NFC NORTH

GREEN BAY

We don’t think QB AARON RODGERS is re-thinking his strategy with news that the Packers have added QB BLAKE BORTLES to the roster.  Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com:

The Packers are signing veteran quarterback Blake Bortles to a one-year contract, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Wednesday, making him the first addition at the position since the news of Aaron Rodgers’ unhappiness with the organization broke last month.

It doesn’t necessarily mean the two are related. The Packers had only two quarterbacks on their roster: Rodgers and 2020 first-round pick Jordan Love.

The Packers have two quarterbacks coming in for this weekend’s rookie minicamp on a tryout basis: journeymen Chad Kelly and Kurt Benkert.

Will Aaron Rodgers leave the Green Bay Packers? The latest news and rumors

The Packers picked Bortles, 29, in part because of his connection to their offensive coordinator, Nathaniel Hackett. The two were together with the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2015 to 2018. Hackett was Bortles’ position coach in 2015-16 and his offensive coordinator in 2016-18. Together, they reached the AFC Championship Game following the 2017 season. Hackett joined the Packers when Matt LaFleur was hired as head coach in 2019.

Bortles, the third pick in the 2014 NFL draft, last played in a regular-season game during the 2019 season with the Los Angeles Rams. He had stints with the Broncos and Rams last season as a backup and also spent time on Denver’s practice squad.

– – –

Despite, or maybe because of, the drama with Rodgers, the Packers get the max in terms of primetime exposure from NFL schedule makers.  Kevin Seifert and Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com:

The NFL has assigned five prime-time games to the Green Bay Packers for the 2021 season, one of the most notable revelations in its frenzied leaguewide schedule reveal Wednesday night.

The Packers were one of 10 teams to receive maximum prime-time exposure, a list that also included the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Dallas Cowboys, who will play in the NFL’s Sept. 9 kickoff game at Raymond James Stadium.

But the Packers’ inclusion was significant, considering the uncertain status of reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers. While NFL schedule makers don’t have special insight into team operations, it’s unlikely that the Packers would be featured as prominently in the league’s initial schedule if second-year player Jordan Love had already been named their starter.

Speaking about the prime-time games, Packers coach Matt LaFleur said: “That’s a good thing for us. That means we’re doing some good things. We just have to make sure we’re doing everything in our power from all offseason into training camp, making sure we’re ready to play come Week 1.”

The NFL does have an out, however. The final two night games — against the Bears in Week 13 and Vikings in Week 16 on Sunday nights — come after flex scheduling kicks in. So if Rodgers doesn’t play for the Packers or if they’re out of a contention with Love or some other quarterback, they could get flexed out.

In addition to the Packers, Buccaneers and Cowboys, other teams with five prime-time games include the Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers, Seattle Seahawks and New Orleans Saints.

MINNESOTA

The Packers had two football coaches make it into their 90s, although Jerry Burns has now passed at age 94.  He is eulogized by 93-year-old Bud Grant.  The AP:

Jerry Burns, the colorful character who took over as the Minnesota Vikings’ coach in a time of turmoil and led the team to three playoff berths, has died. He was 94.

The team announced Burns’ death. Vikings spokesman Bob Hagan said Burns’ son-in-law informed him of Burns’ death Wednesday morning.

Burns helped the Green Bay Packers win the first two Super Bowls as defensive backs coach, then joined iconic Vikings coach Bud Grant as Minnesota’s offensive coordinator in 1968. Burns held the position until 1985 and became head coach in 1986, following Les Steckel’s 3-13 season in 1984 and Grant’s 7-9 campaign in 1985 when he was coaxed out of retirement.

“I met Burnsie at Iowa when he picked me up from the airport when I was visiting down there, and from that point on, we started talking football and never stopped,” Grant said in a statement released by the team. “We were on the same page a lot. When I went to Winnipeg, I’d have him come up as a guest coach. Our friendship grew over the years, and we became very close friends and so did our families.”

The 93-year-old Grant said Burns was a “very astute football mind” who “could see things on the field immediately.”

NFC SOUTH

CAROLINA

Kevin Patra of NFL.com on the fallout from the comments of QB TEDDY BRIDGEWATER about his experience in Carolina:

Teddy Bridgewater volleyed a round of criticism toward Carolina on his way out of town, taking issue with how offensive coordinator Joe Brady runs his practice schedule.

Panthers coach Matt Rhule took issue with the critiques from his former quarterback, saying he was “disappointed” that Bridgewater didn’t feel good about the club’s practice methods.

“I’m not going to delve into specifics about our process, some of that is specific to us,” Rhule said Wednesday night, per the Associated Press. “But I feel really good about our preparation, and the amount of work our coaches put in and the amount of work our players put in. The amount of practice work, I think we push them in a really smart way.”

During an interview on the “All Things Covered Podcast” with Patrick Peterson and Bryant McFadden, Bridgewater said that the Panthers didn’t practice enough two-minute offense or red-zone to succeed.

“I’ll just say this, for Joe Brady’s growth, that organization, they’ll have to practice different things in different ways,” Bridgewater said at the time. “One thing we didn’t do much of when I was there, we didn’t practice two minutes, really. We didn’t practice red zone. You walk through the red zone stuff and then Saturday, you come out and practice red zone, but you’d only get like 15 live reps. Guys’ reps would be limited.”

Bridgewater struggled in both aspects of the game, which usually separate the elite QBs from the rest of the pack. Carolina was 28th in the league in red-zone efficiency last year, with Bridgewater throwing five interceptions.

Rhule didn’t criticize Bridgewater’s play, calling the QB the “ultimate competitor” and a “great dude” during Wednesday’s media session. The coach sounded more like a disappointed dad.

“When you have 140 guys in a locker room, guys will disagree on some things sometimes. You can’t ask everyone to agree with everything,” Rhule said, via the team’s official website. “But I feel really good about what we do, I want to make sure to say I feel really good about the way we practice and our process. I’m disappointed to hear he didn’t feel the same way.”

Perhaps, to use a tortured pun, Teddy burned his bridge on the way out of Carolina with his open criticism of the Panthers’ practice habits. The new Denver quarterback has bigger concerns ahead in his battle with Drew Lock for a starting job.

AFC SOUTH

JACKSONVILLE

Thanks to the new 17-game schedule, the Jaguars will play a traditional compliment of eight true home games in Jacksonville for the first time since 2011.  They still have a home game with Miami at Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium in London as well.

– – –

The DB is among those who don’t think it is a big deal that Urban Meyer and the Jaguars are taking a flyer on Tim TEbow, but there are plenty of others who do.  Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com takes a look at things:

Moving to tight end was something NFL teams wanted Tebow to consider after he failed as an NFL quarterback, but Tebow was adamant about staying behind center. Nine years after he last played in an NFL regular-season game, he’s willing to make the change.

Why is Tebow returning now?

Tebow clearly wants to remain a professional athlete. Since the baseball thing with the New York Mets didn’t work out, this is his best shot — mainly because of Meyer.

Meyer and Tebow won a pair of national championships at Florida from 2006 to 2009 and they’ve remained close, so it shouldn’t be a surprise Meyer agreed when Tebow called and asked him for a tryout earlier this year. It’s hard to imagine many other NFL coaches or general managers would be willing to give a 33-year-old who hasn’t been a part of the league in six years a tryout at a position he has never played.

What are Tebow’s chances of making the team?

Not great.

He played tight end on a handful of snaps with the New York Jets back in 2012. He has not been asked to block linebackers or defensive ends snap after snap. He has never caught a pass in college or the NFL (his only career NFL target is below). Tebow is a very good athlete and he’s going to put in the work — and extra work — but he’s starting from ground zero.

There are five other tight ends on the roster who have at least played the position in college and the NFL and he would have to outperform one, and maybe two, of those experienced tight ends to make the roster.

His chances would be higher if the Jaguars were to create a role for Tebow similar to what the New Orleans Saints did with Taysom Hill. Tebow certainly could be an effective runner out of the Wildcat and the threat of a pass would naturally be there every time he took a snap. But even then, it would be for only a handful of snaps a game.

The Saints also knew they could start Hill at quarterback if Drew Brees were injured. That’s not going to be the case with Tebow.

Is signing Tebow purely to sell tickets?

No. If it were 2013 or 2014, then you could make that argument. But not now.

The Jaguars were already rolling in the ticket department, thanks to the hiring of Meyer and addition of Trevor Lawrence with the first overall pick. Even before the draft, the sales office had eight times the number of new deposits compared to the previous several seasons, and the team says more than 50% of those deposits are from people who had never previously bought a ticket of any kind with the Jaguars.

The demand is similar to what happened prior to the 2018 season after the Jaguars’ surprising run to the AFC Championship Game the previous season. The Jaguars had more than three times the total number of season-ticket deposits in January 2018 than the entire previous year.

There might be some people who do buy a ticket to see Tebow — this is his hometown and a huge Florida Gators town — but only if he makes the team.

What does he bring to the team that, say, Trey Burton wouldn’t?

That’s … unclear.

Being an example for younger players? There are already several veteran players who can do that — guys like wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr., linebacker Myles Jack, linebacker Joe Schobert, center Brandon Linder and safety Jarrod Wilson. Those guys have played a lot of football and would have more cachet with players. Plus, almost every NFL player works hard in the weight room and at practice. A lot do extra work, whether it’s after practice, in the meeting room, or by studying film at home. Those who don’t generally don’t last long in the league.

Conveying what Meyer wants in terms of culture? Running back Carlos Hyde, left guard Andrew Norwell, defensive end Lerentee McCray, and tight end Luke Farrell also played for Meyer. They know what he wants. So does assistant head coach Charlie Strong, who was the defensive coordinator on both of Meyer’s title teams at Florida, and head strength and conditioning coach Anthony Schlegel, who spent three seasons at Ohio State with Meyer. The Jaguars don’t have to sign Tebow for that.

Being a good locker room guy? That falls under being an example for younger players. Tebow will be a great locker room presence, but so will numerous other players. And how much can he lead when he’s also trying to learn a new position? There’s only one player on the roster who was playing in the league the last time Tebow played in a regular-season game: Jones, who was a rookie with Cincinnati in 2012.

Bottom line is this seems to be Meyer doing a favor for one of his favorite former players, because there are several available free-agent tight ends who would be a better option for a team looking to find a pass-catcher, including Burton, Richard Rodgers and Tyler Eifert, who caught 36 passes for the Jaguars last season.

AFC EAST

MIAMI

Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com with some thoughts on the Dolphins schedule:

If the Dolphins intend to make the playoffs in 2021, they will need to get off to a good start. And that is going to be really tough with a schedule that opens with games against the Patriots, Bills, Raiders and Buccaneers. They’ll need to hit the ground running. If not, the final three games of the season don’t offer much respite. They’ll play consecutive road games in Weeks 16 and 17 at the Saints and Titans, two teams that should also be in playoff contention. (Even if the Saints are out of it, the Superdome with fans is a tough place for any opponent to win.) In Week 18, they’ll host the Patriots.

One storyline to watch

The Dolphins apparently opted not to take their bye week after an Oct. 17 trip to London, and will instead return home to host the Falcons seven days later. The NFL usually grants teams a bye after international games if they want it, and most accept it. Instead, the Dolphins will wait until Week 14 before they get a week off. This isn’t necessarily a mistake. A mid-October bye isn’t always ideal. But it’ll certainly be a decision that will impact the Dolphins’ season, one way or the other.

NEW ENGLAND

Dan Wetzel of YahooSports.com can’t wait for October 3:

Visiting teams arrive at Gillette Stadium up a thin-ribbon of a back road called Putnam Parkway, a private, secret entrance far from the traffic and tailgating out on Route 1. To get there team buses weave through classic New England roads and the quaint neighborhoods of Foxborough.

Then it hits them. Emerging suddenly from the thick woods behind the New England Patriots’ lower practice field is the site of the towering stadium — 16 stories itself — elevated further up on a hill with bright lights stretching even deeper into the sky above it.

It belies the NFL’s traditional city center or smacked alongside interstate locations. It feels, especially on those dark Massachusetts nights, like a foreboding spot, somewhere the NFL hardly even belongs.

Not surprisingly, rival players have long called it one of the league’s more intimidating places to play.

Height, light and location are just part of it, of course. What was waiting inside mattered more, namely that from its opening in 2002 until a year ago, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick teamed up to make it hell on their opponents. In games Brady started, the Patriots went 117-19 in the regular season and 19-4 in the playoffs.

On Oct. 3, Tom Brady gets to experience Gillette in that entirely new way.

His Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the team he left New England for in 2020, will visit the Patriots in a prime-time Sunday night game.

It doesn’t rank as the most enticing game of the entire NFL schedule — Browns-Chiefs, Buccaneers-Rams, Bills-Chiefs, Browns-Packers and so on certainly pop out. It is, however, the most unique, most history-rich and most emotional of the upcoming season.

It should also be the most expensive to attend as legions of Patriots fans who spent two decades worshipping Brady look to welcome/then not welcome him home in a showdown with Belichick and company. SeatGeek estimates the average resale price will be about $600.

“We expect this matchup to be amongst the all-time most in demand regular season games we have tracked,” said Chris Leyden, SeatGeek’s director of consumer strategy.

Sunset in Foxborough that Sunday will be around 6:40 p.m. With kickoff set for 8:20 p.m., Brady and the Bucs will arrive in the gathering dusk, not the dark intimidation of a cold, January evening. That’s one benefit. They also come as the reigning Super Bowl champions with a ready built roster looking to repeat, and certainly beat a reconstructed Patriots squad.

What they’ll find is perhaps unlike any other game in NFL history. Most multiple Super Bowl champion quarterbacks retired with their team. For others, there was never quite the same showdown — Joe Montana never returned to San Francisco, for example. Peyton Manning, as a Denver Bronco, played in Indianapolis (Colts won 39-33) but as big as Manning was there, he didn’t win six Lombardi Trophies.

Brady is both the greatest and most beloved Patriot of all time. The franchise was mostly a mess before he took over during the 2001 season in the old Schaefer/Sullivan/Foxboro Stadium next door that is now a shopping plaza.

The stands and parking lots will, undoubtedly, be filled with fans wearing Brady jerseys, there to cheer and honor him before the game and then root for his demise during it.

How will Brady respond? Will he charge out with his signature length of the field run and “LFG!” scream? Will he shake hands with old Patriots and Gillette personnel, from support staff to the Minutemen gun line known as the End Zone Militia? Will he meet up pregame, or post, with Belichick?

The two have expressed no outward hostilities since their split, but obviously two men who are that competitive are still driven to outdo the other. Brady gaining a semblance of roster control in Tampa and immediately winning the Super Bowl only adds to that.

Oh, yeah, and he even drew Rob Gronkowski out of retirement and the near-equally loved Gronk will be in the house too. Meanwhile, Belichick went on an un-Belichick like free agent spending spree last offseason in an effort to retool the franchise on the fly. You don’t think this game played a role in that?

This will be a cauldron of emotions — nostalgia, appreciation, friendship, devotion, defiance, rivalry, desperation, one-upmanship.

It coming early in the season increases the likelihood that it will be Cam Newton playing Brady’s old position, rather than rookie Mac Jones. Not only is Jones a bit of a project, but Newton, a former MVP who has started in a Super Bowl, is seemingly better equipped mentally and emotionally to step into this near-impossible challenge.

Tossing Jones into such a ring of fire could risk everything — although Belichick may care only about who is most ready to go. “Do Your Job” is the mantra, after all.

Either way, this will be a game that is much bigger than a game, an old New England family drama playing out in the fall, foliage-rich woods of Foxborough for all the country to see.

LFG.

THIS AND THAT

SCHEDULE INSIGHTS

Although the Packers received their typical love in the NFL schedule that was announced on Wednesday, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com notes how some good Broncos games track Green Bay’s featured tilts:

The NFL set up a quick and easy hedge in Week One, with Broncos-Giants as the 4:25 p.m. ET CBS alternative to Packers-Saints. Whether Aaron Rodgers is playing for Denver or Green Bay, he’ll be nationally televised in that spot.

There’s another potential hedge lurking in Week Nine, when the Packers face the Chiefs at 4:25 p.m. ET on FOX.

At 1:00 p.m. ET that same day, the Cowboys host the Broncos, also on FOX. So if Rodgers ends up being traded to Denver, it’s an easy shift by 205 minutes to move Broncos-Cowboys into the late-afternoon prime spot.

There’s another potential hedge in Week 10. Currently, Seahawks-Packers lands in the primary placement at 4:25 p.m. ET on CBS. At that same time, the Broncos host the Eagles, also on CBS. So if Rodgers is with the Broncos (and if the Eagles aren’t awful), it’s an easy flip.

Likewise, two late-season Packers games on Sunday night (Week 14 vs. Bears, Week 17 vs. Vikings) could be replaced with, for example, Bengals at Broncos or Broncos at Chargers, respectively, if the league decides to flex out a Packers team that has Jordan Love at quarterback.

– – –

Daniel Kaplan in The Athletic on what the NFL is doing internationally:

The league at Super Bowl LV made its preference clear that it wished to return to London, where it played 28 regular-season games from 2007 to 2019, before the COVID-19 interruption last season.

“We are obviously going to stay in close contact with our partners and make sure we are doing that safely,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in February. “If at any point we don’t think we can do that safely we will make that determination.”

The determination has been made it is safe and two teams — the Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars — will play “home” games at Tottenham Football Club’s stadium. Because COVID-19 is more under control in the United Kingdom than Mexico, the NFL will not return to Mexico City this season.

“Just look at COVID rates for where the NFL is willing to travel,” a source said.

As of May 8, the UK, viewed as a success for its vaccination rates, had 58,909 active COVID-19 cases, according to WorldOMeter. Mexico, by contrast, had 260,574. Germany, which the league has touted as a potential site for future regular-season games, had 274,273 active cases.

It’s unclear what travel restrictions to enter England NFL teams would face or whether the UK government will waive them for the league. Starting May 17, the United States is on a UK list of countries whose travelers need to quarantine upon arrival in the UK for 10 days and take two COVID tests (and that applies to the vaccinated).

Policies change, and a quarantine is untenable in the middle of an NFL season. Nevertheless, the NFL is planning to send four teams (the Miami Dolphins may be the Jaguars’ opponent) to London. The NFL typically has contingency plans for all games, and presumably would be willing to relocate the London games if the COVID-19 situation changed in the UK.

“The NFL has demonstrated that it can use testing and contact tracing to effectively limit the possibility of COVID-positive players and staff traveling over,” said Marc Ganis, a sports consultant with deep ties to the NFL. “So I would expect the protocols will be that the testing is rigorous, that all players and coaches will be consistently, regularly and up to the minute tested and anybody who’s got any risk won’t be allowed to travel with the team.”

Tim Crow, a UK-based sports consultant, was more cautious and warned the UK was not out of the woods yet.

“It’s too early to say definitively how the NFL’s return to London will be viewed given how many variables are at play,” he wrote in an email. “The UK vaccination roll-out is continuing at pace but the big question is can we avoid a third wave as the country emerges from lockdown. If, as we all hope, infection rates stay low, the NFL coming to town will be another sign of normality returning. But right now that’s still a big ‘if’.”

Currently, the UK does not require travelers to be vaccinated to gain entry, and the NFL — like other sports leagues — is not requiring players to be jabbed. Were the UK to require vaccination for entry, it’s unclear how the NFL would handle it.

Trips to London have always been seen by NFL players and particularly coaches as at best an inconvenience, and at worst a major obstacle to competitive parity. Now throw in the uncertainty of traveling internationally in a pandemic.

Before the pandemic, the NFL began playing three to four games a season in the UK, two of them at Wembley Stadium.  That agreement has lapsed, and the NFL has a long-term arrangement to play two games a year at Tottenham. Starting next year, four teams a season will forego one home game to play overseas.

This season, two games were viewed internally at the NFL as a good re-entry number to return to the UK. The NFL sees the London games as crucial to generating international growth and has enjoyed bumps in UK fan followings and TV viewership over the years. The Falcons were required under the an old NFL policy to be one of the home teams in London because they hosted a recent Super Bowl.

The small-market Jaguars in particular have staked their future on playing games in London, having competed there every year since 2012 before the pandemic. Jaguars owner Shahid Khan also owns Fulham FC of the English Premier League, and was opposed to the NFL striking a partnership with his rival Tottenham. Thus, the Jaguars insisted on playing at Wembley. With no NFL agreement in place with the national stadium, Khan is left to play in Tottenham.

“COVID has caused a lot of decisions that are not exactly what people want to have to be made,” Ganis said. “The COVID has caused many compromises over the course of the last year. It’s a COVID aberration, and we have had millions of compromises.”

– – –

Interesting exercise by Jared Dubin of CBSSports.com – the best game for all 18 weeks, with no team allowed to have more than three of the 36 total slots (we added the network):

The NFL released its full schedule for the 2021 season. More and more teams are announcing that they’ll have fans in the stands this year, which will make things dramatically different — and more enjoyable — than they were a year ago. But it’s not just the fans in the stadiums that will get to enjoy those contests. Fans at home will, too.

You can find all kinds of schedule analysis all over this site, but we’re going to treat you to our list of the most notable games to be played each week. Enjoy.

(Note: We tried to limit the usage of each team so that they appear three times, at most. Otherwise, we’d basically just be keeping a running list of Chiefs and Bucs games, and that’s not as fun.)

Week 1: Cowboys at Buccaneers (NBC Thursday)

The Buccaneers are returning all 22 starters from last season’s Super Bowl champions. The Cowboys are getting Dak Prescott back, along with Tyron Smith, Zack Martin, and La’el Collins. One of the NFL’s best defenses will be tasked with stopping Dak, Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup, CeeDee Lamb, Ezekiel Elliott, Tony Pollard, and Blake Jarwin. One of the NFL’s worst defenses from 2020, which imported a lot of talent in the draft, will get a big test in the form of Tom Brady, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Rob Gronkowski, and more. This should be loads of fun.

Also notable: Browns at Chiefs, Bills at Steelers, Seahawks at Colts, Cardinals at Titans, Packers at Saints, Chargers at Football Team, Panthers at Jets

Week 2: Chiefs at Ravens (NBC Sunday night)

Patrick Mahomes. Lamar Jackson. Travis Kelce. Mark Andrews. Tyreek Hill. Marcus Peters. Marlon Humphrey. Chris Jones. Calais Campbell. Tyrann Mathieu. Andy Reid. John Harbaugh. This game is absolutely chock full of stars on both sides of the ball. These teams have played memorable matchups in the recent past as well, so there’s a lot of history to draw on.

Also notable: Bills at Dolphins, Rams at Colts, Titans at Seahawks, Bengals at Bears (maybe), Cowboys at Chargers

Week 3: Colts at Titans (CBS early)

These two teams figure to be battling it out for AFC South supremacy throughout the season, and we’ll get an early indication of which of them has the upper hand. The Colts have a new quarterback in Carson Wentz, while the Titans have gone through a lot of turnover both on the field (Corey Davis, Jonnu Smith, Adoree’ Jackson, and more are no longer on the team) and on the sideline (former offensive coordinator Arthur Smith is now the head coach of the Falcons). It should make for a fascinating matchup.

Also notable: Football Team at Bills, Chargers at Chiefs, Packers at 49ers, Dolphins at Steelers, Buccaneers at Rams

Week 4: Buccaneers at Patriots (NBC Sunday)

Do you think people might be mildly interested in seeing Tom Brady’s return to New England?

Also notable: Jaguars at Bengals, Browns at Vikings, Colts at Dolphins, Steelers at Packers

Week 5: Bills at Chiefs (NBC Sunday)

Two of the NFL’s most explosive offenses on the field in the same game? Yes, please. Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen going shot for shot with two of the most electrifying receiving corps in the NFL? Yes, please. Do you like offense? Yeah? You will love this game.

Also notable: Rams at Seahawks, Browns at Chargers, Colts at Ravens, Dolphins at Buccaneers, Browns at Chargers

Week 6: Chargers at Ravens (CBS early)

This game might be more up your alley if you like defense. Some of the brightest defensive minds in the NFL will be doing battle in this game, with new Chargers coach Brandon Staley trying to devise a plan to stop Lamar Jackson, and Ravens defensive coordinator Don Martindale doing the same for Justin Herbert. There’s a whole lot of defensive-backfield talent involved here, plus some A-plus pass rushing. 

Also notable: Dolphins at Jaguars, Cardinals at Browns, Bills at Titans, Chiefs at Football Team, Seahawks at Steelers

Week 7: Lions at Rams (FOX late non-doubleheader)

I had this one circled on the calendar. It’s a rare DOUBLE-revenge game, with Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff each taking on their former team after they were traded for one another (and draft compensation) this offseason. Get your popcorn ready. Especially if you want to see how badly Aaron Donald wrecks Goff’s pocket.

Also notable: Chiefs at Titans, Falcons at Dolphins, Bengals at Ravens, Colts at 49ers, Saints at Seahawks

Week 8: 49ers at Bears (FOX early)

49ers at Bears? Really? Yes, really. These two teams may insist they’ll be starting Jimmy Garoppolo and Andy Dalton all year, but we know better. The Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes are the exception, not the rule. It’s far more likely that this matchup features both Trey Lance and Justin Fields under center. And that makes it appointment viewing.

Also notable: Bengals at Jets, Steelers at Browns, Dolphins at Bills, Buccaneers at Saints, Packers at Cardinals, Cowboys at Vikings

Week 9: Packers at Chiefs (FOX late)

As long as Aaron Rodgers is still on the Packers in Week 9, you’re going to want to make sure you’re near a TV for this one. Rodgers and Mahomes are arguably the two most talented quarterbacks in modern NFL history, each capable of making throws that most other quarterbacks can only dream of.

Also notable: Browns at Bengals, Titans at Rams, Patriots at Panthers

Week 10: Ravens at Dolphins (FOX Thursday)

This is another fascinating defensive matchup. Dolphins coach Brian Flores is one of the most creative defensive play-callers in the NFL, but his Bill Belichick-style defense, built back-to-front, is not the best kind of unit to go against Baltimore’s offense. How will he adjust? And can Tua Tagovailoa and company handle what the Ravens have in store for them both up front and on the back end? I can’t wait to find out.

Also notable: Saints at Titans, Seahawks at Packers, Falcons at Cowboys, Panthers at Cardinals, Rams at 49ers

Week 11: Colts at Bills (CBS early)

The Colts and Bills played a terrific playoff game last season, and we get to see a rematch of that matchup here. Styles make fights, and the contrast in style between these two teams makes for a really interesting fight. The Bills want to spread it out and throw all game, while the Colts want to pound the rock and control the flow. It all comes down to which of them can impose their will.

Also notable: Football Team at Panthers, 49ers at Jaguars, Cowboys at Chiefs, Packers at Vikings, Ravens at Bears, Seahawks at Cardinals

Week 12: Browns at Ravens (NBC Sunday night)

Coming off their first playoff appearance in (approximately) 400,000 years, the Browns have one of the deepest, most talented rosters in the NFL. In Year 2 of the Kevin Stefanski era, they should be able to get their offense on track more quickly than they did a year ago. The Browns and Ravens also played a late-season barn-burner featuring 89 total points last year, so maybe they can recapture that magic in 2021. 

Also notable: Bills at Saints, Buccaneers at Colts, Eagles at Giants, Rams at Packers, Vikings at 49ers

Week 13: Cowboys at Saints (FOX Thursday)

The Cowboys and Saints always seem to play extremely weird games. Granted, most of those games took place with Drew Brees under center. But either you’ll have Jameis Winston and his Jekyll and Hyde game going against a defense that was awful last season, or you’ll have that defense trying to deal with a dramatically different offense quarterbacked by Taysom Hill. Plus, it’s always fun when Sean Payton’s team plays against Jerry Jones’ team, because you know Jerry will somehow feed into the never-ending Payton-to-Dallas rumors.

Also notable: Chargers at Bengals, Jaguars at Rams, Ravens at Steelers, 49ers at Seahawks, Patriots at Bills

Week 14: Bills at Buccaneers (CBS late)

This might be the best wide receiver matchup of the year. Please, give me Stefon Diggs, Cole Beasley, Emmanuel Sanders, Gabriel Davis, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Scotty Miller, Tyler Johnson, and Jaelon Darden smoking corners off the line of scrimmage all day.

Also notable: Bears at Packers, Ravens at Browns, Rams at Cardinals, Raiders at Chiefs

Week 15: Titans at Steelers (CBS early)

These two teams each seem likely to be in the playoff mix for much of the year — if the Steelers can get their offensive line and Ben Roethlisberger’s elbow issues figured out, at least. Derrick Henry going up against one of the NFL’s best defensive fronts, even after Bud Dupree left in free agency, makes for an extremely fun matchup. Plus, it’ll be fun to see if Ben even needs to throw the ball more than 5 yards downfield against a dramatically revamped Titans secondary.

Also notable: Chiefs at Chargers, Packers at Ravens, Falcons at 49ers, Seahawks at Rams, Saints at Buccaneers, Cowboys at Giants

Week 16: Jaguars at Jets (CBS early)

We’ve got No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence against No. 2 overall pick Zach Wilson. Buckle up, this one is going to lead to some Hot Takes.

Also notable: 49ers at Titans, Browns at Packers, Colts at Cardinals, Steelers at Chiefs, Football Team at Cowboys, Dolphins at Saints

Week 17: Browns at Steelers (ESPN Monday)

Cleveland beat Pittsburgh in Week 17 to clinch a playoff berth, then beat the Steelers again in the wild card round. As if we really need more reason to care about a Browns-Steelers game beyond the fact that they’re the Browns and Steelers and they’re two of the oldest rivals in the league. We’ve got one anyway.

Also notable: Dolphins at Titans, Chiefs at Bengals, Cardinals at Cowboys, Rams at Ravens, Jaguars at Patriots

Week 18 (!!!): Seahawks at Cardinals (FOX late)

It’s Week 18! It exists! The Seahawks absolutely always play the strangest games in the NFL, up to and including in the last game of the year. If there were a way to bet on this being the “Sunday Night Football” game in Week 17, I’d suggest doing it. It seems like destiny. These two teams will be battling it out for either a playoff spot or playoff seeding in early January, and it’ll be fun.

Also notable: Cowboys at Eagles, 49ers at Rams, Steelers at Ravens, Bengals at Browns, Patriots at Dolphins, Chargers at Raiders