When the NFL announced that they were building "contingencies" into this year's schedule and were considering starting the season as late as October (while pushing the Super Bowl to Feb. 28), a lot of people were wondering what that meant the schedule might look like. Well, as it turns out, those contingencies weren't really that crazy. Every Week 2 matchup is between teams with a common bye and Weeks 3 & 4 include no division games or byes, as well as one home and one road game for everybody. So, that's your three-week buffer. And everyone still knows who their opener is against.
Week 1: Classy move by the Royals to move their game so the Chiefs could have the traditional Super Bowl champion Thursday night opener. If Brady was still in New England, I'm sure they would've chosen the Patriots as their opponent. Instead, it's the Texans. The Rams, meanwhile, open SoFi Stadium against the Cowboys on Sunday night, which I think was put in ink as soon as they realized Dallas was playing in LA this season. Brady's Bucs debut will be against another future Hall of Fame QB--Drew Brees--in the national late game. And I was shocked to see Giants-Steelers leading off the Monday night doubleheader!
Week 2: Definitely didn't think the Saints would be the first team to visit Las Vegas. I was certain it'd an AFC West team. The Chargers do get one in their first game at SoFi Stadium, as the champion Chiefs visit. Not sure it'll be the national game, though, since Ravens-Texans is also scheduled for a 4:25 start on CBS. Brady's first game in Tampa is against the Panthers, and Joe Burrow makes his national TV debut, as the first Thursday night game is that always thrilling Bengals-Browns matchup.
Week 3: I can't remember a week with no division games, but it makes sense. It would be a bummer if Week 3 is wiped off the schedule, though. Because two of the best games on the entire schedule would be lost. Packers-Saints on Sunday night and Chiefs-Ravens on Monday night. And the 49ers get to pull a Bills by playing their second straight game at MetLife Stadium, this time against the New York Football Giants. Thursday Night Football, meanwhile, is getting all of the terrible matchups out of the way early with Dolphins-Jaguars.
Week 4: New England-Kansas City isn't a primetime game. It's a national doubleheader late game. (Although, you'd figure if Brady was still a Patriot, it would be.) Anyway, that's clearly the best matchup of Week 4. Eagles-49ers and Falcons-Packers are "Ehh!" primetime games, and Thursday night still isn't on FOX yet, so it's Broncos-Jets. Although, the Dolphins host the Seahawks, so I wouldn't be surprised if that ends up being Tua's first start.
Week 5: Nothing special in Week 5, either. With the Cowboys opening the Rams' new stadium, their annual Week 1 home game against the Giants was moved to Week 5. How can you tell Thursday Night Football shifts to FOX in Week 5? The game is Brady and the Bucs visiting the Bears. That's how. Seahawks-Vikings on Sunday night could be fun, too.
Week 6: Ladies and gentlemen, the Buffalo Bills will be hosting multiple primetime games this season, starting with a Thursday-night matchup against the defending champs! Joe and Troy have a pair of good ones that week, as Brady vs Rodgers is an exclusive national telecast as the late game on Sunday. Rams-49ers is a good one on Sunday night, and that Ravens-Eagles game should be entertaining, too.
Week 7: Where do I start with Week 7? There's lots of division games, but the best ones are the ones that aren't. You knew the Raiders would get a Sunday night game to show off the stadium. The fact that it's against Tom Brady on the Sunday FOX is theoretically scheduled to be showing the World Series seems about right. The NFL likes to have a Sunday night game the know people will watch in that spot. That 49ers-Patriots game is a lot less interesting without Brady, but Bears-Rams in Hollywood on Monday night should more than make up for it.
Week 8: In Week 8, though, the division games are the best ones. Vikings-Packers, Patriots-Bills, 49ers-Seahawks and Cowboys-Eagles. This is Buffalo's chance to prove that they're the team to beat in the AFC East now. And, for some reason, the Giants get a second home Monday night game, when Brady and Gronk come to visit. The Bucs are obviously this year's Browns when it comes to primetime games, which I think we were all expecting.
Week 9: Another week, another primetime game for Tampa Bay. This time the Bucs are the home team for their rematch with the Saints. Green Bay travels to San Francisco in a very good Thursday night matchup, and Pittsburgh-Dallas in the national late game. I'm also intrigued by the Seahawks-Bills game, which is scheduled for a 1:00 start.
Week 10: CBS doesn't have an early game and only has three games on its schedule period because of the rescheduled Masters. There are still AFC vs. AFC games, including a Baltimore-New England matchup on Sunday night and Colts-Titans on Thursday night, just none at 1:00 on Sunday. FOX's two late games are both watchable--Seahawks at Rams and a rematch of last season's Game of the Year, that 49ers-Saints shootout in New Orleans.
Week 11: Can someone explain to me why the Giants and Jets have the same bye week? And while you're at it, can you explain to me why the Dolphins and Jets play consecutive games against each other with the bye in the middle? It's just dumb! Also, guess what team has another Monday night game? This time it's against the Rams. The Titans-Ravens playoff rematch is an early game, and so is Rodgers vs. Rivers. Cowboys-Vikings is the national exclusive late game before Dallas plays on Thanksgiving.
Week 12: After two straight years of Atlanta-New Orleans, they switch to another big rivalry on Thanksgiving night: Baltimore-Pittsburgh. I was worried they'd have the Lions and Cowboys both play division games, so it was nice to see Houston scheduled against Detroit instead. The Thanksgiving week primetime games are always pretty good, and this year is no exception. Bears-Packers on Sunday night, Seahawks-Eagles on Monday night. And the Chiefs-Bucs game is the national late game.
Week 13: Carolina and Tampa Bay have post-Thanksgiving byes, which I hate! Too late in the season. (And probably because there are no byes in Week 4.) The NFL keeps its tradition of having Dallas play one of the other Thanksgiving teams the following Thursday alive. This year it's a yummy matchup against the Ravens. Bengals-Dolphins would normally be a game nobody cares about, but you can bet by this point in the season, it'll be Burrow vs. Tua (which SEC fans are used to seeing). The Bills get another Monday night game, but this time they have to fly cross country to face the 49ers.
Week 14: Andy Dalton faces his former team when Dallas visits Cincinnati. The Patriots also play the Rams for the first time since giving them a whooping in Super Bowl LIII. Last year, Bills-Steelers got flexed into Sunday night in Week 14. This year, that's the scheduled game, Buffalo's second home primetime game of the season! The Browns also have a home primetime game against the Ravens, as Baltimore gets a nice little run of Thanksgiving night, Thursday night, Monday night.
Week 15: This is one of those "games will be played on either Saturday or Sunday" weeks. (My guess is because they needed to make up for the lost Sunday morning London games on the NFL Network slate.) Among the games where we do know the day, Odell Beckham Jr. returns to MetLife Stadium to face his former team for the first time, the Dallas-San Francisco rivalry is featured on Sunday Night Football, and we've got the matchup I thought would be last season's Super Bowl, Kansas City-New Orleans, as a nice little early Christmas present!
Week 16: Christmas Eve is a Thursday and there usually isn't a Thursday night game in Week 16 anyway. So it came as quite a surprise to see that Thursday night game moved to 4:30 on Christmas Day. And it's a good one, with Minnesota visiting New Orleans. Same thing with the three games getting moved to Saturday, and Browns-Jets is one of them (making Cleveland the second team to do the New York back-to-back this season). The Monday night slate concludes with Bills-Patriots, and wouldn't it be something if Buffalo clinched the division with a win in Foxboro?
Week 17: Early favorite for 256th and final game of the season? Falcons-Bucs. Although, the NFC South will probably go down to the wire, so those games might be simultaneous. The extra wild card is going to add an extra layer of intrigue into Week 17, too. No sitting starters when only one team gets a bye (or potentially more if the 1-seed is already locked in). And the potential for virtually every game to matter. (Although, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Raiders-Broncos won't.)
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