2025 Patriots Schedule Release
It's Christmas in May, the 2025 New England Patriots Schedule has been released!
This week the NFL released the entire slate of games for the 2025 season. There were planned leaks, a 2-hour release show on NFL Network and each team put out a cool (to varying degrees) video announcing when and where they’ll play football games this fall/winter. (Except the Colts, they had to take theirs down because it was derivative of the Chargers video, something about blocks/Microsoft and something making fun of Tyreek Hill getting arrested, but haven’t we all?) No predictions today, we’ll save that for when I get truly desperate for content this summer and start watching old Red Sox games on Youtube and writing recaps that nobody asked for.
Week 1- 9/7 vs Las Vegas 1pm
It feels like it has been a while since we played the Raiders in Foxbough. There was the Mexico City game in 2017 and then the two horrendous losses at the Death Star in the Desert in 2022 and 2023, but it feels like a long time since the autumn wind was a Raider in the peak of New England foliage. Burying the lead, this game will also look weird because Pete Carroll is going to be on the Raiders’ sideline and they’re going to be quarterbacked by Geno Smith. This is an opening game that will make you feel unprepared for the season. Also, with Raiders’ part-owner Tom Brady’s team in town, this might be a good time to unveil the statue that Mr. Kraft announced at Tom’s Patriots’ Hall of Fame induction last summer.
Week 2- 9/14 at Miami 1pm
I don’t like going to Miami in week 2: it’s going to be hot, Tua should still be healthy and this team won’t have imploded yet. We won’t be ready for the oppressive south Florida heat in mid-September and the Dolphins won’t be in shambles yet. The next time these two teams meet, I expect both to be in very different places than they are on September 14th.
Week 3- 9/21 vs Pittsburgh 1pm
Much like the Raiders, can you picture the last time the Patriots and Steelers played in Foxborough, in the day time? For the duration of the Brady and Roethlisberger eras, this game was earmarked for 4:30pm at the earliest and never during daylight. (Like there is something shameful about these two teams playing while the sun is shining.) I fully expect Aaron Rodgers to be announced as a Pittsburgh Steeler, maybe as early as this week, so for a week 3 game, this is pretty entertaining. Now if Rodgers doesn’t sign with the Rooney’s franchise, then we’re looking at…….. Mason Rudolph? Who I would make fun of, but he beat the Patriots last year as the quarterback of the Titans. So we either get Rodgers vs Maye or Maye vs Randolph II: Electric Boogaloo.
Week 4- 9/28 vs Carolina 1pm
I think Carolina is going to be improved this year. The first half of last season I thought they were the worst team in football, but they bounced back late and showed some competency. Bryce Young might be a good quarterback but this is a team I really don’t mind playing early in the season at home. This first month of the season is a weird bunch of games, but I find them interesting for their own ways. Pete Carroll in Vegas, division rival on the road and then two very winnable home games. The Patriots have opportunities for a good start with this September slate.
Week 5- 10/5 at Buffalo 8:20pm
And then we head to prime time. The Patriots have 3 prime time games this season, all against New York teams (The NY Trifecta of Bills, Jets and Giants.) After the 4 interesting games of September, this is their first real test. How will this team look, going on the road against their toughest competition for the division? The Patriots should have snuck one out last December in Orchard Park and in what could be their last game at Rich-New Era-Highmark, the Patriots have a chance to send the stadium out in style and announce their presence with authority in 2025.
Week 6- 10/12 at New Orleans 4:25pm
Now for the portion of the schedule where the Patriots need to make hay: Saints, Titans and Browns needs to be 3-0. Derek Carr retired last week, so Mike Vrabel’s defense will be chasing either rookie Tyler Shough (pronounced SHUCK), Spencer Rattler or Jake Haener. Saints star wide out Chris Olave requested a trade this week. The Patriots should hold this team to single digits.
Week 7- 10/19 at Tennessee 1pm
The two most desirable road game destinations this season are back to back weeks: New Orleans and Tennessee. I was ready to pull the trigger on one of them, or both when I saw that they were back to back weeks. I mean, you go to New Orleans and then spend a week honky-tonkin’ about Nashville until the next game. (And much like the greats Travis Tritt and Marty Stuart, honky tonkin’ is what I do best!) But alas, I’m zigging while everyone else is zagging, instead of hitting hot spots like Bourbon Street and Music Row, I’m scheduled to road trip to Buffalo and Tampa Bay.
Patriots at Titans in week 7 will have more pizazz than it did last season, it’ll be interesting to see what kind of year #1 overall pick Cam Ward has, but the greatest storyline will be Mike Vrabel coaching in Tennessee again: the Mike Vrabel revenge game is on the table.
Week 8- 10/26 vs Cleveland 1pm
The Patriots return from a 3 game road trip, and come back home to face the Browns and their quarterback……Joe Flacco? Dillon Gabriel? Shedeur Sanders? Kenny Pickett? DeShaun Watson? Otto Graham? Milt Plum? Frank Ryan? Bill Nelson? Mike Phipps? Brian Sipe? Bernie Kosar? Vinny Testaverde? Tim Couch? Kelly Holcomb? Derek Anderson? Spergon Wynn? Ty Detmer? Doug Pederson? Jeff Garcia? Luke McCown? Charlie Frye? Ken Dorsey? Bruce Gradkowski? Brady Quinn? Colt McCoy? Jake Delhomme? Seneca Wallace? Brandon Weeden? Thad Lewis? Jason Campbell? Brian Hoyer? Johnny Manziel? Connor Shaw? Cody Kessler? Robert Griffin III? DeShone Kizer? Josh McCown? Kevin Hogan? Baker Mayfield? Tyrod Taylor? Case Keenum? Nick Mullens? Jacoby Brissett? Dorian Thompson-Robinson? P.J. Walker? Jameis Winston? Bailey Zappe?
I’m not totally sure that it matters, I think Cleveland is in for a rough season. (FYI, ESPN.com has Watson listed as their QB1, 40-year old Joe Flacco as the back up, defending Super Bowl champion Kenny Pickett as the 3rd stringer and Dillon Gabriel as the 4th stringer. (Not listed: Shedeur Sanders.)
Week 9- 11/2 vs Atlanta 1pm
This was rumored to be the season opener, but instead it’s relegated to early November. This could be Matthew Judon’s return to Foxborough. I hated that we had to make that trade last summer, but in the end I think it worked out well for the Patriots. Judon didn’t have the same impact on the Falcons that he did previously in New England. Atlanta is everybody’s darling right now going into the 2025 season, I like playing them in week 9, where even if they’re good, there is at least tape of what Michael Penix and company are doing.
Week 10- 11/9 at Tampa Bay 1pm
I’m planning to be in the house for this one and why not: Raymond James is a cool stadium with the Pirate ship and what not. Not an easy one, with most of the teams we’ll see in the first 9 weeks, we aren’t even sure who is going to play quarterback. The Bucs have steadied their ship (as it were) in the last two years and seem to be on solid ground with Baker Mayfield, the ageless Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Bucky Irving. This will be a good road test, if the Patriots have a winning record going into this game, we’ll get a true sense of what this team really is after this trip to Tampa.
Week 11- 11/13 vs New York Jets 8:15pm
Just our second prime time game, playing the Jets on a Thursday night and I will venture to say that this one will be a lot different from our week 3 shellacking at MetLife last season. Of all the teams on the schedule, I’ll be fascinated to see what the Jets look like through 10 weeks. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the Jets are starting over, this time with former Jet Aaron Glenn at head coach and Justin Fields playing quarterback (starting or otherwise) for his 3rd team in as many seasons. I think there is a chance the Jets come out hot this season, after having the weight of Aaron Rodgers and bending to his whims the last 24 months, it should be a relief to just go play football.
Week 12- 11/23 vs Cincinnati 1pm
A big game and I like having the mini-bye (10 days rest) heading into this clash with Cincinnati. I’m fascinated by how the Bengals have chosen to build this team: they have an elite quarterback paid a the top of the market and not one, but TWO wide receivers who are also amongst the highest paid at their position. So how in this day and age, do you pay a QB and two WR that much money and still have anything left to build the other 50 spots on your roster? The Bengals will be looking to avenge their week 1 loss to the 4-win 2024 Patriots, but health is always an issue for the Bengals and by week 12, their condition is anybody’s bet.
Week 13- 12-1 vs New York Giants 8:15pm
The Patriots lone Monday night game of the year is the Monday after Thanksgiving. After gorging on food and football for 4 days, we’re going to be looking for the Pats game like that other container of left over white meat we stuck in the entry way. The Giants in December could look any number of ways. Head coach Brian Daboll is on the hot seat, as is GM Joe Schoen. They have 4 quarterbacks on the roster: Jameis Winston, Russell Wilson, rookie Jaxson Dart and the great Tommy DeVito. (Who beat the Patriots two years ago.) It’s anybody’s guess who they will start under center for this game, just as it is anybody’s guess who will be making that decision come December for the Giants. I liked their draft, their defense should be bothersome, but I’m not sure they’re a good team until they can figure out who their quarterback is.
Week 14- BYE
A tradition unlike any other, the Patriots with the latest bye allowed by law. The Giants have it too. I swear the schedule makers have just forgotten about the Patriots the last two years and are all finished making the schedule and then go “Shoot, we forgot to give the Patriots a week off! Throw one in at the end.”
Week 15- 12/14 vs Buffalo 1pm
We finish with 3 divisional games in the final 4 weeks, but two of them are at home and the other is at the Jets. So I don’t hate it. I’ll be very interested to see the differences in the Patriots and Bills between their week 5 match up and week 15 clash. I do like playing them at home late in the season, though I didn’t love beating them in week 18 in Foxborough last season. (Wild stat: the Patriots are 2-2 vs Buffalo over the last two seasons. I know they didn’t want to win week 18 last year, but still.)
Week 16- 12/21 at Baltimore 1pm
Feels like a tough game where you don’t want a tough game. If the Patriots do what I think they can do during the first 3 months of the season, I think they’ll be featured on the “In The Hunt” graphic in December, but vs Buffalo and at Baltimore could put our Christmas wishes for a playoff birth on layaway.
Week 17- 12/28 at New York Jets 1pm
I said last year that the Patriots week 17 game against the Chargers was going to have playoff implications for both sides and boy was I wrong. But this again feels like a late season game between two teams that could be fighting with their last gasps to get the last spot in the AFC. As divisional road games go, this is certainly the one you want to finish out your away games with. I have no qualms about this team going to Metlife in late December, even if they are able to turn things around in the post-Rodgers era.
Week 18- TBD- vs Miami TBD
As much as you don’t want to play Miami in September, is how much I want to play them the at home in the first week of January. We need this one to be cold and our defense hot. By the end of this season, I could see this team fully turned on head coach Mike McDaniel, backup QB Zach Wilson starting and a roster of players thinking of what tropical location they’re going to watch the Wild Card round from. If the Patriots have a shot at the playoffs going into the final week of the season, I’ll take my chances with the Dolphins in Foxborough.
All in all, I don’t dislike the hand the Patriots have been dealt by the schedule gods. The week 14 bye week is tough, but there are a few respites mixed in there and no international travel this year. The Patriots weren’t a good team in 2024, but their schedule was objectively brutal. The 2025 team looks much different, as does the schedule. There are a lot more winnable games this year, now they just have to capitalize.