Report: The NFL Schedule Release May Be Delayed
Josh Frey
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UPDATE: The 2023 NFL schedule release has officially been set for Thursday, May 11th at 8 PM EST.
As the NFL has done with just about every portion of the offseason, they have turned the schedule release into a full-on event. During this year’s NFL Draft, Adam Schefter reported that the league has been targeting Thursday, May 11th for the NFL schedule release.
However, in his most recent column for NBC Sports, Peter King reported that he may have heard a different story for this release. The NFL has, in fact, been hoping to do a primetime show to release the schedule on Thursday at 8 PM EST. However, King suggests in the column that the release date may be delayed. Take a look at the quote from the column:
It’s still likely to be done in time for release Thursday at 8 p.m., but I was told over the weekend it may not be finished in time. The 2023 mega-games—opening Thursday, Sunday and Monday nights, Thanksgiving Day, the new Black Friday tilt, the Sunday night game on Christmas Eve and the Monday tripleheader on Christmas—are not set in stone yet. The mega-games are usually solid by early May. The schedule crew is slated to meet with commissioner Roger Goodell this afternoon in New York, at which time more clarity on the tentpole games is expected. I’m told as of the weekend the NFL was still in search of options on the 272-game regular season slate, with a series of computers continuing to spit out alternatives.
In all, here are the big takeaways from this quote:
- The most likely outcome is that things get sorted out for Thursday
- We should get a new update on this news somewhat soon
- The trouble lies in finding matchups for the biggest games of the year that will draw the largest crowds
Considering the league is still flip-flopping options for many of the primetime games, it’s tough to completely fill in the schedule for the rest of the 272 regular season matchups. If they change too many of these night games, they’ll inevitably also have to change day-game schedules in order to fit everyone cleanly into an 18-week schedule.
While the official schedule may still be up in the air through the rest of this week, we at least know each Vikings opponent for this upcoming 2023 campaign. The Vikings are set to take on a first-place schedule, playing the division winners in the NFC West (San Francisco 49ers) and NFC East (Philadelphia Eagles) while also playing every team in the NFC South and AFC West along with their usual matchups with the other NFC North teams. They’ll also play the Cincinnati Bengals, the defending champs of the AFC North division.
Here’s a look at every home opponent the Vikings will host this year:
- Chicago Bears (3-14)
- Detroit Lions (9-8)
- Green Bay Packers (8-9)
- Kansas City Chiefs (14-3)
- Los Angeles Chargers (10-7)
- New Orleans Saints (7-10)
- San Francisco 49ers (13-4)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-9)
And here are the road opponents for the 2023 Vikings:
- Atlanta Falcons (7-10)
- Carolina Panthers (7-10)
- Chicago Bears (3-14)
- Cincinnati Bengals (12-5)
- Denver Broncos (5-12)
- Detroit Lions (9-8)
- Green Bay Packers (8-9)
- Las Vegas Raiders (6-11)
- Philadelphia Eagles (14-3)
The big difference between the Vikings 2022 and 2023 schedule that we can notice right off the bat is the fact that in 2022, Minnesota had nine home games compared to eight road games. One of those eight road games was technically a ‘neutral site’ game when they took on the New Orleans Saints in London during Week 4. This year, Minnesota has just eight home games compared to nine road games.
The Vikings will take on five of the top six teams from King’s initial power rankings as well, indicating that this will be a rather difficult slate of games.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.