Washington schedule breakdown

May 15, 2023

by Steve Thomas

The NFL held its annual Schedule Release Extravaganza this past week.  Why I didn’t watch any of the 18 hour show on NFL Network, because it’s 17 hours and 55 minutes too long, and I have real things to do, Washington’s schedule is pretty interesting.  It says quite a bit about the team and its current place in the NFL, so let’s do a quick review, quarter by quarter.

First quarter

Week 1, Sept 10, 1:00 p.m. ET (FOX) – Arizona Cardinals

Week 2, Sept 17, 4:25 p.m. ET (CBS) – at Denver Broncos

Week 3, Sept 24, 1:00 p.m. ET (CBS) – Buffalo Bills

Week 4, Oct 1, 1:00 p.m. ET (FOX) – at Philadelphia Eagles

Washington has about as positive of a schedule as possible in weeks 1 and 2.  Week 1, in particular, will most likely be Josh Harris’ debut as owner in a regular season game, so the fact that NFL gave Washington a home game against one of the NFC’s worst teams that is also from the west coast and doesn’t travel well is a big break.  This game will give Washington fans a chance to celebrate the team’s new future at home, in front of a full, primarily Washington crowd that’s excited for the future for the first time in a very long time.  That’s going to be a game to remember, and Washington diehards should make an effort to be there.  Week 2 is a road game, but the fact that it’s against the AFC’s second-worst team in 2022 gives them a chance to start 2 – 0 in the new era.  Those two games are a gift from the football gods if I’ve every seen one. Weeks three and four will bring a significant dose of reality back, with two straight blowouts being the most likely result.  That having been said, only one is an NFC East game, so the impact will be minimized.  Regardless, though, 2 – 0 will be a solid start for the Redskins Washington Football Team Commanders Washington.

Second quarter

Week 5, October 5, 8:15 p.m. ET (Amazon Prime) – Chicago Bears

Week 6, October 15, 1:00 p.m. ET (CBS) – at Atlanta Falcons

Week 7, October 22, 1:00 p.m. ET (CBS) – at New York Giants

Week 8, October 29, 1:00 p.m. ET (FOX) – Philadelphia Eagles

The first game of the second quarter of the season is, mercifully, one of only two non-Sunday day games all season.  The team does have a travel day in week 4, but a trip home from Philadelphia on Sunday night shouldn’t present too much of a disadvantage in terms of planning for a Thursday game, especially since week 5 is at Fed Ex Field.  The Bears do have an upside, and Washington has been infamously terrible in prime time, particularly on Thursday, so while this isn’t exactly a dream matchup, it’s winnable by Washington standards.  The Falcons in week 6 is yet another winnable game.   Weeks 7 and 8 are both obviously NFC East games, one at home and one away, so by the time we’ve reached the halfway point of the season, we should have a pretty good sense of how this season is going to turn out for Washington.

Third quarter

Week 9, November 5, 1:00 p.m. ET (FOX) – at New England Patriots

Week 10, November 12, 4:25 p.m. ET (FOX) – at Seattle Seahawks

Week 11, November 19, 1:00 p.m. ET (FOX) – New York Giants

Week 12, November 23, 4:30 p.m. ET (CBS) – at Dallas Cowboys

Week 13, December 3, 1:00 p.m. ET (FOX) – Miami Dolphins

Welcome to the toughest quarter of Washington’s season, kids.  Two road games in a road, one to the NFL city that is the farthest away from Washington in the league.  Neither the Patriots nor the Seahawks are what they used to be, but still: 3 road games in four weeks, including week 7, all against tough teams, is a difficult ask.  Then, to follow with the Giants, and the bane of Washington’s existence, Dallas on Thanksgiving Day, is as difficult as the 2023 season gets.   Only the Dolphins at home in week 13 represents a bit of a respite.  At this point, unlike last season, Washington will have played 5 of 6 of their NFC East games, so their 2023 fate may be sealed one way or the other by the time the bye week rolls around.  Incidentally, week 14 is about as late of a bye week that Washington has ever had.

Fourth quarter

Week 15, December 17, 4:05 p.m. ET (CBS) – at Los Angeles Rams

Week 16, December 24, 1:00 p.m. ET (CBS) – at New York Jets

Week 17, December 31, 1:00 p.m. ET (FOX) – San Francisco 49ers

Week 18, TBD – Dallas Cowboys

Washington’s final long-haul away game is week 15; however, the Rams struggled last season and were not close to be the Super Bowl-contending Rams of old, so, by long-haul travel standards, this isn’t too bad.  Week 16 is a highlight game, as it is the Aaron Rodgers bowl.  The New York Jets are normally a Washington-level trainwreck, but Rodgers is a future first ballot Hall of Famer, so it’s possible that he may have the Jets on the right track.  It’s also possible that this is Rodgers’ third-to-last game of his career, so it may be a memorable one.  Week 17 against the 49ers is a likely blowout game, and there’s no telling what week 18 might bring.  Regardless, this is another tough quarter.

Overall thoughts

Five things really stand out on this schedule for me: first, Washington has a great start to the season – they have a shot to start off strong and build up the fanbase for year one of the post-Danny era.  Second, unlike last season, the NFC East games are spread throughout the season and not all at the end, so the team should have a better sense of where they stand earlier in the year.  Third, the second half of the season is tougher than the first, so Washington needs to jump out to a strong start.  Fourth, the long travel away games are spread out, which is good, and they won’t effect either of the Thursday games.  Lastly, the fact that Washington has only two non-Sunday games, and especially considering that they’re really playing second-fiddle to the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving in terms of ratings, shows that the NFL isn’t enamored with the team or its possibilities this year.  This should surprise no one.  None of this necessarily means that Washington will have a good or bad season – we’ll see in September.