The NFL—and subsequently Jacksonville Jaguars—have been pushing the upcoming 2021 schedule as the largest season ever. A seventeenth recreation has been added for everybody, stretching the season to 18 weeks, the Worldwide Collection in London has been reestablished after a yr off from COVID and it’s presumed followers shall be allowed again within the stands.
For the Jaguars particularly, journeys to the West Coast, up the Jap Seaboard and throughout the pond make for a 2021 season that already appears—properly—tiring.
This would be the case for a lot of groups, nonetheless. The important thing shall be managing all of it, in fact, however a positive draw relative to opponents also can assist. So how does the Jaguars journey evaluate to the remainder of the league, and extra importantly, their opponents?
Brian Burke of ESPN has put collectively a scatter graph highlighting the differentials in web journey and web relaxation distinction. The Jaguars are the closest to lifeless heart of all 32 groups. In fact meaning nothing with out first understanding what every axis represents.
Let’s begin with “web journey.” That is basically the differential in what one group is touring relative to their visiting opponents. For instance, the Jags’ web journey on this scenario is measured by calculating all the journey Jacksonville should do for the season, minus what their opponents should journey to play them (in Jacksonville and one recreation in London).
The Jaguars will journey 13,284 miles in the course of the 2021 common season, together with eight away video games and one dwelling recreation at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The group’s journey to London is the longest of the season (4,250 miles), adopted by Seattle (2,443) and Los Angeles (2,153).
On Burke’s chart, the Jaguars are on the road for web journey miles. As a result of regardless of the sheer variety of miles the membership will journey, they welcome groups after lengthy journeys as properly. For instance, the London journey options two Florida groups (the Jaguars face the Miami Dolphins) so the online journey balances out. And regardless of the Jags touring to Los Angeles and Seattle, they will even welcome the San Francisco 49ers, the Arizona Cardinals and the Denver Bronco’s.
The 49ers, who journey to Jacksonville in November, have the most important web journey differential of any group. In whole (not web), San Francisco will travel over 28,000 miles round trip. The Las Vegas Raiders have probably the most helpful web journey whole.
The perpendicular axis is “web relaxation distinction” which Burke explains as “the sum of the distinction in days between video games. So if a group got here off Monday Evening Soccer to play a group that performed final Thursday, that may be a -4 for that group that week.”
The Jaguars proceed their 13 yr streak of no Sunday Evening Soccer video games and 10 yr streak of no Monday Evening Soccer video games into this yr. The silver lining being although that there shall be few brief turnarounds for the group with a Thursday evening recreation and a bye week following the London journey.
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The Carolina Panthers are in probably the most helpful spot when it comes to web relaxation distinction, whereas the New England Patriots are on the backside. The Pats will face three teams coming off of their bye week. The Jaguars gained’t be one among them although, as Jacksonville will head to Boston on January 2 after a December 26 assembly with the New York Jets. The Pats will spend the twenty sixth taking part in the Buffalo Payments in Boston.
The Jaguars don’t play the Chicago Bears this season however the Bears are seemingly within the worst place total; whereas not within the worst spot for web journey miles or web relaxation distinction, the Bears are within the lowest spot for the common between the 2.
And which group is in the perfect place? It’s a tie between two golf equipment. The Philadelphia Eagles (who the Jaguars don’t face in 2021) and the Cincinnati Bengals. As of now, the Bengals are the one primetime recreation on the schedule for the Jaguars, as the 2 will face one another on Thursday Evening Soccer in Week 4 (September 30).
The Jaguars have one of many extra favorable schedules by way of the primary 4 weeks, earlier than diving right into a wooden chipper starting Week 9. In a means, the season balances itself out in that means. The identical might be mentioned for the online journey miles and relaxation distinction information that places the Jaguars firmly in the course of the pack. Ultimately although, the one factor that may actually matter is how the Jacksonville Jaguars deal with all of it on the sector.
