Everything you need to know about the Commanders 2023 schedule

Everything you need to know about the Washington Commanders 2023 schedule, which was released amid plenty of fanfare on Thursday evening.

We now know the Washington Commanders' schedule for the 2023 season. You’ll be reading much more detailed analyses in the days to come, but for now, here are some things every fan needs to be made aware of.

The Commanders have a statistically difficult record. But that is heavily skewed by how well the NFC East performed last season.

Including the six games against the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys, and New York Giants, the Commanders' opponents had a 53 percent winning percentage in 2022. Excluding those contests, the winning percentage drops to under 45%.

Simple recipe for success: Split the division games and clean up outside the NFC East.

There are more away games than home games. But the opposite was true last year, so it’s hard to complain.

Washington has six games against teams that won at least 12 games last year. Four of those are within the NFC East.

The Commanders have four games against teams that won five or less contests last year.

Ten of the 17 games are against teams that had winning records in 2022. That leaves seven against franchises with losing records. I need to do that math since the Commanders had neither a winning nor losing record last year – a very tough feat to accomplish in a 17-game season.

Commanders have a tough home schedule in 2023

The home schedule is a bare. And I’m not saying that just because we play the Chicago Bears on Thursday Night Football.

Of the five home games outside the division, two are against the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers, two prospective Super Bowl contenders. Another is against the Miami Dolphins, a volatile team that seems to be ascending.

Then there are the Bears, who should have beaten the Commanders last season and who would seem to be greatly improved heading into 2023. That leaves only the Arizona Cardinals as a likely easy win.

The away schedule looks much easier, with only one of the six outside-the-division opponents having a winning record in 2022. And that was the 9-8 Seattle Seahawks.

Excluding the three games against the NFC East, the Commanders away opponents had a 41-61 record in 2022. There are two mindsets related to this.

One says you want to play better opponents at home so that you theoretically have a better chance of handling them. The opposite theory is that if you are going to lose to the likes of Buffalo and San Francisco regardless, you don’t want to waste a home game on them.

And though the Denver Broncos were not very good last year, it is never easy to win a game at Empower Field (at Mile High). You’re better off getting them at home.

Of course, the Commanders had a better record on the road than at home last year and went more than two and a half months in the middle of the season without losing a road game – so who really knows?

As for the most intriguing games outside the division, I’m curious to see how the team does against the Broncos and New York Jets. Everyone is expecting Sean Payton to work magic in Denver, and Gang Green reportedly has a new quarterback.

Of course, this Aaron Rodgers guy will have to beat out Zach Wilson – and what are the odds of that?

Commanders game against Bears will be crucial in 2023

But that Bears game is the one I am most interested in. As I said, Chicago should have beaten Washington at Soldier Field last year. Now, they have rebuilt their linebacking corps, bolstered their offensive line, and have one of the hottest young quarterbacks around in Justin Fields.

Since it is a conference game, it could have playoff implications should both teams be in the hunt for a wild card spot. This is the kind of game at home that the Commanders need to win.

Another Thanksgiving game in Dallas. This used to be a nightmare – Washington lost the first six times they played in such a game. Robert Griffin III ended that futility in 2012 and the Commanders are 2-1 in the last three Turkey Day contests. But I look for Dallas to come out hot this season.

The last matchup, in 2020, was a total embarrassment for the Cowboys, with Washington running the ball down their throats and Dallas attempting one of the more ludicrous and strategically braindead fake punts you will ever see. I expect Mike McCarthy will be reminding his players of the 41-16 final score about a thousand times in the run-up to this year’s rematch. Ron Rivera better have his guys ready.

For the second straight season, the bye week is very late. Teams also have mixed feelings about that, but I think in very broad terms, that’s a good thing.

If you are struggling early, you’d prefer to have the bye a little earlier. Given the likely growing pains Sam Howell will be undergoing, we may wish the team had a break somewhere around November 1. But it doesn’t come until December 10, or Week 14.

If Washington can tough it out until then, it should provide them with a nice week off as they prepare for the final push. Then again, last year they had the same late bye, and coming off a strong eight-week stretch in the middle of the season in which they went 6-1-1, they returned and imploded, losing three straight and playing themselves right out of the postseason.

Maybe they learned something. We shall see.