On Monday, we aired our grievances. Now we're going to express our gratitude.

Let's acknowledge this first: Arranging 272 regular-season NFL games over 18 weeks in a way that pleases seven broadcast partners, gets the right amount of exposure to the league's top draws, avoids concerts and other venue conflicts, expands the game's appeal globally, creates playoff-race excitement and generally comes out as fair as possible…well, that's one hellacious assignment. When Mike North, the NFL's Vice President of Broadcast Planning, called the 14-week process "an exercise in pain management," I believe he was referring to satisfying every team as much as possible, but there was probably some Advil in the scheduling room, too.

So Staff Writer/Reporter Brianna Dix, Digital Contributor Amy Schwartz and I may have been a bit cavalier on Monday when we each described one thing we would like to change about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 2022 schedule. It really is an exciting slate of games without any egregious scheduling quirks to raise the level of difficulty. Plus, we were selfish in our requests, looking to improve the Buccaneers' lot without worrying about how these changes might affect other teams.

So to make up for that selfishness, as we continue our week of Roundtable discussions regarding the 2022 schedule, Brianna, Amy and I are going to take this opportunity to say thank you to Mr. North and his partners in schedule construction. And not with a generic 'Great Job Scheduling!' greeting card but with some specific examples of how this schedule is good for our Buccaneers.

This is the third of our five Roundtables so far. Here's schedule for the whole series:

Friday, May 13: What is your most anticipated game on the Bucs' 2022 schedule?

Monday, May 16: What is one thing you would change about the Bucs' schedule if you had the power?

Tuesday, May 17: What one thing would you most like to thank the NFL schedule makers for this year?

Wednesday, May 18: What is the toughest stretch of games on this year's schedule?

Thursday, May 19: Who is the top rookie the Buccaneers will face on their 2022 schedule.

In order to get a wider variety of responses, we have established the rule that picks cannot be duplicated among the three of us. That potentially makes the order of responses important, so we will rotate that order in each post. It is now my turn to go first, with Brianna second and Amy third.

So allow me to be the first to send a bouquet to the NFL schedule makers for something we really appreciate about Tampa Bay's 2022 schedule.

Scott Smith: No Monday or Thursday road games

As Mike North also said in that video linked above, he and his crew had to go back to the drawing board in early March, well into their 14-week process, when Tom Brady announced that he would not be retiring after all. That was incredibly good news for the Buccaneers, and really the NFL as a whole, but it was also a call to action for the schedule makers. It's no secret that the Buccaneers, while clearly a very good team overall at the moment, are a bigger prime-time draw with Brady in the mix.

The proof is in the 2020 schedule. That one came out about two months after Brady signed with the Buccaneers but well before he had played a single game in pewter and red, and certainly before he led the team to victory in Super Bowl LV that season. The 2020 Bucs still got the maximum of five prime-time games on the original schedule in May. It was obviously no surprise when they got five more in 2021 as the defending champs.

So it was pretty obvious to all of us that there would be five more prime-time contests on the Bucs' 2022 schedule with Brady still around. And that's good! Prime-time games are exciting for the fans and great exposure for the franchise. But they do create challenges, mostly in terms of creating short weeks and more grueling travel plans.

That said, I don't think I could possibly have asked for a better arrangement of those five prime-time contests, mainly because they contain no road games on Monday or Thursday night. The Bucs got one of those each at home and a team-record three Sunday Night Football showcases, one at home and two on the road.

Monday night games lead to a short week of preparation for the next opponent, but it's worse on the traveling team, which loses additional hours getting back home and often has to fly through the night. Thursday night games present the opposite challenge, shortening the week before the game. The team that has to travel has to work even harder to get all its preparations in. Of the three types of prime-time contests, the Sunday-nighters are the easiest to manage from a travel standpoint.

So thank you, NFL schedule-makers! I appreciate all of the Bucs' national exposure without the difficulties of Monday or Thursday night travel.

Brianna Dix: A mini bye week after the lone Thursday night game against Baltimore.

As Scott noted above, the difficulty of playing on Thursday night is the quick turnaround from the previous week's game on Sunday. In this case, the Buccaneers have a home Thursday night game against the Baltimore Ravens in Week Eight, which falls on October 27, just four days after a road game at Carolina on October 23. That's the hard part, for both the Bucs and the Ravens (who play at home against Cleveland in Week Seven). The reward for the Buccaneers comes after that game at Raymond James Stadium.

The Bucs are essentially granted a 'mini-bye,' a nine-day stretch to prepare for the defending Super Bowl champions coming to town. In Week Nine, the Buccaneers will host the Los Angeles Rams at Raymond James Stadium, a team that has had their number over the last two years. Not only did the Rams beat Tom Brady's Buccaneers in the regular season in both 2020 and 2021, but they eliminated Tampa Bay from the playoffs last January. The chess match between Todd Bowles and Sean McVay is slated for a 4:25 p.m. ET kickoff on CBS on November 6, giving the Bucs additional time to gear up for their newfound nemesis. The Rams, it should be noted, do not have a bye or a mini-bye before their trip to Tampa. If there was one opponent on the schedule to acquire prolonged preparation for, that team would be the one that hoisted the Lombardi Trophy four months ago.

Amy Schwartz: Week 11 Bye

First things first, I love the Buccaneers' 2022 schedule. Would it be better if the Bucs started the season with some easier opponents? Of course, but every single game seems to be a 'must watch' matchup. All eyes will be on Tampa when Tom Brady returns to play his 23rd season, and five of those games will be in prime-time against some of the top names in football.

I would like to thank the schedule makers for giving the Bucs a midseason bye week. The timing is incredibly ideal to give the team time to heal any injuries that may have occurred in the first half of the season, refocus and prepare for the final stretch of the season. After all, the Bucs will be looking to play their best football of the season in December. The NFL schedule makers are really giving the Buccaneers two gifts ahead of the holiday season: the opportunity to play in a first-of-its-kind game and a bye week to follow. The timing of the bye week is crucial as the Bucs will be returning from Munich, Germany for their International Series Game with the Seattle Seahawks. With a long travel journey back from Munich as well as battling any jet lag that may occur from jumping time zones, the Bucs will need the time off before preparing for their week 12 matchup with the Browns in Cleveland.

So, thank you schedule makers for looking out for the Buccaneers' best interest in another playoff run. The timing of the bye week could turn out to be extremely beneficial for the Bucs down the stretch.