2025-26 NFL regular season key games: Commanders, Chiefs draw prime-time spotlight

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The full 2025 NFL schedule was announced on Wednesday.

The New York Giants have the toughest road ahead as they open with back-to-back road trips to the Washington Commanders and Dallas Cowboys in Weeks 1 and 2, respectively, followed by a home game against the Kansas City Chiefs. There isn’t much room for excuses for general manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll who enter pivotal fourth seasons at the helm.

The Commanders and Chiefs are the most popular spotlight contenders, leading the league with eight standalone games each. Washington is scheduled to play five prime time games, its most since 2017, plus featured matchups in Week 11 against the Miami Dolphins in Madrid and on Christmas Day against the Cowboys. The Chiefs have seven prime-time contests, and are the popular holiday team with games on Thanksgiving at Dallas and Christmas against the Denver Broncos.

Mixed in throughout the 257 matchups are plenty of rematches and reunions (or in some cases, revenge opportunities) between players/coaches and their former teams. Here are the key games to watch for during the 2025 NFL regular season.

Notable playoff rematches

Ravens at Bills, Week 1: Buffalo forced three turnovers to win 27-25 in last season’s AFC divisional round. Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen have won the last two league MVP awards.

Eagles at Chiefs, Week 2: This is the second time in three years the Eagles and Chiefs will play a Super Bowl rematch at Arrowhead, but now, Kansas City is coming off a loss.

Rams at Eagles, Week 3: Saquon Barkley rushed for 205 yards in last season’s snowy NFC divisional game as the Eagles bested the Rams 28-22.

Chiefs at Bills, Week 9: Buffalo’s four straight regular-season wins against Kansas City are outshone by its four consecutive playoff losses against Patrick Mahomes and company. The Chiefs beat the Bills in last season’s AFC Championship.

Lions at Commanders, Week 10: Detroit had its Super Bowl hopes spoiled in last year’s divisional round by Washington and Offensive Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels.

Eagles at Commanders, Week 16: Philadelphia scored 55 points — a record in a conference championship game —while Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley combined for seven touchdowns, including six rushing, to claim the 2024 NFC Championship against Washington.

Reunions/revenge games

Steelers at Jets, Week 1: Rodgers criticized Jets owner Woody Johnson both during and since the quarterback’s two-season stint in New York. New head coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey who decided to part ways with Rodgers in February, but there’s still bad blood in this matchup if Rodgers shows up in the black and gold. But even if Rodgers doesn’t sign with Pittsburgh, new Jets quarterback Justin Fields will be facing his former team.

Raiders at Patriots, Week 1: Tom Brady beat the then-Oakland Raiders in his first playoff game in 2001. Now, he’s on the other side as a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. Only once before has Brady visited Foxborough as part of the opposing team — his Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Patriots 19-17 in October 2021.

Bears at Lions, Week 2: The hottest name in the most recent coaching cycle, Ben Johnson, returns to Detroit for the first time since taking over with the Bears.

Patriots at Bills, Week 5: Stefon Diggs reached four consecutive Pro Bowls while with the Bills. Diggs and the Texans beat the Bills in Houston last year, but this will be the first time Diggs, now with the Patriots, returns to Buffalo.

Giants at Broncos, Week 7: Russell Wilson could play in Denver for the first time since the team released him following the 2023 season. Wilson was out injured when the Steelers visited Denver in Week 2 last year.

Patriots at Titans, Week 7: Mike Vrabel didn’t land a head-coaching job after being released by the Titans following the 2023 season. Now he returns to Tennessee as the Patriots’ head coach.

Jaguars vs. Rams in London, Week 7: New Jaguars general manager James Gladstone joined the club after nine seasons as the Rams’ director of scouting. New Jacksonville head coach Liam Coen also has ties to L.A. as the Rams’ offensive coordinator in 2022.

Packers at Steelers, Week 8: The Steelers continue to wait on Rodgers, but assuming the free-agent veteran eventually signs with Pittsburgh, this will be his first game against the team he called home for 18 seasons, where he was a 10-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl XLV MVP. It’s too bad this isn’t at Lambeau Field, or the NFL’s smallest city might have drawn its second-largest crowd of the year.

Vikings at Seahawks, Week 13: Sam Darnold signed a three-year deal with the Seahawks in March after a career year in Minnesota.

Week 1 matchups for new coaches

Cowboys’ Brian Schottenheimer at Eagles: Dak Prescott will be back from a hamstring injury as Schottenheimer begins his head-coaching career against the reigning Super Bowl champs in the season’s first game.

Bears’ Ben Johnson vs. Vikings: Johnson’s Detroit offense thumped Minnesota 31-9 last season to win the NFC North. This game sets the barometer for how much Johnson and company have been able to develop former No. 1 pick Caleb Williams.

Patriots’ Vrabel vs. Raiders’ Pete Carroll: Both Vrabel and Carroll will debut back as head coaches after a year away from the head gig. Drake Maye-led New England will face a new-look Raiders team with quarterback Geno Smith and top-10 draft pick Ashton Jeanty.

Jaguars’ Coen vs. Panthers: Coen makes his debut as a head coach, but most eyes will be on the No. 2 pick in this year’s drat, Travis Hunter and how the Jaguars use him.

Saints’ Kellen Moore vs. Cardinals: The Saints made Moore the youngest head coach in the league when they hired the former offensive coordinator away from the Super Bowl-winning Eagles. He’ll make his head coach debut a couple months after his 37th birthday.

Jets’ Aaron Glenn vs. Steelers: The former Detroit Lions defensive coordinator will have to drown out a lot of noise if Rodgers ends up on the opposite sideline.

Top contenders, QB matchups, more to watch

Falcons at Vikings, Week 2: J.J. McCarthy’s Michigan Wolverines beat Michael Penix Jr.’s Washington Huskies in the 2023 College Football Playoff national championship game, though the quarterbacks’ stat lines were skewed (Penix attempted nearly three times the number of passes as McCarthy). Here’s their rematch as NFL starters.

Ravens at Chiefs, Week 4: Jackson and the Ravens have lost five of six against Mahomes and the Chiefs.

Lions at Chiefs, Week 6: Detroit won its last trip to Arrowhead in the 2023 season opener. Since then, both teams have remained in the Super Bowl-contending mix.

Commanders at Chiefs, Week 8: The first matchup between Washington’s Daniels and Kansas City’s Mahomes.

Vikings at Chargers, Week 8: After McCarthy and Jim Harbaugh won the 2023 national championship at Michigan, they both jumped to the NFL, McCarthy as a top-10 draft pick, Harbaugh as head coach of the Chargers.

Lions at Eagles, Week 11: Head coach Dan Campbell had to hire new offensive and defensive coordinators this offseason, but much of the make-up of a 2024 Super Bowl-caliber roster remains. Not to mention, the Lions will be helped by the return of Aidan Hutchinson.

Titans at Browns, Week 14: At one point, Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders were considered quarterbacks 1A and 1B in the 2024 draft class. The Titans took Ward with the No. 1 pick … but Sanders sank to the 144th pick (and is in a crowded Browns quarterback competition).

Bengals at Bills, Week 14: It’s the 2024 Comeback Player of the Year in Joe Burrow versus the 2024 MVP in Allen.

Eagles at Bills, Week 17: The reigning Super Bowl champs have the top odds to win it again (+650 per BetMGM), but the Bills are another popular contender. Allen, with his new $330 million contract, has been knocking on the door.

(Photo: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)

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