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Joey breaks down the 2025 NFL Schedule Release for all teams. When will the NFL release 2025 team schedules, and which matchups have already been made public?
The NFL Schedule Release has turned into a big event. Even though we know which teams will play each other this upcoming season, fans now get to see when these matchups will take place during the 2025-2026 season.
Several games have already been made public ahead of the 2025 NFL Schedule Release. Some of the games that have already been announced include opening night, Christmas Day, Black Friday, the international slate, and some Saturday games late in the season.
So, when will the rest of the games be announced? Which matchups have already been announced? Let's dive in and find out.
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When Is The 2025 NFL Schedule Release?
The 2025 NFL Schedule Release will officially take place on Wednesday, May 14 at 8 PM ET. This is when fans will get to see who their favorite team is playing every week. The way the schedule shakes out will definitely affect some teams. Playing in Buffalo in September will be much different than playing there in December.
As a result, the way the schedule unfolds does matter. Where you play at a certain point in the year matters. Teams would likely rather play the Patriots in New England at the start of the season and go to Miami to face the Dolphins later in the year when the weather is still somewhat warm. These are all things we will find out on Wednesday once the schedule is fully released.
We're just one week away from the full NFL schedule release 🥳
Here's a look at which teams have the hardest and easiest strength of schedule ⬇️
(h/t @SharpFootball) pic.twitter.com/eWMx2Z9Ia6
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) May 7, 2025
The one thing we all knew about the schedule, though, was that the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles would open the season on Thursday night. This has become a tradition in the NFL and won't change entering the 2025-2026 campaign. It's going to be a bit weird not watching the Kansas City Chiefs open the season after they won back-to-back Super Bowls in 2022 and 2023.
This year, it will be the Eagles looking to win on opening night. This last time they opened the season on Thursday night was back in 2018 following their Super Bowl LII win over the Patriots. Philadelphia faced off against a solid Falcons team led by Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, and Calvin Ridley. But Atlanta couldn't take down the reigning Super Bowl champions and lost 18-12 at Lincoln Financial Field.
NFL Opening Night Game
Although the 2025 NFL Schedule Release hasn't happened yet, a handful of games have already been released. The Eagles will open the season against the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday, September 4. NFL fans will get to watch one of the best rivalries in football to open the season. Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, and A.J. Brown will face a Cowboys team looking to return to the playoffs.
🚨 EAGLES VS. COWBOYS TO KICK OFF THE 2025 SEASON 🚨#Kickoff2025 pic.twitter.com/PEHaVYvlxB
— NFL (@NFL) May 12, 2025
Seeing division rivals open the season against each other doesn't happen very often. The Packers faced the Bears back during the 2019 season, but that was only to celebrate the NFL's 100th season. Outside of that, the only other time that division rivals have opened the season was when the New York Giants and Cowboys faced each other to begin the new season on September 5, 2012.
Given the ratings that the Cowboys bring in, it's not a surprise to see the NFL pick America's Team to open the season. Dallas will now head into Philadelphia on September 4 and try to take away from the Eagles' Super Bowl celebration.
It has also been some time since NFL fans have gotten to see Dak Prescott and Hurts go head-to-head in a game. Prescott was out for both games against the Eagles last season due to a hamstring injury. Oddly enough, Prescott and Hurts have played against each other in just three of the past nine meetings.
So, we should be in for an entertaining game between two teams that don't like each other. Prescott is 2-1 against Hurts in his career, and Dallas' offense has improved this offseason after the team traded for wide receiver George Pickens last week. We are just a few months away from see which one of these teams will start the season 1-0.
Which Matchups Have Already Been Announced?
In addition to the opening night matchup being announced, plenty of other games have been made public before Wednesday's official schedule release day. The Eagles will host the Chicago Bears on Black Friday, the Broncos will head to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs on Christmas Day, and FOX will air a doubleheader on Saturday, December 20, featuring two division rivals.
The Eagles will face the Commanders, and the Packers will face the Bears in a Week 16 doubleheader. With Christmas falling a few days later, some fans might think these four teams will play again on December 25. That was exactly the case last season, as the Texans, Chiefs, Steelers, and Ravens all played a Saturday game in Week 16 and then were scheduled to play on Christmas a few days later.
However, it doesn't appear that all four teams will play again on Christmas during the 2025-2026 season. That's because Philadelphia will play the Packers on Monday Night Football on November 10 and face the Bears a few weeks later on Black Friday. So, it'll be interesting to see which teams finish out the Christmas Day slate in 2025.
Confirmed Eagles games so far:
🏈Thursday, Sept. 4: Cowboys at Eagles
🏈Monday, Nov. 10: Eagles at Packers
🏈Friday, Nov. 28: Bears at Eagles
🏈Saturday, Dec. 20: Eagles at Commanders https://t.co/79aG9aKn4O— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 13, 2025
The NFL also already confirmed the entire international slate ahead of the schedule release. The first international game will take place in São Paulo, Brazil, on Friday, September 5. This will be the second straight year in which there will be games on both Thursday and Friday to kick off the season. Last year, this game in Brazil featured the Packers and Eagles.
Although the NFL only released one of the teams (Chargers) playing in Brazil on that Friday, the expectation is that the league will announce the Chiefs as the other opponent sometime on Wednesday. Therefore, it appears that we will get two straight divisional rival games to open the 2025-2026 campaign.
The other international games include the Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers in Dublin in Week 4, the Vikings and Cleveland Browns in London in Week 5, the Denver Broncos and New York Jets in Week 6, the Los Angeles Rams and Jacksonville Jaguars in London in Week 7, the Atlanta Falcons and Indianapolis Colts in Berlin in Week 10, and the Miami Dolphins and Washington Commanders in Madrid in Week 11.
There will be seven international games on the slate this upcoming season, with teams traveling to São Paulo, Dublin, London, Berlin, and Madrid. One thing to point out from the international schedule is that the Vikings will be the only team to play overseas in back-to-back weeks. They first face the Steelers in Ireland in Week 4 and then travel to London to take on the Browns.
The rest of the NFL schedule will officially be released on Wednesday evening. Fans should keep an eye out for some more games being made public before then, as CBS and Netflix are expected to release a select few games before the actual release date.
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