The NFL schedule is starting to come into focus. With several games being announced and leaked over the past few days, we are not far from having a full 272-game slate to analyze from top to bottom.
One of the biggest mysteries still to be solved is who will be Seattle's opponent in the kickoff game, which has been narrowed down to Chicago, New England, Arizona and the Los Angeles Chargers. Let's take a stab at solving that question, along with the rest of the Week 1 slate, with a projection based on what we know to date.
NFL Kickoff Game: Chicago Bears at Seattle Seahawks
We're going with Chicago for this spot, which gives the NFL a chance to showcase Caleb Williams as he hopes to take another leap forward in year three. The Bears are also a strong team that advanced to the Divisional Round last year, making them a team the NFL will give plenty of prime time exposure over the course of the season.
The other consideration here would be New England, setting up a Super Bowl rematch, but the lopside nature of that matchup could be enough to give the NFL pause to spotlight it in a standalone window. Expect to see that Patriots-Seahawks rematch land in a 4:25 doubleheader window later in the season.
NFL International Series: San Francisco 49ers vs. Los Angeles Rams
This game required the NFL to adjust its Week 1 calendar, moving Seattle's opener up a day to Wednesday to comply with broadcasting regulations that prohibit the league from airing Friday night games between Labor Day and mid-December. The 49ers and Rams are set to play the NFL's first-ever regular-season game in Melbourne, with Los Angeles serving as the road team.
The 17-hour time difference between California and Australia figures to be a bear, especially at the start of the season. The game will actually be played in the afternoon on Friday local time to ensure a Thursday night primetime audience in the United States.
Sunday Afternoon Slate
- New York Jets at Tennessee Titans
- Washington Commanders at Philadelphia Eagles
- Pittsburgh Steelers at New England Patriots
- Buffalo Bills at Green Bay Packers
- Carolina Panthers at Minnesota Vikings
- Las Vegas Raiders at Arizona Cardinals
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Detroit Lions
- New Orleans Saints at Atlanta Falcons
- Houston Texans at Los Angeles Chargers
- Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns
- Jacksonville Jaguars at Baltimore Ravens
- Miami Dolphins at Indianapolis Colts
We do have some information to go on here, including the fact that the Jets need to be on the road since the Giants are at home in Week 1. Buffalo will also open on the road since the league previously announced that they will open their new stadium in Week 2 on Thursday night against the Detroit Lions.
The NFL has also stacked a lot of West Coast teams in featured primetime slots, so some of the others are virtually assured to be at home in Week 1 to balance the doubleheader in terms of games. Arizona looks likely to host in Week 1, while the Los Angeles Chargers figure to be at home since the Rams are in Melbourne.
The key to the Week 1 Sunday slate is ensuring there are three intriguing games to allow FOX to anchor a doubleheader while CBS has a strong game for its singleheader window. Look for Eagles-Commanders and Bills-Packers to spotlight FOX's coverage while Steelers-Patriots is a good fit for CBS' early window.
Sunday Night Football: Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants
NBC announced this game early in the week and it has been a favorite for them over the years. This will mark the eighth time in the past 15 seasons that the Giants and Cowboys have opened against each other, with many of those coming in prime time on NBC.
The game marks the Giants' debut of new head coach John Harbaugh, who is hoping to revive one of the league's most proud franchises. The matchup will also be in New York as the Giants are expected to have a pre-game ceremony to honor the victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks, which occurred 25 years ago.
Monday Night Football: Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs
Week 1 will wrap up on Monday night with the Broncos and Chiefs, even though the league waited a day to decide who would host the matchup. The NFL is making a big bet that Patrick Mahomes will be back from his torn ACL in time for this game, otherwise there is a chacne the week will wrap with Justin Fields under center for Kansas City.
Bo Nix should be back for the Broncos, who made it all the way to the AFC Championship Game last year before falling to New England after he missed the contest due to injury. Denver snapped Kansas City's AFC West title streak last year and whoever wins this game should have an early leg up in that race.
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