Not sure if this has been mentioned up stream, but I also like the EWR flight as it's much more natural to sleep. It leaves later in the day and typically flies "right" of the pole, northeast over Greenland and Svalbard (as today). Thus you usually get several hours of darkness, which is much more inviting for sleep than the all-daylight NW-bound flights out of ORD and SFO.
In addition, I would always prefer 2-2-2 over 2-4-2 with half seats backwards. I like the window seat on the nonsunny side, which is L (most of the flight, most of the year). Bulkhead gives a bit more foot and storage room, but no biggie if you're elsewhere. Storage is still miles ahead of pmUA.