NFL
NFL Schedule-Makers Shockingly Hand Pittsburgh Steelers an Unbelievable Advantage in the 2022 Season
Tim Crean started writing about sports in 2016 and joined Sportscasting in 2021. He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL and soccer landscape, as well as his expertise breaking down sports media, which stems from his many years downloading podcasts before they were even cool and countless hours spent listening to Mike & The Mad Dog and The Dan Patrick Show, among other programs. As a longtime self-professed sports junkie who even played DII lacrosse at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, Tim loves reading about all the latest sports news every day and considers it a dream to write about sports professionally. He's a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York who mistakenly thought, back in the early '90s, that his team would be in the Super Bowl every year. He started following European soccer — with a Manchester City focus — in the early 2000s after spending far too much time playing FIFA. When he's not enjoying a round of golf or coaching youth soccer and flag football, Tim likes reading the work of Bill Simmons, Tony Kornheiser, Chuck Klosterman, and Tom Wolfe.
Get to know Tim Crean betterPublished07 May 2022
NFL games aren’t only decided during the 60 minutes the teams are on the field. Practice, game plans, injuries, distractions, and even travel play a role in determining the outcomes of the Sunday (or Monday or Thursday) matchups. As far as the travel piece goes in 2022, the NFL schedule-makers have handed the Pittsburgh Steelers a stunning advantage in this regard.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have a massive schedule advantage in 2022
The full 2022 NFL schedule doesn’t come out until Thursday, May 12, 2022, at 8 p.m. ET (although it will leak through the day). However, we already know which teams each franchise is playing next season and if it’s home or away.
By some quirk of schedule-making, the Pittsburgh Steelers have a huge advantage in the coming season. Here is the team’s upcoming home and away slate:
| HOME | AWAY |
| Baltimore Ravens | Baltimore Ravens |
| Cincinnati Bengals | Cincinnati Bengals |
| Cleveland Browns | Cleveland Browns |
| Las Vegas Raiders | Atlanta Falcons |
| New England Patriots | Buffalo Bills |
| New York Jets | Carolina Panthers |
| New Orleans Saints | Indianapolis Colts |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Miami Dolphins |
| Philadelphia Eagles |
When you look at the cities on the away side of the ledger, is there anything you notice?
If you said that every one of those cities (even Indianapolis) is in the Eastern time zone, you’d be right! Mike Tomlin’s Pittsburgh Steelers not only have to travel the shortest distance of any team in the NFL next season at just 6,442 miles, but the players also don’t once have to reset their watches to leave their home time zone.
This could become a huge advantage for the Steelers as travel can wear down players as a season goes on. It will give them a slight leg up in their division and a major edge over some of the teams that travel the most.
NFL teams that travel the most in 2022
While the 2022 NFL schedule is kind to the Pittsburgh Steelers, it is downright punitive to other teams.
In the Steelers’ AFC North, the discrepancy isn’t that bad. The Bengals, Browns, and Ravens make up three of the six teams with the least travel next season. The Bengals get the worst of it, traveling 10, 836, and switching time zones four times.
However, that pales in comparison to the most-traveled teams on the NFL schedule.
Unsurprisingly, the Seattle Seahawks — tucked up in the Northwest corner of the country — will log the most frequent flyer miles in 2022. Pete Carroll’s squad will travel a staggering 29,446 miles and cross 34 time zones. Their long trips include a flight down to New Orleans and a trip all the way across The Pond to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Munich, Germany.
The other teams at the top of the travel list also play games in Europe this season. This list includes the Denver Broncos (27,398 miles, 32 time zones) and Jacksonville Jaguars (25,534, 22).
The Green Bay Packers are the team that travels least (17,794, 22) while still having an international game. Aaron Rodgers and company play the New York Giants in London, England.
The Miami Dolphins (25,178, 14) have the fourth-farthest to travel next season, and that is while staying in the contiguous United States for the duration. Their NFL schedule miles will primarily come from two cross-country trips to Los Angeles (for the Chargers) and San Francisco.
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