The NFL will release its 2019 schedule on Wednesday night.
From a Patriots perspective, there's a good amount of interest, including who they will host on Sunday Night Football to open the season. They will also be part of a number of primetime games, so those are always of interest as well.
Here are the three biggest things we'll be looking for.
1. Who is the Week 1 opponent?
Following the Odell Beckham trade, many have pointed to the Browns coming to Gillette Stadium for the Sunday night opener, but does that really make most sense for the NFL or NBC? That game will get massive ratings regardless of the opponent, so why waste the Browns? It makes sense for this to be a primetime game early in the season, but not Week 1. The Patriots will also host the Chiefs, but that too doesn't make much sense the first week because the Patriots have already hosted the Chiefs in the opener before. With that being said, we're leaning towards either the Cowboys or Jets coming to Foxboro to open the season and be there when the Patriots raise their Super Bowl LIII banner.
2. What are the primetime games?
NFL teams can have a maximum of six primetime games during the regular season and often times the schedule starts with just five to allow for a potential flex game late in the year. Potential primetime opponents for the team this year include: Cleveland (home), Kansas City (home), Pittsburgh (home), Cowboys (home), Eagles (road), Texans (road), and likely one of the AFC East teams. Overall, the home slate is much better than the road slate and there aren't many "destination" road games with most of the road games being on the East Coast in Mid-Atlantic cities.
3. Are there tough road stretches?
Each of the last two seasons the Patriots have had tough stretches of games on the road towards the end of the year. Last season, from Weeks 10-15 the team played four out of five games on the road, with the bye mixed in, where they went 2-3. In 2017, it had five out of six road games in Weeks 10-15, but went 5-1. There are no easy road games in the NFL, no matter who the opponent, so the Patriots hope not to have these difficult runs again this season.
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