The NFL schedules were released Thursday night and with them came the complaints, and some cheers, but mostly complaints from NFL fans. Ravens fans are one of the few groups that should be resoundingly happy, especially early in the season.

Sep. 10 at Cincinnati Bengals 1:00 PM

Sep. 17 Cleveland Browns 1:00 PM

Sep. 24 at Jacksonville Jaguars (London) 9:30 AM

Oct. 1 Pittsburgh Steelers 1:00 PM

Oct. 8 at Oakland Raiders 4:05 PM

Oct. 15 Chicago Bears 1:00 PM

Oct. 22 at Minnesota Vikings 1:00 PM

Oct. 26 Miami Dolphins (Thu) 8:25 PM

Nov. 5 at Tennessee Titans 1:00 PM

Nov. 12 BYE

Nov. 19 at Green Bay Packers 1:00 PM

Nov. 27 Houston Texans (Mon) 8:30 PM

Dec. 3 Detroit Lions 1:00 PM

Dec. 10 at Pittsburgh Steelers 8:30 PM

Dec. 17 at Cleveland Browns 1:00 PM

Dec. 23 Indianapolis Colts (Sat) 4:30 PM

Dec. 31 Cincinnati Bengals 1:00 PM

The Good:

By percentages the Ravens have one of the easier schedules in the league to start. In fact, the Ravens start the season with the easiest September in the league. The Raven’s September opponents posted a measly 0.219 win percentage last year. After the easy start however the schedule gets more difficult. October Raven opponents won 0.550 percent of their games last season. In November the schedule reaches its most difficult point as the teams faced in November won 0.583 percent of their games. Fortunately for the Ravens and their fans, the difficulty does fall off in December. The December opponent win percentage of 0.444 comes just in time for a playoff push. Overall, the Ravens will face a relatively easy schedule with help from the league’s easiest September.

In another scheduling win for Ravens fans, Monday Night Football comes to Baltimore for the first time in five years. The game will be played on Nov. 27 against Houston. This seemingly comes in response to Ravens fans complaints that the Ravens have played an NFL-high 11 Monday Night games on the road with only one at home in the Harbaugh-Flacco era.

The Ravens week 10 BYE is well timed as well. Teams generally dislike having early BYEs in weeks four five and six so a week 10 BYE is preferable.

A further bonus the Ravens will come to close out the regular season as they back-to-back home games for the first time in franchise history.

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The Bad:

The schedule is not all Mosley sacks and Flacco bombs however. The only significant problem comes early in the season when the Ravens travel to London, come home to take on the Steelers, and then go cross-country to play the Raiders. The latter two games would prove a challenge under normal circumstances but with more than a 12000 mile trek to make between games, the stretch will be even tougher.

After the BYE the Ravens will have to battle with the Packers in the late November chill. The Ravens are 0-3 at Lambeau Field so the first win may be even more difficult to come by in a frosty Green Bay.

— Patrick Backlas covers the Green Bay Packers as a columnist for cover32 Packers and serves as managing editor for cover32 Ravens. Connect and follow on Twitter @PatrickBacklas

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