Schedule on NFL.com Seahawks @ Panthers Week 1

[Sports Hernia]

5 10am starts is just absolutely ridiculous

Blame Christopher Columbus! Damn those original settlers who didnt start the United States in the Western time zone!

If we want to be a Super Bowl team 10 am starts should not be an excuse or even a concern.

Exactly!

 

[5_Golden_Rings]

Fact: 10 am starts are far less important than MILES. Playing at 10 am in the Central timezone is not as big a deal for the West teams. Playing at 10 am in the Eastern timezone is much worse, however.


http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/co ... mes/14372/

However, this table has no adjustment for time, which indicates the actual start time of the game is not nearly as important as the travel itself.

[...]

Well this shakes things up quite a bit. Our Western teams have managed an excellent 30-30 record on the road in early starts in the Central Time Zone.
How can this happen? Isn’t travelling to the likes of Green Bay, Houston, Dallas, Chicago, Minnesota, Tennessee, St. Louis, Kansas City and New Orleans still difficult? It may not be as far as New England or Miami, but it’s still a travel.

And yet, they are .500 against Central teams, and a miserable 19-52 (.268) against Eastern teams during those dreaded 1 p.m. EST starts. They are even 3-10 (.231) in the games that start at 4 p.m. EST. One of those wins was San Diego's Philip Rivers throwing a late touchdown to Vincent Jackson at the New York Giants in 2009.

Does the one extra time zone really make that big of a difference? Based on this data, we have to cautiously say yes.