NFL Schedule
The NFL Schedule Release is a day that is celebrated around the sports world. We’ve long known which teams would play against each other during the 2025 season, but we didn’t know the dates. Now we do and that means we can all truly begin putting together our picks, predictions, and prognostications for the upcoming season.
It has been said that “timing is everything” and that can be true of the NFL schedule. Like I said, we knew the opponents. We even knew home or away. But the sequencing of games matters, particularly for those who wind up having to play on a short week or those who are playing back-to-back road games or a big stretch of roadies over three, four, five, six, or even seven weeks.
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There are also weather considerations for teams. Those that play in a dome or are located down south do not want to see the potential for winter weather on the schedule. Similarly, those up north may not be too thrilled about games in the heat and humidity that still hangs around throughout the first month of the season.
So, now that we know the NFL schedule for 2025, which teams were dealt a good hand and which were dealt a bad hand.
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NFL Schedule 2025 Winners
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Buccaneers got a really good draw from the schedule makers. Baker Mayfield played in Cleveland for several years, so bad weather really isn’t all that problematic for him, but the Buccaneers play at Buffalo in Week 11 and actually only have to leave the state of Florida one time over the final six weeks of the season.
They have a road game in Charlotte in Week 16 and play at Miami in Week 17. Otherwise, they host the Cardinals, Saints, Falcons on Thursday night, and the Panthers. Carolina may be a much improved team, but it still isn’t a bad thing to wrap up the season with the Panthers, given what some of the other options may have been.
Three of their road games are Sunday Night Football (Rams in Week 12) or Monday Night Football (Texans in Week 2, Lions in Week 7), with the bye in Week 8 and the lowly Jets at home in Week 3, so they have extra time to travel and good next-game setups. I think the way that this set up should strengthen their odds as the NFC South favorites.
Minnesota Vikings
Because both games overseas are considered road games for the Vikings, they will still get eight games at U.S. Bank Stadium, including the last two of the season against division rivals Detroit and Green Bay. They do draw a short-week assignment against the Lions on Christmas during the Week 17 Thursday Tripleheader, but should escape the miserable conditions of December in cold-weather cities.
The Vikings do have a Week 6 bye on account of playing games in Dublin and London back-to-back, but being accustomed to the time change and not having to travel in for that second game is also a benefit. One that does not benefit the Browns at all. Speaking of the AFC North, the Vikings play Pittsburgh and Cleveland in neutral sites as “road” games, but host the Bengals and Ravens, which adds a little bit more juice to those games.
The only real hiccup on the schedule for Minnesota is having to play the Chargers on Thursday Night Football, but they have the bye and a home game against the Eagles before that.
Denver Broncos
The Chiefs have eight standalone games and a really quirky schedule, which could benefit the Broncos and/or Chargers this season. I really like how the season sets up for Denver. One of their road games is a neutral-site game in London against the Jets and the Broncos will be flying across the pond from Philadelphia, not from home.
They opted not to take their bye after the London trip and will play four of the next five games at home with a roadie against the Texans sandwiched between two home games on each end. Then they have the bye before a stretch of back-to-back road games at Washington and Las Vegas before hosting three of the last four games.
Who knows what the weather could be like in December and January in the Mile High City, but Green Bay, Jacksonville, and the Los Angeles Chargers will find out. Denver will also be on extra rest for that Chargers game after playing Kansas City on Christmas.
NFL Schedule Losers
New York Giants
It was already going to be an uphill climb wearing shoes with no tread for the Giants, but the gauntlet that they face to open the season is brutal. The Giants play at Washington and Dallas before hosting Kansas City and the LA Chargers. Then they go to New Orleans for a bit of a respite before a short-week home game against the Eagles, followed by a trip to Denver and another game against the Eagles.
They follow that up by hosting the 49ers before playing the Bears, Packers, and Lions. Their “easiest” games on paper are all on the road – Saints, Patriots, Raiders. The Week 13 bye probably won’t help much either. Whatever you thought about the Giants coming into the season, this schedule has to factor in.
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins travel a lot of miles to begin with, given that the other teams in their division are in Buffalo, Foxboro, and just across the border from New York City. This season, they’ll also play a game in Spain against the Commanders one week after hosting the rival Bills.
But, where the schedule stands out to me is at the end. The Dolphins do get away with one by playing in Buffalo on Sept. 21, so there shouldn’t be multiple feet of snow. But, they do play late-season road games at the Jets, Steelers, and Patriots. The Steelers game is also on Monday Night Football, increasing the probability of it being very cold on Dec. 15.
Any heat/humidity advantage early in the season could also be mitigated a bit because their home game against the Jets in Week 4 falls on Monday Night Football, so the boys from New Jersey won’t be baking in the sun for three hours during a 1 p.m. game.
Detroit Lions
Last season, not only did I make the argument for the Lions to have a tremendous season, but even suggested Jared Goff to win the MVP at 40/1. That didn’t happen, but the schedule set up extremely well for the Lions, who played Green Bay during the first week of November and only played three outdoor games during the regular season, with one of them in San Francisco at the end of December, where it wasn’t going to be bitter cold.
Well, this season for the Lions is different. Their final regular season game is at Soldier Field. They play seven of their nine road games outside. They also have to hit the ground running with the Packers, Bears, and Ravens right out of the chute. Their “layup” game against the Giants at home is sandwiched between Sunday Night Football at the Eagles and the Thanksgiving game against the Packers.
The Lions play two Thursday games on short weeks and another one on regular rest the week after Christmas against the Cowboys. If they are going to repeat in the NFC North, they will have earned it.
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