The Baltimore Ravens rank 16th among NFL teams this season in total miles traveled. They will travel 18,055 miles.
As we approach the start of the NFL regular season, it is always interesting to take a look at teams’ schedules. Not necessarily who they match up against, but where and how they travel.
The NFL recently released a list of total miles traveled for each team for the upcoming season. The Baltimore Ravens rank 16th out of the 32 teams.
They will travel a total of 18,055 miles this season.
Total travel miles in 2017 for all 32 NFL teams. @RamsNFL (32,600) lead the way, followed by @RAIDERS (30,899) & @AZCardinals (30,035) pic.twitter.com/xterW6UGsP
— Randall Liu (@RLiuCBS) August 4, 2017
Things to note
- The amount of miles traveled for the Ravens is up significantly from last year. They only traveled 7,072 miles in 2016.
- A chunk of these miles will come in week three when the Ravens travel to London to take on the Jaguars. Other than the Browns, they are the only team in the AFC North to travel out of the country this season.
- The Ravens will travel the most miles out of any team in the AFC North
- The Steelers and Bengals both rank in the lowest miles traveled. The Bengals travel 7,662 miles while the Steelers only travel 6,694.
- Other than London, the furthest destinations for the Ravens will be Oakland (week 5), Minneapolis (week 7) and Green Bay (week 11).
- The AFC North ranks as the second lowest division in total miles traveled behind the NFC North. Ironically, these two divisions will play each other this season.
Now these statistics don’t necessarily affect how a team will do during the season, but it sure is a factor.
Because the majority of NFL teams are located in the Midwest or on the East Coast, teams like the Rams, Raiders, Chargers and Seahawks must plan accordingly. They have fly out earlier in the week for games and have to get adjusted to the time zones. Playing a 1:05 P.M. kickoff on the East Coast feels like a 10:05 A.M. start time for these players.
For the Ravens, their most interesting challenge will be the London game. Because of scheduling, the team requested that their bye week not fall after the week three game. The Ravens come back from London, host the Steelers the following week and then travel to Oakland to take on the Raiders. That will certainly be a telling point for the team, even early on in the season.
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It could certainly be worse. The top five teams travel far enough this season to circle the globe. Yikes.