One of the frequent complaints when it comes to NFL scheduling is that the NFC West and AFC West often appear to get railroaded with more earlier games. This season the 49ers have been scheduled with five 10am kickoff times, the Seattle Seahawks are scheduled for five 10am kickoff times, and the Arizona Cardinals are scheduled for six 10am kickoff times.
Mike Sando put together a post discussing the concerns of the NFC West and how the NFL is supposedly considering the concerns:
I sensed a significant shift when Goodell told Seahawks season-ticket holders the matter is "something we've got to try to find a way to deal with." But when I attempted to follow up with Goodell for specifics, a league spokesman said there had been no shift at all.
"It's something we were looking at in 2009 and a factor we continue to be mindful of when constructing the schedule," spokesman Greg Aiello said. "We try to avoid it if possible, but it's not always possible due to the complexities of the schedule."
Sando made a good point later in the post regarding the 49ers and Raiders own problematic situation. As teams sharing a single West Coast market, they split up their kickoff times, which leaves the road team getting the early start. So you get both teams getting hosed over the course of the season.
Sando suggested some alternatives and I'm curious if people think anything like this will happen at any point in the near future? I don't remember the exact details, but when the Patriots and others complained about the California road trip in the AFC West, the league set it up so teams would face the Raiders and Chargers back to back weeks so they could stay out here the entire time.
If you were in charge of scheduling, how would you make it work? Well, aside from scheduling the 49ers for 16 home games.