The schedule is officially up! How does it look?
What we know:
Week 1 - vs Packers, Thursday, 5:30 on NBC
Week 2 - at Chargers, 9/14, 1:05 on FOX
Week 3- vs Broncos, 9/21, 1:25 on CBS
Week 4 - BYE
Week 5 - at Redskins, 10/6, MONDAY NIGHT, 5:30 on ESPN
Week 6 - vs Cowboys, 10/12, 1:25 on FOX
Week 7- at Rams, 10/19, 10 AM on FOX
Week 8 - at Panthers, 10/26 10 AM on CBS
Week 9 - vs Raiders, 11/2, 1:25 on CBS
Week 10 - vs Giants, 11/9, 1:25 on FOX
Week 11 - at Chiefs, 11/16, 10 AM on FOX
Week 12 - vs Cardinals, 11/23, 1:05 on FOX
Week 13 - at 49ers, Thanksgiving, 5:30 on NBC
Week 14 - at Eagles, 12/7, 1:25 on FOX
Week 15 - vs 49ers, 12/14, 1:25 on FOX
Week 16 - at Cardinals, 12/21, Sunday Night Football at 5:30 on NBC
Week 17 - vs Rams, 12/.28, 1:25 on FOX
"Strength" of schedule is a really stupid thing to consider in April, but I'm stupid so this following sentence should fit in quite nicely. The Seahawks must play eight of their 16 games against teams that made the playoffs last year. That includes two games against the 49ers, but it doesn't include two games against the 10-6 Arizona Cardinals. The only two real "duds" on their schedule, using last season's numbers, are the Redskins and Raiders.
Well, Raiders gonna Raiders, but Washington could be a team to quickly rise up again. If Robert Griffin is healthy, that's one plus, and the addition of DeSean Jackson shouldn't hurt either, though the defense is almost certainly still terrible. The good news is that they won't add Jadeveon Clowney, but the bad news is that the Rams might.
(It just really hit home that the Redskins traded away Clowney or Khalil Mack when they traded up for Griffin.)
One should expect that games against Denver and San Francisco will definitely be on national television. That's at least one Monday and one Sunday night game right there. It also seems probably that a Thursday night game against Arizona or St. Louis could come into play. A re-match in CenturyLink against the Packers won't have Golden Tate or replacement refs involved this time around, but it could still draw enough interest for national TV.
At the very least, we can hope that someone is talking about Richard Sherman, and Erin Andrews won't have the slightest idea who that person is.
If you're looking for some road destinations, I'd suggest Phoenix, Kansas City, and San Diego. Why anyone would voluntarily go to Philadelphia, I don't know. (Eh, I have no regional biases, I'm just using cliches at this point in my life.)
If you're looking to meet the old K-Dog, always remember that I accept 100% of gifts and bribes, even when it goes against company policy. I'm expecting to be at the San Diego game and possibly traveling to KC so that I can finally meet Tech N9ne, and I guess check out the stadium that they say is so quiet you can hear a pass dropped.
The NFL also announced that the Sunday night "Flex" schedule will be moved up from Week 11 to Week 5. This allow them to renounce themselves of teams that turn out to be worse than expected (Shouldn't effect the Seahawks) and put better teams on Sunday Night Football (Hey, they should already be there!)