The National Football League went ahead with the announcement of the 2020 NFL Schedule on Thursday night, and despite some earlier reports that the league would take steps to potentially minimize the impact of a delayed start to the season – such as front-loading non-conference games – the NFL Schedule looks largely like the types of schedules we have seen in the past. The year begins with a lot of division rivals squaring off in Week 1, and there is no shortage of intriguing matchups throughout the year. Here is an early peek at some of the games we at Touchdown Wire already have circled on our calendars.
Week 1: Houston Texans at Kansas City Chiefs
(Sorry Chiefs fans, but under the terms of my contract I am obligated to use this photograph of Bill O’Brien every time the Texans are mentioned until they win a Super Bowl).
The season kicks off, as they usually do, with the defending Super Bowl Champions hosting a game on Thursday night to kick off the entire season. A banner will be raised, the Lombardi Trophy will be paraded around Arrowhead Stadium, and the Chiefs – and their fans – will have another chance to celebrate together.
But then a game will be played, and while our lasting image of the Texans from the 2019-2020 season might be them blowing an early lead at Arrowhead Stadium during the Divisional Round last playoffs, a lot has changed with the AFC South squad. DeAndre Hopkins is no longer a Texan, and some other questionable moves made by O’Brien the general manager have many wondering if this team has improved at all. This opening game will give everyone a chance to see if the gap between these two AFC contenders has narrowed, or widened.
Week 1: Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and new quarterback Tom Brady, open up their 2020 season on the road against the New Orleans Saints in a matchup of two of the teams that will be vying for the NFC South division crown in the season ahead. It also gives us the first of many intriguing matchups between veteran quarterbacks that we will have in 2020, thanks to Brady moving to the NFC and specifically the NFC South.
This game gives us Brady versus Drew Brees for the first time since 2017. Brees actually holds a slight edge in the lifetime record between these two quarterbacks, having won three of the five meetings between these passers. Two of those victories, however, came when Brees was the quarterback for the then-San Diego Chargers. His only victory against Brady while with the Saints came on a memorable Monday night affair when the Saints blew Brady and the Patriots out during the 2009 season, which led to a memorable exchange between Brady and Bill Belichick on the sideline.
This is not the only meeting between Brady and Brees on the schedule, as the two teams are slated to square off again in Week 9, but it will certainly be a memorable affair as Brady takes the field for the first time in a new uniform against one of his true peers.
Week 1: Miami Dolphins at New England Patriots
Back in September it happened at the end of a blowout game.
Now it happens for real.
The New England Patriots are expected to replace Tom Brady, arguably the greatest quarterback of all time, with Jarrett Stidham, a fourth-round selection in the 2019 NFL Draft. Obviously these are massive cleats for Stidham to fill, and despite many wondering if the Patriots would make a move at quarterback such as Cam Newton or Jameis Winston, the organization seems to be moving ahead with the second-year player.
In addition to seeing a new quarterback under center for the Patriots, the organization might be looking for a bit of revenge for how last season ended. The Dolphins came to town and upset the Patriots in the final week of the season, ending New England’s bid for a first-round bye. Their season, and the Brady Era in New England, ended the following week with a Wild Card loss to the Tennessee Titans. Patriots fans would love to see the Stidham Era begin with a win over the Phins.
Week 3: Green Bay Packers at New Orleans Saints
Tom Brady versus Drew Brees is not the only matchup of living legends at the quarterback position we will see this regular season. Thanks to both the New Orleans Saints and the Green Bay Packers winning their respective divisions, we will get to see the Saints hosting the Packers early in the season.
Of course, there are bigger implications than just the matchup of two great quarterbacks. Both these teams made the playoffs a season ago and are expected to be in contention for playoff positions when all is said and done this season. But with the new playoff formation coming this season, getting the top overall seed – and the only first-round bye – is hugely critical. As such, this game, even coming so early in the league year, might have huge playoff implications.
Week 3: Kansas City Chiefs at Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs seemed destined for a clash in the AFC Championship Game a year ago when they finished in the top two spots in the conference. But hopes for a clash of the titans were spoiled by, well, the Titans, as Tennessee went into Baltimore and upset the Ravens on Divisional Round weekend.
Instead, football fans will be treated to a matchup of two of the best teams in the AFC and two of the games premier young talents at the quarterback position in Week 3. The Chiefs and 2018 MVP Patrick Mahomes will travel east to take on the Ravens and 2019 MVP Lamar Jackson. Bear in mind that the winner of this game might get an early edge in the battle for AFC supremacy, and potentially the only first-round bye come playoff time.
Week 5: Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens
Expectations remain that the Cincinnati Bengals are going to name Joe Burrow their starting quarterback for the first week of the 2020 NFL season, especially in the wake of Andy Dalton’s release and departure to the Dallas Cowboys. While this matchup might not mark Burrow’s first start in the league, nor his toughest early test, it is certainly one worth monitoring, as a way to measure his progress as a young quarterback.
Why? Standing across from him is going to be a stout Baltimore Ravens defense that made some improvements this offseason, including drafting linebacker Patrick Queen, who was a teammate of Burrow’s last season during LSU’s run to a National Championship. In addition, this marks the first meeting between Burrow and another dynamic young talent at the quarterback position, Lamar Jackson. A true measuring-stick game worth tuning in for.
Week 6: Green Bay Packers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tom Brady’s move to the NFC gives football fans something else they have been clamoring for: Another game between Brady and Aaron Rodgers.
These two last met back in the 2018 season, when Brady and the New England Patriots hosted Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. That was a Sunday night affair that saw the Patriots slowly pull away to a 31-17 victory. Perhaps their most memorable meeting was back in the 2014 season, when Brady and the New England Patriots went into Lambeau Field and fell to Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers 26-21.
Now, the move perhaps robs us of a Brady-Rodgers Super Bowl, unless the football gods have something crazy up their sleeves. But seeing them square off in the regular season, with playoff implications perhaps on the line, is a decent backup option. And who knows? Maybe we’ll never get a Brady-Rodgers Super Bowl, but perhaps a playoff meeting down the road?
Week 7: Arizona Cardinals at Seattle Seahawks
One of the more surprising results from last season happened back in Week 16 of the 2019 season. On that afternoon, just prior to Christmas, the 4-9-1 Arizona Cardinals traveled north to take on the 10-4 Seattle Seahawks. The Cardinals were playing for pride, the Seahawks were playing for the division.
But on that afternoon, Kliff Kingsbury and his charges stunned the Seahawks, knocking them off by a final score of 27-13 and forcing Seattle into a must-win game in Week 17 against the San Francisco 49ers for the NFC West title. Had the Seahawks won that afternoon they would have been in the driver’s seat for the division heading into Week 17, but a loss dropped them out of first place in the NFC West, and set up a clash against the 49ers that they would ultimately lose. In the span of a few weeks the Seahawks went from potentially spending all of the postseason in the friendly confines of CenturyLink Field, to facing a cross-country trip on Wild Card Weekend to play the Philadelphia Eagles.
Now, the Cardinals are coming off a very solid draft, while the Seahawks…well let’s just say they did things their own way. That makes for a very intriguing rematch come Week 7.
Week 10: San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints
One of the most exciting games of the entire 2019 season took place in December of last year, when the San Francisco 49ers visited the New Orleans Saints in a clash of two of the best teams in the NFC. This was a tight affair throughout the contest and the teams combined for 12 points in the final three minutes, as the 49ers pulled out a 48-46 victory in the final seconds on a field goal from Robbie Gould.
Both teams are expected to again contend for a playoff spot, and what makes this matchup even more exciting might be the fact that wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders left the 49ers this past offseason to join Drew Brees and the Saints. One more layer to a rematch of one of the previous year’s most exciting contests.
Week 10: Denver Broncos at Las Vegas Raiders
One of the more intriguing storylines of the 2020 NFL Draft was wondering which of the talented trio of wide receivers would come off the board first. Many expected either Oklahoma standout CeeDee Lamb or Alabama wideout Jerry Jeudy to be the first off the board, but in a bit of a surprise it was Jeudy’s teammate, Henry Ruggs III, coming off the board to the Las Vegas Raiders as the first receiver selected.
Jeudy fell to the Denver Broncos, and now the former teammates are division rivals.
Both the Broncos and Raiders looked to boost their offenses this year, perhaps as a way of keeping pace in the arms race that is the AFC West. In addition to Jeudy the Broncos added Penn State wide receiver K.J. Hamler in the second round, giving second-year quarterback Drew Lock some more targets in the downfield passing game (in addition to players like Courtland Sutton and Noah Fant). The Raiders also added Bryan Edwards from South Carolina and Lynn Bowden from Kentucky in the draft. These young targets will be fascinating to watch on the same field.
Week 12: Kansas City Chiefs at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Brady v. Mahomes IV
These two passers have met on three previous occasions, and each game has been a thrilling contest that ended as a one-score affair. Back in 2018 the Kansas City Chiefs visited the New England Patriots in the regular season, and the teams combined for an astonishing 20 points in the final 5:25 of the game, with New England winning on a field goal at the buzzer. Not to be outdone, their rematch in the AFC Championship Game was just as thrilling, as they combined for 24 points in the final three minutes of regulation. But they needed a bit more time to settle things, and the Patriots punched a ticket to the Super Bowl with a touchdown drive on the first possession of overtime.
Last year, they met again in the regular season, and this time the Chiefs came out on top, winning by a final score of 23-16. Perhaps the changing of the guard in the AFC was completed when Kansas City went on to win Super Bowl LIV, while the Patriots were bounced out of the playoffs on Wild Card Weekend.
But these two quarterbacks gets a chance to renew acquaintances, only this time with Brady wearing a new uniform. With the offensive firepower on both rosters, this could make for a very high-scoring affair. Remember that Chiefs game against the Los Angeles Rams on a Monday night a few years ago? This could take on a similar flavor.
Week 16: Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints
The closing stretch of the 2020 NFL Season not only gives us a rematch of the Wild Card meeting between the Vikings and the Saints, that ended with the Vikings pulling off the upset, but it also gives us some football on Christmas Day.
On a Friday.
Christmas Day falls on a Friday this year, and with the league putting a slate of games on the holiday that will give football fans some Friday NFL action, which is something that is a bit of a rarity in league history. There has not been a Friday game since 2009, when the Tennessee Titans hosted the San Diego Chargers, also on Christmas Day. According to Pro Football Reference, there have been 28 games played on Friday in the history of the league, with a large majority of them actually falling on non-Holidays.
This time around, we get a playoff rematch between two teams largely expected to again contend for postseason positioning. A definite holiday treat.
Week 17: Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills
With Tom Brady’s departure from the AFC East, the division looks wide open for the first time in a very long time. That means that the final week of the season could see the league crown a division champion in the AFC East for the first time since 2008, and for just the third time since the Brady Era began in New England. A team that might be poised to take that title is the Buffalo Bills. Sean McDerrmott’s squad made the playoffs a season ago as a Wild Card team, and the addition of Stefon Diggs might be the receiving threat that helps Josh Allen take the leap forward as a passer Bills fans are hoping to witness.
But standing in their way might be the Miami Dolphins, who are no strangers to playing the spoiler. In Week 17 last season Brian Flores and company went into Gillette Stadium and denied the Patriots a first-round bye, setting the stage for their early exit from the playoffs and Brady’s final game as a Patriot. With the improvements the Dolphins have made this past season who knows, maybe Miami is also in the playoff mix when this game kicks off?
Week 17: New York Jets at New England Patriots
Despite everything that was written about the AFC East regarding the other matchup in Week 17, Bill Belichick might still get the final word.
Sure, many are looking at the 2020 version of the New England Patriots and writing them off. Their schedule – at least on paper – is the toughest in the league. They face multiple trips to the West Coast. Their offense struggled a season ago and yes, they lost Tom Brady.
But they still have Belichick, and return many pieces to one of the league’s top defense from a season ago. If they can get competent quarterback play from Jarrett Stidham, they could start a post-Brady Era looking very much like the teams that started the Patriots’ run: A team dominated by their defense with a ball-control passing game. Could Belichick recapture some of that 2001 magic?
Standing in his way could be the New York Jets. Adam Gase and company have made a number of additions this season, most notably along the offensive line, in an attempt to protect their young quarterback Sam Darnold.
