PFT TEN-PACK

THE 2007 SCHEDULE

Need more proof of the overall popularity of the NFL?  It is the only sport in which the announcement of its schedule -- the "who's" and "where's" of which have been known for months -- is a legitimate media event.

Both ESPN and NFLN devoted two full hours of air time to the debut of the new schedule, and we suppose that plenty of people watched.

So we've now got to do our own duty on this one and come up with a ten-pack of takes regarding the coming slate of games.

1.  No Middle Fingers By Mid-September.

One of the things we noticed immediately upon perusing the full schedule is that the Falcons are one of the only teams to open the 2007 season with back-to-back games on the road.

Those same two games will be the first two games of coach Bobby Petrino's pro career, and also the first two in which Falcons running back Mike Vick will get to behave like a quarterback and call audibles at the line of scrimmage.

The best news?  It's a virtual certainty that Vick won't be showing either of his middle fingers to the fans at the Georgia Dome on September 9 or 16.  But if/when the Falcons debut at 0-2 and Vick struggles in the home opener against the Panthers, who have won the last two games between these two teams in Atlanta, Petrino would be wise to put some mittens on Michael.

2.  Peyton Is Ready for Some Prime Time.

Though we're pretty much sick of the Colts, we can appreciate the decision of the NFL to showcase the Super Bowl champ and its superstar quarterback, Peyton Manning.  At a time when the league's bad boys are getting way too much attention, it makes sense for the league to drape itself in the jerseys of the truly good guys (or in velvet, if it were socially acceptable).

The Colts currently are scheduled to appear in prime time a whopping five times.  One of the games is a tentative late-season Sunday nighter at Baltimore, and it is subject to change pursuant to the NBC flexibility rights.  But so are the other six weeks of flex scheduling, and this could result in more appearances by the Colts -- possibly ending up with the Colts having the maximum permissible prime time appearances with six.

3.  Mort Likes The Jags.

We were stunned by the fact that ESPN's info guru Chris Mortensen strongly suggested that the Jags might be ready to overtake the Colts, only one season after the Jaguars took a major step backward and missed the playoffs.  The performance of the team in 2006 puts coach Jack Del Rio squarely on the hot seat.

But is there cause to believe that the team will be any better?  Among other things, Mort cited the fact that the Jaguars have a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter.  However, Koetter has exactly as much experience at the NFL level as Mort and anyone else who has never coached in the NFL level.  Though we're not suggesting that Koetter will fail, we don't think that his arrival is cause for concluding that the Jags are ready to take the step forward that they couldn't make in 2006.

Our guess is that the Jags will fall behind the Titans in their common pursuit of the Colts, who might not win a second straight Super Bowl but who will continue to own the AFC South.

4.  Favre Fawning Begins.

The NFL further established its desire to put its best China on the dinner table by scheduling the Packers and Lord Favre for four high-profile games.

And the guys on ESPN were already hyping all of the all-time records that Favre might break in 2007.

They forgot one.  The Lord is still on pace to become the leader in career interceptions. 

And if 2007 is Favre's final season, he'll get a chance to conclude his final regular season with a win.  The Packers host the Lions in Week Seventeen.  Green Bay hasn't lost at home to the Lions since 1991, the last year when Favre wasn't on the roster.

5.  Moss To Return To Minny?

If the Oakland Raiders don't trade receiver Randy Moss, he'll make his long-awaited regular-season return to the Metrodome on November 18.

It's also the first week of NBC's flexible scheduling, and depending on the records of the two teams the game could end up being moved to prime time.

If Moss is traded to the Packers, he'll play again in Minny on September 30.

And if he's traded elsewhere, he won't play in Minnesota this year at all, unless he's sent to the Falcons, Eagles, Redskins, Lions, Bears, or Chargers.

6.  Silent Night . . . Holy Crap.

Man, are we going to get in trouble on Christmas Eve.  It's a major annual event for the Florio family, usually with no televisions turned on. 

This year, however, the Chargers and Broncos will get together for a game that kicks off at 8:00 p.m. EST.

In our view, the NFL should have avoided scheduling a prime-time game on Christmas Eve.  Usually, games played on the night before Christmas wrap up in the early evening.  In 2006, for example, Christmas Eve fell on a Sunday, and there was no Sunday night game.

The better approach, in our view, would have been to move the Sunday nighter to Saturday for Week 16.  Of course, this would have infringed on the game scheduled for the night of December 22 on NFLN.  And that would have been even more sacrilegious than playing football on the night of our dear Savior's birth.

7.  ESPN is Ready for Some Football.

A year after getting a so-so slate of games in exchange for a $1.1 billion investment, ESPN has gotten a solid schedule for Monday nights in 2007.

Our favorites?  Titans at Saints, Pats at Bengals, and Fins at Steelers. 

And the best part is that there will be no appearance by the Raiders.  Their Monday-nighter at Seattle last season set the sport back 30 years.

8.  We are Ready for Some Football.

Apart from the slate of games, we're looking forward to the Tony Kornheiser-Ron Jaworski pairing in the broadcast booth on Monday nights.  Though we initially were somewhat sad to see Joey Sunshine get the shoe, since at times his Norman Einstein-style stoopidity helped our Live Blog write itself, the new lineup is going to work, we think.

The best early evidence of it?  Kornheiser and Jaworski got together on Wednesday to talk about the schedule, and Kornholio ripped on Jaws' ladies' glasses not once but three times.

Tony, we're sorry that we criticized you so heavily last year.  You've instantly redeemed yourself in our eyes, and we're now fully convinced that your lackluster performance had everything to do with the presence of Joe Theismann in the booth.

9.  Buffalo is Ready for Some Football.

Though many have written off the chances of the Buffalo Bills in 2007, the powers-that-be in the NFL have given the folks of Western New York and their local team a vote of confidence by handing the Bills their first Monday night home game since . . . 1994?

On October 8, the Bills will host the Cowboys, a team that Buffalo fans know all too well, given the outcomes of Super Bowl XXVII and Super Bowl XXVIII.

Adding to the intrigue is that the coach of the Cowboys (Wade Phillips) will be returning to Buffalo, where he served as head coach from 1998 through 2000. 

10.  Bye Week Boo-Hooing.

One of the first things for which football aficionados search upon the release of the schedule is the number of games that their favorite teams must play against those who are coming off of a bye week.

This year, the Steelers face three teams who will have two full weeks to prepare for the game.  Other teams who have two post-bye opponents include the Chiefs, Falcons, Buccaneers, Broncos, Bills, and Saints.

This leaves eight teams who won't have to play a team coming off of a bye in 2007.  They are:  the Cardinals, Redskins, Vikings, Dolphins, Bengals, Titans, Seahawks, and Patriots.

Does it mean anything?  Who knows?  At a minimum, the week off provides extra rest and recovery.  So, ideally, every team should face one team coming off of a bye.  But given the complexity of the construction of the NFL schedule, we assume that achieving full and complete equity in this regard is a goal that simply can't be met.