Former NFL quarterback and Baltimore Raven Robert Griffin III is putting his tin foil hat on in a conspiracy that benefits his former team. Reacting to the Ravens’ schedule earlier this week, Griffin said league schedule-makers gave Baltimore the most favorable format possible in a quest to take down the dynasty Kansas City Chiefs.
“The only thing the NFL likes more than a dynasty like the Chiefs is a team or player get over the hump,” Griffin said on Twitter/X Tuesday. “And that’s exactly what the NFL schedule makers are trying to help the Ravens do. They gave them an additional 16 days rest over their opponents. That’s three more days than any other team in the league.”
The Chiefs ended the Ravens season in last year’s AFC Championship Game, winning 17-10. They’d go on to win their second-straight Super Bowl and third in their last five seasons.
As analyst Warren Sharp outlined in his post-schedule analysis, the Ravens’ 16 rest days aren’t just the most of any team in 2024, it’s the biggest positive disparity of any team dating back to 1990. For context, the Steelers are in the middle at plus-2 while the San Francisco 49ers are last at -21. The Kansas City Chiefs are helped but are just plus-five.
That relativity is important. Every team hates a short week but if both teams are playing Sunday-Thursday, the impact is washed. The home team still carries a slight advantage but both sides are dealing with the time crunch of the quick turnaround.
For Griffin, that isn’t the only advantage the Ravens received.
“And not only that, they made sure they’re not on the road, or should I say, they’re not away from home, more than two weeks in a row. You know what I call that? That Sleep Number bed schedule. You know why? They want to make sure they’re well-rested. Their opponents are going to hate it. But you got a new duo of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry. These dudes are dynamic playmakers. Why wouldn’t the NFL want them to be well-rested?”
Henry was the team’s big offseason addition and the coaching staff plans to use him heavily, even as Henry turns 30 with plenty of wear and tear.
Baltimore kicks off its season with back-to-back home games against the Philadelphia Eagles and Atlanta Falcons. They do play a pair of tough back-to-back road games in Weeks 3 and 4 versus the Green Bay Packers and Chiefs but they never face three-in-a-row. In fairness, many teams are in that boat and the NFL likely tries to avoid that in most situations. The Steelers don’t play three-straight road games at any point in their season, either. But they also play three of their first four away from Acrisure Stadium. They also play four of their final seven on the road, including back-to-back road AFC North games against the Cleveland Browns in Cincinnati Bengals across Weeks 12 and 13.
The Ravens still have one of the NFL’s toughest schedules. The league can’t control that. It’s based on rotating divisions and final standings. But the structure of their schedule, the key part of its release, is far more favorable to Baltimore than Pittsburgh or really any other team in the league. Was that intentionally done by the NFL? That’s going too far. But is the league mad about it? Probably not.
Griffin sure isn’t.
