With not much else to look forward to given the current state of sports, the NFL gave us all something to look over in optimistic anticipation. The full 2020 NFL regular-season schedule was unveiled, assigning dates to the matchups that have long been known, so now it is time to do your fall planning.
One thing is for certain this fall. The reigning Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, will be the main attraction all season long, and their road schedule has some big challenges worth paying attention to.
As you might have suspected, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs will be in primetime five times this season, and they are involved in some of the best games you may want to watch this season.
Here is a list of 10 of the top games on the 2020 schedule, with a few bonus games to keep you entertained that just missed the cut.
1. Kansas City Chiefs at Baltimore Ravens (Week 3, MNF)
Patrick Mahomes vs. Lamar Jackson is one of the juiciest quarterback battles we may see this season, and we’ll get it early on. What could potentially be a preview of the AFC Championship Game and a is a matchup of the past two league MVPs will fittingly take place on “Monday Night Football.”
2. Kansas City Chiefs at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Week 12)
Get ready for a healthy dose of Tampa Bay this season too. Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski will host the defending champion Chiefs in Week 12. Could it serve as a Super Bowl preview too?
3. Green Bay Packers at San Francisco 49ers (Week 9, TNF)
A rematch of last season’s NFC Championship Game will see Aaron Rodgers and the Packers looking for revenge against the 49ers and their tenacious defense.
4. Tennessee Titans at Baltimore Ravens (Week 11)
The Ravens have had plenty of time to stew over being eliminated from the AFC playoffs last season by the Titans. The long-awaited revenge game will come in the second half of the season for the Ravens as the two teams potentially jockey for playoff seeding down the stretch.
5. Kansas City Chiefs at New Orleans Saints (Week 15)
The Chiefs head to the Big Easy to take on Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints. This game has the potential to be a good old-fashioned shootout between two dangerous offenses.
6. Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints (Week 16)
To say the Vikings and Saints have history would not be doing it justice. This heated matchup could be a bit of a powder keg in the Superdome. And given that this game is taking place late in the year (and on Christmas day), NFC playoff spots could be on the line.
7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints (Week 1)
The Bucs and Saints will get the primetime treatment in early November, but it’s hard not to top the season opener between Tom Brady and Drew Brees. Two of the elder statesmen, and surefire future Hall of Famers, will be a fascinating display of two of the top quarterbacks of the NFL’s past two decades.
8. Green Bay Packers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Week 6)
Another fascinating matchup between two of the NFL’s top quarterbacks this century goes down in Week 6 when Aaron Rodgers leads the Packers into Tampa for a showdown with Tom Brady. It’s a crime we haven’t had more matchups between these two, so savor it while you still can.
9. New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills (Week 8)
With the Patriots breaking in a new quarterback, the Bills have to feel like this is the year to take over the AFC East. The Bills could be in the best possible position to dethrone the Patriots, but we’ll have to wait for Week 8 to see if the Bills Mafia can rally their team to a division-shifting victory.
10. Steelers at Ravens (Week 12, Thanksgiving)
The second of two meetings between AFC North rivals will go down on Thanksgiving night. First place in the division may be up for grabs as the Steelers’ defense will try to solve Lamar Jackson.
Don’t forget about:
- Houston Texans at Kansas City Chiefs
(Week 1, NFL season opener) - Dallas Cowboys at Los Angeles Rams
(Week 1, SNF and first game in SoFi Stadium) - New Orleans Saints at Las Vegas Raiders
(Week 2, MNF and Raiders’ first game in Las Vegas) - New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys (Week 5)
- Philadelphia Eagles at Pittsburgh Steelers (Week 5)
- Seattle Seahawks at Philadelphia Eagles (Week 12)
- New Orleans Saints at Atlanta Falcons (Week 13)
- Cincinnati Bengals at Miami Dolphins
(Week 13, potentially Joe Burrow vs. Tua Tagovailoa) - Washington Redskins at San Francisco 49ers (Week 14)
- Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys (Week 16)
- Denver Broncos at Los Angeles Chargers (Week 16)
