I laid all my current season win-loss projections, strength/weakness of teams, weather notes about the schedule, the history of in-conference games, teams/coaches coming off BYE weeks and solo night games, and estimated travel between games, etc., and dumped that all in my AI Frankenstein writer creation ‘AI-McGillidcuddy1’ and then asked him to give an NFL analyst take on each team’s schedule, using my data (not the NFLs), and using his created personality to do it.
I’m doing team-by-team each day of June, except two will post day one...and the strength of schedule rankings will rank one-at-a-time on RC Note’s every morning as well. ARI and ATL gets us started June 1st.
Here is unedited AI analysis of my schedule data from AI-McGillidcuddy1. Enjoy...
(by AI_McGillicuddy1)
The Baltimore Ravens' Corrected Weighted Strength of Schedule calculates out to a final percentage of 48.7% (0.487395).
The McGillicuddy Take on the Ravens' Actual 2026 Schedule
Look, if you're looking at this Ravens schedule through the cold, unfeeling lens of our system, you have to realize something right off the bat: a 48.7% weighted baseline looks soft on paper, but the way this calendar is structured is psychological warfare. We’re talking about an Baltimore squad projected as an 8-9 middle-tier roster trying to stay afloat while navigating some of the weirdest travel logistics and division timing the league could possibly cook up.
Let’s look at that crucial Phase 1 opening stretch. They start on the road at Indianapolis, host the Saints, and then in Week 3, they pack their bags for a casual, light commute to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to play Dallas in an international solo game. Think about that. You take a middle-tier roster, fly them halfway across the southern hemisphere to play a standalone game in South America, fly them back, and you don’t even give them an immediate bye week. Instead, they have to host Tennessee, travel to Atlanta for a high-intensity Sunday Night Football game and then turn right around to play a physical division road match in Cleveland. This travel-heavy opening month could completely fracture their legs before they even see a single flake of winter snow.
Week 1: at Indianapolis Colts, Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis, IN), Sunday, Sept. 13 at 1:00 PM EDT
Week 2: vs. New Orleans Saints, M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore, MD), Sunday, Sept. 20 at 1:00 PM EDT
Week 3: at Dallas Cowboys, Maracanã Stadium (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) — International Solo Game, Sunday, Sept. 27 at 4:25 PM EDT
Week 4: vs. Tennessee Titans, M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore, MD), Sunday, Oct. 4 at 1:00 PM EDT
Week 5: at Atlanta Falcons, Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta, GA) — Sunday Night Football, Sunday, Oct. 11 at 8:20 PM EDT
Week 6: at Cleveland Browns, Huntington Bank Field (Cleveland, OH), Sunday, Oct. 18 at 1:00 PM EDT
If they somehow survive the jetlag and the opening month, Phase 2 through November is a straight-up rollercoaster. They get hit with a highly anticipated homestand against the Chargers on Monday Night Football, followed by road trips to Carolina and Houston. On paper, there are plenty of winnable matchups sprinkled in here against teams with developing capabilities, but for .500-ish type projected team/roster, these "soft" spots are absolute trap games. If they drop points on the road to a lesser tier opponent because they’re looking ahead to their division rivals, they are going to hit their late Week 13 bye entirely dead in the water.
Week 7: vs. Cincinnati Bengals, M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore, MD), Sunday, Oct. 25 at 1:00 PM EDT
Week 8: at Buffalo Bills, Highmark Stadium (Orchard Park, NY), Sunday, Nov. 1 at 1:00 PM EST
Week 9: vs. Jacksonville Jaguars, M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore, MD) — Thursday Night Football, Thursday, Nov. 5 at 8:15 PM EST
Week 10: vs. Los Angeles Chargers, M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore, MD) — Monday Night Football, Monday, Nov. 16 at 8:15 PM EST
Week 11: at Carolina Panthers, Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte, NC), Sunday, Nov. 22 at 1:00 PM EST
Week 12: at Houston Texans, NRG Stadium (Houston, TX), Sunday, Nov. 29 at 1:00 PM EST
Week 13: BYE WEEK — No Game, No Venue, No Time
But let's talk about the back end and the weather, because this is where the schedule-makers decided to turn this into a classic, gritty winter spectacle. After their late bye week, the Ravens spend the entire month of December and January outdoors in the biting cold.
Look at the stretch: they host Tampa Bay, travel to Pittsburgh, host Cleveland, travel to Cincinnati for a massive New Year's Eve Thursday Night solo game and finish the regular season hosting Pittsburgh. That is four AFC North divisional bloodbaths in their final five weeks, all played outside in freezing winter conditions. The good news is they don’t have to deal with complex travel late in the year. Trying to secure a wildcard spot in 30-degree weather against division rivals who know your playbook inside and out is a brutal ask for a team trying to find its identity. It’s a beautifully miserable, frozen march to the finish line, and they better hope they banked some wins in September, or January is going to be a cold vacation.
Week 14: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore, MD), Sunday, Dec. 13 at 1:00 PM EST
Week 15: at Pittsburgh Steelers, Acrisure Stadium (Pittsburgh, PA), Sunday, Dec. 20 at 1:00 PM EST
Week 16: vs. Cleveland Browns, M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore, MD), Sunday, Dec. 27 at 1:00 PM EST
Week 17: at Cincinnati Bengals, Paycor Stadium (Cincinnati, OH) — New Year's Eve Thursday Night Football, Thursday, Dec. 31 at 8:15 PM EST
Week 18: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore, MD), Saturday, Jan. 9 or Sunday, Jan. 10 (Time/Day TBD)
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