The opponents were known months before, as were the locations of the games. And so the Giants knew their 2017 schedule would be challenging, both from a travel and quality-of-opponent perspective.
They did not know just how challenging until this past Thursday, when the order of the games was revealed. The anticipation of what is to come could lead to premature fatigue.
The Giants play four games against teams coming off bye weeks, the most of any team in the NFL. Add in a six-day turnaround to face the Eagles after a Monday night game, and the Giants in 2017 will have 22 fewer days of rest than their opponents. The Lions are next on the list, at minus-12.
Consider what the Giants must endure in the sixth and seventh weeks of the season. In Week 6, they will hit the road for the fourth time in the first six games of the season for a long flight to Denver. Once in the Mile High City, the Giants will face a well-rested Broncos team coming off their bye. A week later, the Giants will return home to face the Seahawks, normally a rough assignment for a West Coast team. But the Seahawks will be coming off their bye, mitigating any possible jet-lag or cross-country sluggishness.
In Week 11, the Giants will return to MetLife Stadium seven days after playing the 49ers in Santa Clara, Calif. There to face the Giants will be the Chiefs, coming off their bye — so much for catching Andy Reid’s rugged team at the right time. Four days later, the Giants will play the Redskins in Landover, Md., on Thanksgiving.
“I think it times up interestingly in the schedule, at Washington on a Thursday night, Thanksgiving, then we get to travel to Oakland the next week,” coach Ben McAdoo said. “We’ll be coming off a physical game at home versus Kansas City. You have Washington, a familiar opponent, on Thanksgiving night, and two uncommon opponents that sandwich it. It will be interesting to see how it shakes out.”
The Giants knew they had four road trips to the Mountain or Pacific time zones awaiting them and sent in a request to the league to have two of those trips scheduled in back-to-back weeks, allowing McAdoo, if he desired, to keep the team out west for the week. That request was not met. The four trips (to face Denver, San Francisco, Oakland and Arizona) are spaced out, which helps as far as recovery time for the Giants.
“You like to have a little breathing room there,” McAdoo said, “to make sure the players have a chance to spend some time at home as well as on the road. It’s good to space those things out a little bit.”
Even when the Giants are coming off a break they will not gain an edge. Their bye comes where they want it, exactly at mid-season, and they will be home in Week 9 to face the Rams, coming all the way from Los Angeles. Advantage, Giants? Well, not really. The Rams also will be coming off their break. So, consider this a bye-bye game.
For the first time in 12 years, the Giants play at Oakland Coliseum, which is not exactly fortuitous timing, considering this is the best Raiders team in decades.
Last season, the longest road trip for the Giants was Dallas. This season, a trip to Texas is like a walk around the block compared to their four long sojourns. The payback, of sorts, is getting three of their final four games at home.
“The end of the season, the way the league has it shaking out, is going to be exciting for us,” McAdoo said. “We have four NFC teams in the last four weeks, three division games at home. It’s great to be at home in December. You have to be playing good football there in December.”
The Giants will have to play good football in the preceding months to be in position to make something happen down the stretch. Given what awaits them, they could be better in 2017 and not be able to match the 11-5 record they put up in 2016.