欧博百家乐2024 NFL schedule, What We Learned: Three big
Three marquee matchups:
Biggest takeaways:
The Harbaugh Bowl is positioned as an appetizer for Thanksgiving week. The first Harbaugh Bro matchup took place way back in 2011 on Thanksgiving night, when John Harbaugh's Ravens beat Jim Harbaugh's 49ers. This time around, the NFL is using the brotherly bout as a precursor to Turkey Week. The Monday night before the holiday, deep in November, is an ideal setting for a matchup with familial ties. Not only is there the Harbaugh factor, but the connections between the clubs run deep, with the likes of GM Joe Hortiz, OC Greg Roman, RB Gus Edwards, RB J.K. Dobbins and others defecting from Baltimore to L.A.
AFC West matchups bookend campaign. The Chargers open and close the season against the Raiders. In fact, the league placed half of L.A.'s division games in the first six weeks, then bookended the schedule with the other half in the final five weeks. The split leaves open the middle of the schedule, where Harbaugh's club could make hay with several games that look winnable (on paper). The Week 14 game in Kansas City, on the night of Dec. 8, could be a weather game for the Southern California club, as could a Week 17 trip to Foxborough. Harbaugh wants to build a gritty team in plush L.A., and the schedule makers provided a chance to prove he has accomplished his goal late in the season.
Road warriors in the early going. The NFL didn't do Harbaugh any favors in his return to the NFL, giving the former 49ers coach a Week 5 bye, setting up 13 straight weeks of games to close his first campaign in L.A. The Chargers are also on the road early in Harbaugh's tenure, traveling to Carolina and Pittsburgh in Weeks 2 and 3 and to Denver and Arizona in Weeks 6 and 7. L.A. has five road games in its first eight matchups. If Harbaugh's Chargers get off to a hot start, they'll have earned it.