Instant NFL Schedule Thoughts

* The only thing more ridiculous than pre-preseason college basketball rankings is looking at the new NFL schedule and trying to gauge what a team's record will be. But, much like those basketball rankings, it is supremely enjoyable.
I like the Redskins' schedule just as much as I did when their 2008 opponents were set back in January; which is to say, the schedule-makers neither helped nor hurt Washington. The team's lone Monday night game is followed by a bye, meaning no short week. The late bye week seems nice, but maybe not as much as fans want to believe. In the playoff years of 2005 and 2007, the 'Skins had very early bye weeks. In 2006, when the team finished 5-11, they had a late bye week. This year's comes in week 10, the last possible date.
Unlike in year's past, the season isn't back-loaded with intradivisional games. By week 5, the Redskins will have played each divisional opponent once. I'm not sure whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. Although, considering that those three teams aren't playing under new coaches, that might be a bad thing.
More on the Redskins schedule later.

* I'm sort of surprised that the NFL didn't schedule Redskins/Cowboys as the final game at Texas Stadium. Or maybe I'm just bitter that a torn calf muscle prevented me from going to the Cowboys/Redskins final game at RFK in 1996.

* Pittsburgh visits the Nation's Capital (or, at least, a sleepy city seven miles northeast of the Nation's Capital) the night before America goes to the polls to elect a new president. Tony Kornheiser is probably already hard at work preparing a lame opening monologue which might or might not include references to Doug Williams and The Over-the-Hill Gang.

* Finishing the season on the road in four of the last six weeks isn't an enviable task, but the final three trips out of town might be the easiest road games the 'Skins have. . And by December, it's quite possible that Cincinnati and San Francisco will be more concerned about whether their respective head coaches will be fired, rather than the playoffs.

* This is one of the most poorly-written columns I've ever read on ESPN.com.

* The Browns and the Bears have five primetime games each. Yes, the Browns. The NFL and its network partners better hope last season wasn't a fluke for Cleveland. Watch for them to follow in the footsteps of San Francisco, Arizona and Detroit; all teams that were trendy pre-season picks in recent years that ended up with double-digit losses. (Look at Derek Anderson's stats from the second half of last season.)

* The Sunday night game in week 16 is San Diego at Tampa Bay. Odds of this game getting flexed: 95%.