The Falcons will be overall disadvantaged in 2022 when looking at their overall rest vs. their opponents’ overall rest.

We’ve reached the next portion of the NFL offseason, as the dead period between the end of the draft and the start of training camp slowly continues trudging along. That portion, of course, being the schedule release.

Beyond looking at just the opponents themselves, the schedule has its own advantages and disadvantages built into it for every team regarding rest, due to the presence of bye weeks, Thursday night games and Monday night games. Today, I’ll try to break down what those rest advantages and disadvantages look to be for the Falcons in 2022.

See below for Atlanta’s full schedule in 2022:

2022 Falcons regular season schedule

• Week 1: vs. New Orleans Saints, Sunday, September 11, 1 p.m. ET
• Week 2: @ Los Angeles Rams, Sunday, September 18, 4:05 p.m. ET
• Week 3: @ Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, September 25, 4:25 p.m. ET
• Week 4: vs. Cleveland Browns, Sunday, October 2, 1 p.m. ET
• Week 5: @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Sunday, October 10, 1 p.m. ET
• Week 6: vs. San Francisco 49ers, Sunday, October 16, 1 p.m. ET
• Week 7: @ Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, October 23, 1 p.m. ET
• Week 8: vs. Carolina Panthers, Sunday, October 30, 2 p.m. ET
• Week 9: vs. Los Angeles Chargers, Sunday, November 6, 1 p.m. ET
• Week 10: @ Carolina Panthers, Thursday Night Football, November 10, 8:15 p.m. ET
• Week 11: vs. Chicago Bears, Sunday, November 20, 1 p.m. ET
• Week 12: @ Washington Commanders, Sunday, November 27, 1 p.m. ET
• Week 13: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, December 4, 1 p.m. ET
• Week 14: BYE WEEK
• Week 15: @ New Orleans Saints, Sunday, December 18, TBD
• Week 16: @ Baltimore Ravens, Saturday, December 24, 1 p.m. ET
• Week 17: vs. Arizona Cardinals, Sunday, January 1, 1 p.m. ET
• Week 18: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, TBD

Let’s get into it, looking at some of the initially unseen quirks within this year’s schedule, and deciding whether those who made it favored the Birds or not.

Rest Advantage Weeks

This is defined as weeks when the Falcons will have a longer period of time to prepare for an opponent than their opponent will have to prepare for them.

Week 11: vs. Chicago Bears, Sunday, November 20, 1 p.m. ET – 3 days

The Falcons have a game on Thursday Night Football against the Carolina Panthers in Week 10, giving them three extra days of preparation and rest going into their Week 11 game against the Bears.

Week 13: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, December 4, 1 p.m. ET – 1 day

The Steelers have a game on Monday Night Football against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 12, giving them one fewer day of rest going into their game against the Falcons.

Week 15: @ New Orleans Saints, Sunday, December 18, TBD – 1 day

The Falcons will be coming off of their bye week going into the revenge matchup against the Saint, but that’s not the reason for this rest advantage, as the Saints also have a Week 14 bye. The Saints will be coming off of a Monday Night Football game in Week 13, giving the Birds an extra day of rest over their rivals, though this advantage is pretty minimal.

Total rest advantage time: 5 days

Rest Disadvantage Weeks

This is defined as weeks when the Falcons will have a shorter period of time to prepare for their opponent than their opponent will have to prepare for them.

Week 2: @ Los Angeles Rams, Sunday, September 18, 4:05 p.m. ET – 3 days

As defending champions, the Los Angeles Rams will be opening the season on Thursday Night Football, against the Buffalo Bills. As a result they will have three extra days of preparation going into the Week 2 matchup against Atlanta, who will not only be coming off of a highly emotional game against the Saints, but will also have to fly cross country.

Week 4: vs. Cleveland Browns, Sunday, October 2, 1 p.m. ET – 3 days

The Browns will be coming off of a Thursday Night Football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, giving them three extra days of rest going into their matchup in Atlanta.

Week 9: vs. Los Angeles Chargers, Sunday, November 6, 1 p.m. ET – 7 days

The Chargers have a Week 8 bye. They will have a full extra week of preparation going into their game against the Falcons, making a tough game even tougher for Atlanta.

Total Rest Disadvantage time: 13 days