regular season
are the bucks with Tom Brady Owen for against the Saints.
Okay, but there's two other factors to consider.
The closest one of those four games
was a nine-point
margin.
They haven't even played close games in the regular season.
Now, there was obviously the playoff game, where the Bucs
won at New Orleans.
And and so you either you count that but still,
Tampa Bay with Tom Brady is one in four against New Orleans.
And if you look at
the way, New Orleans
has plotted this offseason, you know what they've done?
They have said we are a top 5 defense.
We're going to come back. We met the defensive coordinator.
The head coach. We have great chemistry on this team right
now.
We Patchwork the quarterback together
all last year and still played competitively all year.
Now. We got the guy who would normally be the number one.
He's back. Yeah, maybe he's not Johnny Unitas. Maybe he's not
Drew Brees, but we think with Jameis Winston
we're going to be in this thing, the whole way. And then,
you know what they did, Mike.
They say they moved, Heaven and Earth and they sold everything.
And my column this week. I wrote about how
when you look at it, how insane the Chris olave move up was for
them to go from 10:44 to get Chris olave on the Jimmie
Johnson points board.
The number 11 pick basically is worth 1,200 points
and what they traded for him
was over 1,900 points.
Free. You know, to go get Chris, a lava and they did that
because they want to have a great receiver group on day,
one this year. And I only say, all that
if we could put up the Tampa Bay schedule, one more time
because there's one other point to make
about the importance of the Tampa Bay game
in week one.
All right. So you say, at Dallas, that is really going to
be a tough one. A few lose. You still, got 16 games left.
Wait a minute.
You can't beat the Saints.
Then you're playing the NFC champion, two years almost. And
if see home field team two years in a row at home,
on a temperate Day, by the way,
and then you're playing Kansas City.
I mean, I'm just saying
what can the Bucks? Realistically? Hope to be,
after four games. If I'm, if I'm Jason light, you know, if
I'm Todd Bowles, I'm just mentally saying to
Self. Look it's not going to be a disaster.
If it's if we're to into,
you know, it and look it won't be great. If we're one in
three, but will still be in it.
That is a really tough opening schedule for Tampa Bay.
Yeah, you're absolutely right. And then they've got
the Falcons a game they should win but who knows who knows what to
expect with teams like the Falcons this year because
they're in the process of baking something and we
don't know whether or not it's going to rise
week 6 at Pittsburgh is another one o'clock Eastern.
A game. There's two of them that stand out. Those are
Buccaneers games. That should be 4:25 p.m. Eastern games. If
they're not going to be Prime Time games, and I don't know
whether the Bucks
asked somebody for a favor here, like look, you're going
to use this five times in prime time. Can we minimize
the number of times your at 4:25 p.m. Eastern? It's just odd to
me because that is a prime opportunity
to slide into one of those big windows
and buck Steelers, Tom, Brady back in Pittsburgh. Are you
kidding me? That's a huge game.
I'm just I'm stunned that the Mighty Mite, six games or 1:00
Eastern kickoffs.
Well, Mike, how about this? How about this? If we had times up
on this schedule,
that's the thing. So all I do is I look at all 32 teams and
I say OK what stands out make a few notes.
Tampa Bay
having for 1:00 games, in the first seven weeks.
Is weird
just weird? I don't know why it happened. I don't know why it
felt that fell that way and maybe maybe
it's because at the end of the season, you know, they're
almost always in either a double header or prime time
window
so I get that but
I noticed the exact same thing as you. I mean
you look starting at Baltimore in week 8
and look at those games Eastern Time 8:15 for
85. Then you've got the game in Munich, which is 9:30 in
the morning,
but then want to get the Bye Week.
1 o'clock against Cleveland, but then
8:15, 425 425 8:20. So
they are really back loaded with
national TV games
late in the year,
and Mike. Can I say one other thing about these 930 window games
on Sunday morning?
I think there's a little bit of Of a strategy
for the NFL
going into these games that are going to be at 9:30 in
the morning.
Have you noticed that on this schedule this year?
You know, you've got the Green Bay Packers playing a
9:30 a.m. Game 8:30
in the Wisconsin Market. Okay.
That's 8:30 in the morning there.
Have you noticed the Seattle Seahawks
have got, you know, the nine?
30 a.m. Eastern 6:30 a.m.
You know on the west coast.
Have you noticed, Tampa Bay has one of those games.
I'm only making this point. And look they've been trying to get
Green Bay to go overseas for a hundred years. So they had to
wait till they get the 17 game schedule,
the 9th home game because now
they've still got an eight-game home schedule, Lambeau Field,
which is what Mark Murphy and his team have fought so hard
for but I think it's really, really Really interesting
that the NFL looks at the 9:30 game
as a new window
to try to say to America,
get used to something new because we are just putting
Jacksonville in Houston
at 9:30 in the morning so we can throw away a Jacksonville
game. We're not doing that.
We are going to put some good teams.
How about next year, when either New England or Kansas
City
plays in Munich
and plays at 9:30 in the morning.
I'm just telling you the NFL views, this as an expansion of
the empire.
Oh absolutely and look more windows, especially with
legalized betting more opportunities for people to
focus on fewer games
and removing games from the cluster of 1:00 p.m. Eastern
kickoffs. That's what the NFL is trying to do in all of those
games in Europe. This year. Start at 9:30 a.m. Eastern
time. There used to be, at least one or more than one in
the window at 1:00 a night game
in London. They're all the early start for us, middle of
the day for them.