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ITL reacts to the weirdest and most interesting parts of the NFL schedule release.
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00:00Obviously, we got into some of the quirks of the schedule for the Texans and we'll continue to do that
00:04throughout the day.
00:05Like the fact that, as Sean Pendergast said, for the final 15 weeks of the season, you have six total
00:09home games.
00:10When you say it like that, you're like, that's weird. I don't like the way that that feels.
00:13But yeah, that's the nature of it, right?
00:16Obviously, you have an international game and then another game at home before you get to your bye week.
00:20There's things of that nature. And of course, the big one is that you've got, what is it, three or
00:24four cold weather games in the last month of the season thereabouts.
00:29So yeah, those are some of the quirks that obviously pop up with the Texans.
00:33But I want to go through some, maybe some of the interesting schedule quirks that happen in some of these
00:38other schedules.
00:40Like, for instance, this one, John Lopez.
00:43What was maybe the best game of all of last year?
00:47If you were just talking about matchups.
00:49And I think there's a definitive number one answer, but I'm interested to see if you get there.
00:53I'm trying to think. What am I missing? Finky Bills, Chiefs, Snow?
00:56The best game? What was it?
00:58I think Rams-Seahawks.
01:00Oh, yeah, that's right.
01:02Both of those times that those two teams met.
01:04I'll be so tapped out of the NFC sometimes.
01:06Yeah, that is.
01:08And if you did, you missed probably two of and definitely one of the best games.
01:11That was a good game.
01:12Incredible.
01:13Those two teams don't play until Christmas this year.
01:16How do you make that happen?
01:18Wait, what?
01:19Those two teams do not play until, and they're division rivals.
01:21They're going to play twice.
01:22So they played two of the last three games?
01:25Yeah.
01:25They play late.
01:26They do not meet until Christmas.
01:28That actually doesn't hit me so crazy.
01:29Really?
01:30Well, it happens.
01:31The Texans did it with the Titans last year.
01:33Yeah, sure.
01:33But it's the Titans.
01:35It's the Titans.
01:35No, but what I'm saying is that that happens in the division scheduling.
01:39But you would have thought they moved that game up a little bit.
01:42Yeah, but I'm saying not as weird because every division has, like, you know, was it last
01:48year they played the Colts twice or one of the teams in the first week, first month?
01:53No, no.
01:53Colts late.
01:55Maybe the Jags early they played.
01:56Yeah, Jags was pretty early.
01:57Yeah, I don't have an issue with the division games going like that.
02:01I understand it's going to line up at some point like that.
02:04But these are two good teams.
02:06Is that the schedule makers and AI?
02:09That got to be an AI thing because if it was building drama, if it was, I don't know, man.
02:15You know, I feel like wait till this Christmas is the first time they're going to face each
02:19other and then they face twice and then maybe in the postseason.
02:22I feel like an actual human would have moved that game up a little bit and then maybe the
02:26second game will be at Christmas.
02:27That doesn't hit me so bad.
02:28Ah, man, it hits me weird as hell.
02:30There's potential and I'm not going to say that just because last year was the best game
02:33of the season means that this year definitely will be.
02:35But both those teams are set to be still really good.
02:37I was going to say kind of building.
02:38Yeah, but I feel like the NFL ain't really the ones who for being conservative in the
02:43way they go about things.
02:44They're like, hey, man, give me the money.
02:46I feel like the way that I would logically think about this, give me one of these games
02:49in the first half, one of these games in the second half so that we can eat off of it
02:52on both sides.
02:53I feel like this probably came about more because of like scheduling concerns because that's one
02:58thing that you, you know, building this schedule is not easy.
03:01Far from it.
03:01The 272 games of NFL football that you have to navigate around availabilities of stadiums
03:08and various different other, you know, wild things that are happening.
03:12Sometimes I think one schedule or one game, the Colts could not have a home game, not because
03:15the stadium wasn't available, but because there is a conference in Indianapolis that will take
03:20up all of the hotel rooms so that they, I mean, they would not be able to host a game.
03:23That happens here.
03:24Right.
03:25And so there's a lot of factors that come in.
03:28And so unless there's something like that, I think that this is a big miss for the NFL
03:32to backload all because, I mean, God forbid, if there's an injury that happens, there's
03:36a likelihood of wiping out the value, the value of both of those games really quickly because
03:40of how close they are together.
03:41You know what I mean?
03:42I hear you.
03:43I think maybe I'm just thinking of it in terms of that's how, that's how it happens a lot
03:47in division.
03:48And to that point, it shows up in a very particular way because the Detroit Lions have three division
03:53road games all in the final four weeks of the season.
03:56Wow.
03:57And I thought the Texans had it rough.
03:58Right?
03:59Yeah.
03:59So they will have the Minnesota, they'll be in Minnesota for the Vikings week 15th.
04:05And then on Sunday, then week 16, they will be playing the Giants, or yeah, they'll be
04:11playing the Giants home.
04:12Then they go week 17 in Chicago, week 18 in Green Bay.
04:16Yeah.
04:17Wow.
04:18I kind of like that though.
04:20See, the thing about the division games that I like is that you face one early all the
04:25time, first two, three weeks.
04:26In this case, it's the Colts for the Texans.
04:28And what we're talking about with the Rams and the Seahawks.
04:32And because, now that is the case.
04:34They do schedule the division games bunched together at the beginning, at the end, for
04:38the division race reasons.
04:40You know what I mean?
04:41Yeah, no, I get that.
04:42They absolutely do that every year.
04:44Just an interesting quirk.
04:45So, it did feel like when you get to some of these quirk, you go, oh man, some of these
04:48teams really did get the ball into the deal, ultimately.
04:52I did want to mention this, though, because it did come up earlier on the text line.
04:56You know, the NFL had put out a graphic of, you know, the strength of schedule for these
05:00teams.
05:01The way that the NFL used it, they worked off of last year's win-loss record, which gets
05:05a little dicey when you consider teams change and they shift.
05:08If you use projecting metrics that have, you know, forecasted win-loss totals, the Texans
05:15actually have the 16th most difficult schedule, right there in the middle.
05:19Take of that what you will, right?
05:22Make of that what you will.
05:23So, I did want to make that mention.
05:25We've talked a lot about how the NFL is just expanding to all different days and all different
05:30places.
05:31This quirk shows up because of that.
05:33I don't know which one you're going to talk about.
05:34Week 12 of the 2026 season has nine different windows of football.
05:40Obviously, we know the normal windows of, you know, Sunday at noon, the Houston Texans
05:44special for a long time, Sunday, you know, the late afternoon slate, and then there's
05:49the Sunday night slate.
05:50You have your Thursday night slate.
05:52This will be a number of more, right?
05:54So, week 12, as I mentioned, of course, as my computer decides that it wants to crap out
05:59on me, but week 12 has nine different slates of football.
06:02That is Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, right?
06:06With multiple games.
06:08Yep.
06:09I mean, it seems so weird.
06:11It hits you funny, but we're going to be watching.
06:13And I say that all the time.
06:15We're going to be watching.
06:17We are.
06:17Yeah.
06:18We are.
06:19Begrudgingly for me, but we are.
06:21But that's one of those quirks.
06:22And then, primetime games.
06:23What did you set the over-under at for the Texans?
06:25Four and a half.
06:26How about that?
06:27That's the first thing I looked at.
06:28So, here's the question.
06:29Yeah.
06:30How are we going to rule this?
06:32The London game?
06:33Because when we talk about official primetime games.
06:35Oh, no.
06:36They came out with it.
06:37The NFL actually said not counting.
06:39So, you can't count the London games.
06:41Not counting the overseas games.
06:43Okay.
06:43So, if that's the way that we count it, I missed.
06:46I took the over on four and a half.
06:47I took the under.
06:48Biggie always winning these things.
06:50They end up with four.
06:51The four being your two Thursday night games, which is the Colts week 11, and then, what
06:58was the other Thursday night game?
06:59Of course, I lost it.
07:00It was Christmas Eve.
07:02Yes, there we go.
07:03Monday night football against Green Bay.
07:05And then Pittsburgh Sunday night.
07:07Which, Ron kind of made a good point.
07:10He said he wouldn't be surprised if that get fleshed out.
07:13Yeah, that's a very good point.
07:14I was actually thinking of a show earlier, too, and it ties in with this, Reggie.
07:18Is there a little bit of, have the Texans taken a slight step back in terms of Q rating
07:23as far as the NFL is concerned?
07:25Is there still a little bit more now of you got to prove it?
07:29I mean.
07:30Because last year, it's like, hey, CJ Stroud.
07:32Certainly the year before.
07:33No, I think so.
07:34I think that's a fair point to make.
07:37I mean, it's a slight step back.
07:38I don't think it's like a full leap backwards.
07:40But, you know, I think it's clear that that's the case because this league does not sell
07:44on defenses.
07:45Now, this defense is reaching a level where we're talking about possibly historic and
07:48maybe that brings some things around.
07:50But there's clearly the consideration that how much of the CJ Stroud resurgence are we
07:57expecting?
07:57How many of the questions are impacting the way that they would set up the, you know,
08:02the sell of any given game where you know that they want to go quarterback versus quarterback
08:05on that marquee?
08:06Right.
08:07Now, the thing that I'm interested in is you're talking about the possibility of the Steelers
08:09being flexed out.
08:10Depending on how this goes, you could see games flexed in.
08:13This is the portion of seeing some of these games that we're talking about late, right?
08:17If Jacksonville is indeed good, right?
08:18That Jacksonville game, week 15, could be one that gets flexed in.
08:23We know that Green Bay is a game.
08:25I mean, depending on if Washington bounces back, I don't feel as strong about that one.
08:29But maybe that one can get flexed in two instances, right?
08:31I think that there are some games.
08:33And I don't think you're talking about flexing in week 12.
08:35I think that might be a little early.
08:37I'm trying to remember what the flexing window is.
08:39But you talk about that Baltimore Ravens game?
08:41Is it possible that that could be one where that is of great value?
08:45What week is that?
08:45Week 12.
08:46Week 12.
08:47So, yeah, there's some games that I could see possibly going the other way.
08:50And I'm not going to bet on those because I'm probably leading to where things probably
08:56stay similar.
08:57But no, I could see that step back happening.
08:59But I could also see that coming right back to life if indeed this offense starts clicking.
09:03Let me ask you guys this.
09:04This is not necessarily fitting in with quirk, but it was interesting in terms of the scheduling
09:09around the NFL.
09:10Well, did you see the Falcons?
09:14They reportedly, reportedly requested that they not be involved in the anniversary game
09:21of the Saints, the dome coming, you know, after Katrina and the return Monday night game
09:26it was Falcons and Saints 20 years ago.
09:29They requested apparently not to be involved in that Monday night game.
09:33And the NFL said, oh, yeah, you are.
09:35So, it's going to be Falcons.
09:36I wonder why.
09:37I don't know.
09:37What was the reason?
09:38I don't know.
09:38They don't like them people.
09:40Yeah.
09:41Maybe it's as simple as that.
09:42Yeah, I was getting out here thinking, what's the reason we don't like them people?
09:45We don't want to be here for you.
09:46All right, so this is like in college football being like, hey, we got homecoming.
09:50Y'all want to be our homecoming matchup?
09:51No, we don't want to be your homecoming matchup.
09:53No, I get that.
09:54But it seemed like this is a little more sentimental a little bit, right?
09:56It was one of the most memorable games in NFL history.
09:59Yeah, sentimental for them.
10:01Think about it from the Falcons perspective.
10:03Y'all are the villains, right?
10:05We talk about, remember, the Titans, but we talk about the other team.
10:07No, I don't want to be here for this.
10:09I don't want to commemorate that.
10:10I just think it's funny to say, we kindly request that we're not involved.
10:13No, you're going.
10:15You're in it.
10:15You're in it.
10:16NFL said, we already got too many things to consider.
10:18We're not considering polite requests.
10:21You're just going to have to deal with this.
10:23I mentioned primetime games.
10:25A couple more quirks with primetime.
10:26Somehow, someway, the Kansas City Chiefs, even though Patrick Mahomes has the injury,
10:30we don't know when he will be playing.
10:33Six primetime games.
10:34Of course.
10:35Of course.
10:36Who's surprised?
10:37Is this still the Taylor Swift effect?
10:39I think it's everything.
10:40I think it's just they've been so dang good.
10:42There is still some uncertainty with Patrick Mahomes, depending on what you want to believe.
10:46Dave, it's Kelsey, it's Taylor Swift, it's all of it.
10:51I mean, they just draw eyes.
10:54They just draw eyes.
10:57This is really, I think we're stretching the, how strong is Kansas City as a marquee team right now?
11:05Especially if you're talking about the possibility of Patrick Mahomes not being there.
11:08Because, I mean, Kenneth Walker's going to be there.
11:10The possibility of, like, Justin Fields being involved with some of these, obviously early on rather than later.
11:15But who else are you banking this on, on, like, seeing the great play here?
11:20Because Travis Kelsey is a name, but he is, you know, older and maybe not as much of the flashy
11:25guy that shows up here.
11:27Right?
11:27Who else are you pointing to when you're going, hey, they're bringing something to the table?
11:31I think, as I mentioned, the figure, I think it's just all of it.
11:34You know, they are a proven commodity.
11:36And Kelsey, no matter how good he is, still is a draw.
11:41That logo is still a draw because they've won so much.
11:44And, again, who knows?
11:45I mean, who knows when Patrick Mahomes is going to be playing?
11:47Sure.
11:48So there's that.
11:49I also now have a guessing game.
11:50You know I like these.
11:52Five NFL teams did not have a primetime game at all.
11:56All right.
11:56Let me see.
11:56Who are the five NFL teams without a primetime game?
12:00I'm going to say Titans.
12:03What just happened here?
12:04I believe you are correct there.
12:06Jets.
12:07Correct.
12:08Panthers.
12:09No, the Panthers do have a primetime.
12:11They do.
12:11Okay.
12:12So Titans, Jets, I will say.
12:15You're on the right path here.
12:16Ooh.
12:17Ooh.
12:20We're Saints.
12:21Nope.
12:22Oh, that's right.
12:22They have the anniversary game.
12:23Oh, yeah.
12:23They have the anniversary game.
12:25Think West Coast or at least Western side.
12:27Raiders.
12:28Raiders.
12:29There you go.
12:29Cardinals, you did correct.
12:30And then one more that actually is on the Eastern side of things.
12:35It is a team that I.
12:36Dolphins.
12:37There you go.
12:37Yeah.
12:37There you go.
12:38Those are the five teams without primetime games.
12:41So I'm a little bit shot.
12:42The Raiders don't have at least one.
12:45Because you would have thought they'd been a division game or something.
12:48Fernando.
12:48Fernando factor.
12:49Well, that comes to my final point of around the NFL here.
12:54When do you think Fernando Mendoza makes his first start?
12:57Because we now see the way that their season starts.
13:00They open with the Dolphins.
13:01Then they get the Chargers and the Saints.
13:04And, you know, that's not like the craziest.
13:07That's pretty easy, actually.
13:08Early on.
13:09Fairly easy to start if you want to do that.
13:11The sports books do have Kirk Cousins as the odds-on favorite.
13:14But their bye week is a little bit later on in the season.
13:17So it's not like you've got an easy jump-in point on...
13:20Is it like week nine?
13:21I believe it's something to that effect.
13:22Yeah.
13:24Ah, boy.
13:25You want to say after the bye, they're going to have a pretty decent start, I think, if
13:30they're any good at all.
13:31You know, they don't have a tough task.
13:33You know, it's not horrible.
13:36Ooh.
13:37I'm going to say it's going to be a little later than we think.
13:39I think so, too.
13:40Yeah.
13:41With Kubi at there and Kirk Cousins, he's not an awful quarterback.
13:45I mean, if they win two of their first three games, which is a big ask, if they win two
13:50of their first three, it'll be week seven, week eight before we even start talking about
13:54it.
13:54Don't you think?
13:56I think it's quite possible.
13:57And, of course, you know, Kirk Cousins, they're a solid starter, as you guys were talking about.
14:01But, yeah, man, I think that this could be a little bit later for them because, yeah,
14:06they go a little while before they get to their bye.
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