4 prime time games including Christmas at 49ers, 25,442 travel miles and a trip to London – Twin Cities

Prime-time audiences are set to get their fair share of star quarterback Lamar Jackson throughout this year’s NFL season.

The Ravens will play four nationally televised night games over a six-week period between Weeks 11 and 16, including a Christmas Eve blockbuster against the 49ers in San Francisco. Last season, the 49ers tied 13-4 in the regular season and made it to the NFC Championship before losing to the Philadelphia Eagles. They are expected to fight for the NFC title again.

The Ravens’ other night games include a Thursday showdown against division rivals the Cincinnati Bengals at M&T Bank Stadium on Nov. 16 and two games on Sunday night — against the Chargers in Los Angeles on Nov. 26 and with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Dec. 17.

The Ravens will also be set in London for the second time in franchise history when they take on hosts Tennessee Titans at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on October 15. The Ravens last played abroad in 2017 and were beaten 44-7 by the Jaguars at Wembley Stadium.

Last season, the Ravens played three prime-time games (Week 5 vs. Cincinnati; Week 8 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Week 9 with the New Orleans Saints), their fewest since 2019.

But with the Ravens after re-signing Jackson — the NFL’s most valuable player of 2019 — and Added two-time All-Pro wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.Among other things, they have emerged as a potential Super Bowl contender after losing 7-10 last season and losing to the Bengals in the AFC wild card round.

This is only the third time the Ravens have played at Christmas and the first since 2016, when Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger caught up with wide receiver Antonio Brown for a four-yard touchdown pass and nine seconds left to Pittsburgh a 31-27 home win to claim the AFC North title. The other was in 2005 against the Vikings in Baltimore when Kyle Boller went on 24-of-34 for 289 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Ravens to a 30-23 win that eliminated Minnesota from the playoff chase.

It also marks the first time the Ravens have played the 49ers since 2019, as Jackson converted two goalies on fourth-and-1 and third-and-1 late in the game Justin Tucker set up a game-winning field goal from 49 yards when time ran out to give the Ravens a 20-17 win. Jimmy Garoppolo was quarterback for the 49ers at the time but has since switched to the Las Vegas Raiders. Brock Purdy, one of the most surprising players in the league last season, is now at the center of San Francisco despite the last pick in the 2022 NFL draft recovering from elbow surgery.

As grueling as the back half of the Ravens’ schedule is, the first 10 weeks are mostly favorable.

The Ravens will open the season on September 10 at 1 p.m. at home against the Texans and rookie quarterback CJ Stroud, who was drafted second overall by Houston last month. With Baltimore once again having one of the best defenses in the league and the Texans coming off a 3-13-1 season, the Ravens will be the clear favorite.

From there, they travel to Cincinnati to face off against the Bengals, who clinched the AFC championship last year. The last time the Ravens saw them at Paycor Stadium was in Last year’s wild card game When Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard returned a fumble from backup quarterback Tyler Huntley from 98 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, he made the crucial point.

Jackson did not play in the game. In the last two years he has missed 11 games through injury, including the last six last season.

In Week 3, the Ravens could face another rookie quarterback in Anthony Richardson. which Indianapolis chose fourth overall, when the Colts travel to M&T Bank Stadium on September 24. The Ravens then travel to Cleveland to play the Browns, followed by a trip to Pittsburgh to play the Steelers. Combined, these three teams had a record of 20-31-1 last season, while the Colts only had a record of 4-12-1.

While teams often have the option to take a bye week after an international game, the Ravens won’t do so after the game in London and will instead play the Detroit Lions in Baltimore on Oct. 22. The following week, the Ravens will begin the first of three trips to the West Coast with a visit to Arizona, where they will face the Cardinals before returning home on November 5 to play the Seattle Seahawks and in the to receive the Browns the following week. It will be their first home game against an AFC North opponent and, tied on points in 1996 and 2007, will be the final point in a season Baltimore will host a division opponent for the first time.

Another notable feature of the schedule: The Ravens will only play three home games in the first two months of the season, but will host three straight games beginning in November.

After having the third lowest mileage (9,500) in the NFL and only two time zones last season, the Ravens will have the sixth most mileage this year with 25,442 and a total of 28 time zones.

After their Sunday night game with the Chargers on Nov. 26, the Ravens get a Week 13 bye — the second-to-last break in franchise history, after only the Week 14 bye in 2000 — before the Los Angeles Rams head to Baltimore Dec. 10 . The Ravens will wrap up their regular season with two home games, on December 31 at 1 p.m. against the Miami Dolphins and the Pittsburgh Steelers, dates and times to be determined.

It’s the second of three straight trips to M&T Bank Stadium for the Dolphins. Last year they clinched an unlikely 42-38 victory after trailing 35-14 at the start of the fourth quarter.

Overall, the Ravens face six teams that made the playoffs last season — the Bengals, Seahawks, Chargers, Jaguars, 49ers and Dolphins. But they also have one of the more modest schedules in the league in terms of difficulty. Out of all 32 teams, the Ravens have the 12th-easiest game schedule as their opponents won 48.4% of games last season.

Ravens 2023 schedule

* – Games with flexible scheduling

Week 1 (September 10): vs. Houston Texans, 1 p.m., CBS

Week 2 (September 17): at the Cincinnati Bengals, 1 p.m., CBS

Week 3 (September 24th): vs. Indianapolis Colts, 1 p.m., CBS

Week 4 (Oct 1st): at Cleveland Browns, 1 p.m., CBS

Week 5 (8 Oct)*: at Pittsburgh Steelers, 1 p.m., CBS

Week 6 (15 Oct): at the Tennessee Titans (in London), 9:30 a.m., NFL Network

Week 7 (Oct 22)*: vs. Detroit Lions, 1 p.m., Fox

Week 8 (29 Oct)*: at the Arizona Cardinals, 4:25 p.m., CBS

Week 9 (November 5th)*: vs. Seattle Seahawks, 1 p.m., CBS

Week 10 (November 12)*: vs. Cleveland Browns, 1 p.m., Fox

Week 11 (Thursday, November 16): vs. Cincinnati Bengals, 8:15 p.m., Amazon Prime

Week 12 (November 26)*: at the Los Angeles Chargers, 8:20 p.m., NBC

Week 13: Bye

Week 14 (Dec 10)*: v Los Angeles Rams, 1 p.m., Fox

Week 15 (Dec 17)*: at the Jacksonville Jaguars, 8:20 p.m., NBC

Week 16 (Monday 25 December): at the San Francisco 49ers, 8:15 p.m., ABC

Week 17 (Dec 31)*: vs. Miami Dolphins, 1 p.m., CBS

Week 18: against Pittsburgh Steelers, still open

PRESEASON

Week 1 (Friday 11 August): vs. Philadelphia Eagles, 7 p.m

Week 2 (Monday, August 21): at Washington Commanders, 8:15 p.m., ESPN

Week 3 (Saturday 26 August): at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, TBD

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