A 2017 schedule that includes the Ravens’ first ever trip to London will feature three prime-time games in the regular season.
After playing 11 of their last 12 Monday night contests on the road, the Ravens will finally welcome ESPN’s national telecast back to M&T Bank Stadium for a meeting with the Houston Texans on Nov. 27. This marks the first time since the 2012 opener that the Ravens have had a Monday home game, and it’s only the second one of the John Harbaugh era.
The Ravens will host Miami for a Thursday night game on Oct. 26 and will travel to Heinz Field to take on Pittsburgh for their only scheduled appearance on NBC’s Sunday Night Football on Dec. 10. Baltimore will also welcome Indianapolis to town in a nationally-televised Saturday afternoon contest on Dec. 23.
Beginning their 22nd campaign in Baltimore and 20th season at M&T Bank Stadium, the Ravens will open their season in Cincinnati on Sept. 10 and host Cleveland for the home opener on Sept. 17.
It was known months ago that the Ravens would play Jacksonville in London on Sept. 24, and the NFL has granted their wish not to have their bye immediately after that with the Steelers coming to Baltimore on Oct 1. The Ravens will then travel across the country to face Oakland on Oct. 8 to conclude arguably their most challenging stretch of the season.
Their bye will fall in Week 10.
The schedule concludes with two straight home games for the first time in franchise history, which should help Baltimore’s bid to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2014. The Ravens will host the Bengals in Week 17, marking the seventh time in eight years that these AFC North rivals have faced off in the regular-season finale.
The Ravens will play seven games against playoff teams from last season: Pittsburgh (twice), Houston, Miami, Oakland, Green Bay, and Detroit. They have six games against opponents who finished below .500 in 2016: Cincinnati (twice), Cleveland (twice), Jacksonville, and Chicago.
Baltimore’s 2017 opponents had a combined .461 winning percentage last season, which would give them the ninth-easiest schedule in the NFL entering the year. Of course, playing the 1-15 Browns twice skews that percentage a good bit.
For now, 10 of the Ravens’ 16 regular-season games are scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday starts, but many of those games are subject to flexible scheduling (see below).
2017 SCHEDULE
Sunday, Sept. 10 at Cincinnati — 1:00 p.m. (CBS)
Skinny: You mean the Ravens aren’t required by law to conclude every season at Paul Brown Stadium? This marks only the second time in the last seven years that they won’t be in Cincinnati for Week 17.
Sunday, Sept. 17 vs. Cleveland Browns — 1:00 p.m. (CBS)
Skinny: The Browns have dramatically improved their offensive line, but that only matters so much until Hue Jackson finds the right quarterback to lead his football team.
Sunday, Sept. 24 at Jacksonville Jaguars (London) — 9:30 a.m. (CBS)
Skinny: Playing the first game in franchise history outside the United States, the Ravens need to be ready to start fast with a breakfast kickoff time back home.
Sunday, Oct. 1 vs. Pittsburgh Steelers — 1:00 p.m. (CBS)
Skinny: The Steelers will once again be the favorite to win the AFC North, but they’ve lost four straight at M&T Bank Stadium with Charlie Batch being the last Pittsburgh quarterback to earn a win in Baltimore.
Sunday, Oct. 8 at Oakland Raiders — 4:05 p.m. (CBS)
Skinny: Playing a road game against the young and talented Raiders appears daunting, but it will be interesting to see how Oakland fans respond to a team officially set to move to Las Vegas.
Sunday, Oct. 15 vs. Chicago Bears — 1:00 p.m. (FOX)
Skinny: Pernell McPhee received a huge contract when he left the Ravens, but Chicago pushed him too hard in 2015 and his well-documented knee issues limited him to just nine games last year.
Sunday, Oct. 22 at Minnesota Vikings — 1:00 p.m. (CBS)
Skinny: Brett Favre was the Vikings quarterback when the Ravens last visited Minnesota, but this one will be played at the extravagant U.S. Bank Stadium, which opened last season.
Thursday, Oct. 26 vs. Miami Dolphins — 8:25 p.m. (CBS/NFL Network)
Skinny: The Ravens demolished Miami by 32 points last December, but the Dolphins earned the last laugh by nabbing the final wild card in the AFC and are moving in the right direction.
Sunday, Nov. 5 at Tennessee Titans — 1:00 p.m. (CBS)
Skinny: It’s been a long time since the Titans were relevant, but young quarterback Marcus Mariota looked more and more like the real deal last year while nearly getting his team to the playoffs.
Sunday, Nov. 12 BYE
Sunday, Nov. 19 at Green Bay Packers — 1:00 p.m. (CBS)
Skinny: The Ravens have never won a game at Lambeau Field, and you have to wonder what the weather will be like come the second half of November.
Monday, Nov. 27 vs. Houston Texans — 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Skinny: Bill O’Brien’s team is still a good quarterback away from being a serious contender in the AFC, but his defense was very good even without All-Pro defensive end J.J. Watt last season.
Sunday, Dec. 3 vs. Detroit Lions — 1:00 p.m. (FOX)
Skinny: Former right tackle Rick Wagner and five-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Haloti Ngata will return to Baltimore for their first regular-season game against the Ravens.
Sunday, Dec. 10 at Pittsburgh Steelers — 8:30 p.m. (NBC)
Skinny: These bitter rivals will square off in a nationally-televised contest for the 11th straight year and on Sunday Night Football for the sixth time in the last nine years.
Sunday, Dec. 17 at Cleveland Browns — 1:00 p.m. (CBS)
Skinny: Make fun of the hapless Browns all you’d like, but the Ravens haven’t won a game in Cleveland by more than one possession since 2012.
Saturday, Dec. 23 vs. Indianapolis Colts — 4:30 p.m. (NFL Network)
Skinny: Former Ravens defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano was the last man standing in the strained relationship with Ryan Grigson, but it’s tough imagining him surviving another non-playoff season.
Sunday, Dec. 31 vs. Cincinnati Bengals — 1:00 p.m. (CBS)
Skinny: The Ravens ended their five-game slide against Cincinnati last year, and the Bengals’ streak of five straight trips to the playoffs was also snapped, making you wonder if their window has closed.
Notes: In a move that was initiated three years ago, flexible scheduling can now be applied in Weeks 5 through 9. During that period, flexible scheduling can be used in no more than two weeks by moving a Sunday afternoon game into prime time and moving the Sunday night game to the afternoon.
Another recently-implemented wrinkle will be a select number of games being “cross-flexed,” moving between CBS and FOX to bring certain games to wider audiences.
Flexible scheduling will still be used in Weeks 10 through 17 as it has been in past years. In Weeks 10-16, the master schedule lists games tentatively set for Sunday Night Football on NBC. Only Sunday afternoon games are eligible to be moved to Sunday night, in which case the originally-scheduled Sunday night game would be moved to an afternoon time.
Flexible scheduling may not be applied to games airing on Thursday, Saturday, or Monday nights.
A scheduling change would be announced at least 12 days before the game. For Week 17, the Sunday night game is announced no later than six days prior to Jan. 1.
