Just wanted to get everyone's thoughts about next year's schedule so I figured I'd start an open discussion. Here are a few of my thoughts:

-Not bad, not bad at all. We're looking at the 21st strongest schedule in the league right now, very doable.

- The Primetime bonanza from weeks 8-10 is pretty harsh. Sunday night at New Orleans, Monday night at Cincinatti, and another Sunday night vs New England. But, if you think about it we have been absolute money in primetime the past few years. Ben and Tomlin really bring their A-game when the lights are on.

- The Primetime bonanza also sits right in the middle of 3 away games in a row. Before we play at New Orleans, we have to travel to Miami. This will be an absolutely critical 4 games.

-On the other hand, we also get a streak of 3 home games right at the end of the schedule. Home vs Cincinatti, New York (jets), and Carolina are all tough games to be sure, and we cant take any of those teams lightly (Carolina is definitely an upset-alert because they're one of those teams whose running game can get hot on a whim and take over a game). Still though, 3 home games and at Cleveland to end the regular season could give us a lot of momentum going into the playoffs

-Speaking of Cleveland. There should really be no excuse for losing to them this season. They're clearly a rebuilding team, their QB throws interceptions like candy to children (pixie sticks to be precise..... see what I did there? say it out loud if you dont get it. say it out loud again if you still dont get it) and we unexpectedly lost to them last year which means we shouldn't be sleeping on them like we did in week 14. On a schedule-related note, we play them at home after our bye week, giving us plenty of time to gameplan. And we play them away following a Thursday night game, also giving us an extra 2 or 3 days to gameplan. Seriously, no losing to the Browns this year.

-Now as much as I dont want to, I have to address the Ben situation. Most people are expecting a 2-4 game suspension, which is pretty troubling with the Ravens sitting at Week 4. Luckily its a home game, so that helps, but still if Ben is forced to sit 4 games, we could be looking at a really crucial game. Another option is (hopefully) that if Ben gets a 4 game suspension he could appeal it, which worked for Brandon Marshall so maybe Ben can get it reduced. We really lucked out with that.

-Another Ben-related note, two of the games he could possibly miss are NFC games, which bodes well for us because NFC record is one of the less important tie-breakers when talking playoff position. This might really come in handy in December.

-Sorry, keep looking at those first couple games. I wasn't going to go in to all the weekly matchups. But I have to talk about the Titans. To be honest, that will probably be a L on our record. Our defense is way too slow to contain CJ2K not to mention Vince Young running around, and their Dline always seems to man-handle us. Even in a W in last season's opener our offense looked overmatched. And without Ben, that could get ugly.

So that's all I got for right now. What are your thoughts?