Start planning your fall weekends.
The 2020 NFL schedule was officially released Thursday night and for the Patriots it is likely the start of the Jarrett Stidam era. Even without Tom Brady, the team still has five primetime games and will be on national television quite a bit.
The season begins at home against the Dolphins on Sept. 13 and ends with three straight division games, two of the three at home, including a Monday night game against the Bills in Week 16.
Other marquee games are the Patriots hosting the 49ers in Week 7 at 4:25 p.m., taking on the Seahawks in Seattle on Sunday Night Football in Week 2 and hosting the Ravens on Sunday Night Football in Week 10.
Here are five quick takeaways.
1. Jarrett Stidham will not be eased into NFL
The Patriots do not have an easy schedule to open the year, which means Stidham will have to be sharp right away. Week 1 at home against the Dolphins is a good way to open his NFL career, but then Week 2 at Seattle is very difficult. The Seahawks are always a good team and Seattle is one of the toughest places to play in all of football. Two weeks later, they have to play in another tough road stadium — Arrowhead Stadium. And not to mention that game is against the defending Super Bowl champs. (Of course, this assumes fans are allowed at games and if they aren't the Patriots catch a huge break.) A home game against the Raiders is sandwiched in the middle, but overall it is not an easy start to the season.
2. Patriots get favor with West Coast trip
The NFL did the Patriots a solid by not only scheduling back-to-back West Coast games, but having the second be on a Thursday night in the same city. This means the team only has to spend three extra days out west and it really doesn't have to practice, as teams typically just hold walkthroughs before Thursday games. This comes Dec. 6 at the Chargers and then Dec. 10 at the Rams. The other West Coast game comes in Week 2 at Seattle, so the league also spaced them out nicely.
3. Questionable road stretch
While the Patriots got a favor with the back-to-back games on the West Coast, including the second being on a Thursday night, they didn't with the games around it. The team plays at Houston two weeks before departing for the West Coast and then at Miami the week after the Thursday game in L.A. So, the Patriots will have one home game from Weeks 11-15 and have to make trips to Houston, L.A. (and likely stay over) and Miami those weeks.
4. Bye week comes early
The Patriots did not get a real favor when it comes to their bye week — Week 6, Oct. 18 — as it is early in the year and doesn't come before or after their longest road stretch of the season. This is their earliest bye week since the 2015 season when it was Week 4.
5. Patriots still featured in primetime
The Patriots are still the Patriots and people still care about how they do, which means they still got five primetime games without Brady. These include two Monday night games — at the Jets on Nov. 9 and then hosting the Bills Dec. 28 in the final Monday night game of the year, which could potentially determine the AFC East. The other three are Week 2 in Seattle, Week 10 at home against Baltimore and Week 14 at the Rams.
