7 takeaways from the Patriots’ 2025 schedule release

The 2025 NFL schedule was released on Wednesday night, and with it the New England Patriots' slate for the upcoming season. For those that missed it, the full schedule can be found here.

While the Patriots' opponents have been known since the end of the 2024 season there are still things that can be learned from the order of the schedule. When certain trips are on the calendar, teams that may face more questions early/late in the season, and of course the bye week.

What did we learn about the Patriots 2025 season on Wednesday night? Here are some big picture takeaways...

After starting two of the last three seasons on the road, the Patriots will begin 2025 at Gillette Stadium. Multiple times since being hired, Mike Vrabel has talked about the importance of the Patriots being better at home (they're 3-13 in Foxboro over the last two years) and they'll have a chance to get started on that right off the bat.

Not only do the Patriots open at home, but they'll be facing a Pacific Time Zone team coming to the East Coast in the Las Vegas Raiders. The Raiders will be playing their first game after significant turnover this offseason that included a new coach in Pete Carroll and a new quarterback in Geno Smith.

One of the first things many Patriots fans look for with the schedule release is when the team has to make its annual trip to South Florida to play the Miami Dolphins. Miami hasn't been kind to the Patriots with five losses in a row at Hard Rock Stadium, but historically the impact of the South Florida heat and humidity has made a bigger impact later in the year when the players are more used to going about their day-to-day in the cold New England weather.

This year the Patriots will get the trip out of the way early in Week 2. They'll still have to deal with the unique Miami conditions, but they shouldn't make as much of a difference with the Patriots coming off of the dog days of training camp.

Meanwhile, that also means the Dolphins will have to come up to Foxborough late in the year - Week 18 to close out the season. Since Mike McDaniel took over as head coach the Dolphins are 1-5 in games where the kickoff temperature is below 50 degrees, and 0-3 when it's under 40 (per Pro Football Reference). That bodes well for the Patriots if they go into the season finale needing a win for playoff positioning.

After having just the one Thursday primetime game last year, the Patriots have three primetime slots in 2024. They'll visit the Buffalo Bills for Sunday night football in Week 5, then host a pair of night games late in the year with the New York Jets coming to town for Thursday Night Football in Week 11 and the Giants visiting on Monday night two weeks later.

The Thursday Night game against the Jets will be the first primetime game at Gillette Stadium in over two years, since a Week 2 matchup against the Dolphins on Sunday Night Football in 2023. This will be the first Monday Night Football game the Patriots have played since Week 14 of 2022 (against the Arizona Cardinals), and their first time hosting MNF since Week 7 of 2022 (against the Chicago Bears). It's worth noting that that Week 13 game against the Giants is eligible to be flexed based on the 2024 scheduling rules.

The Patriots have four teams on their 2025 schedule facing legitimate questions about the quarterback position - the Pittsburgh Steelers, New Orleans Saints, Cleveland Browns, and the Giants.

Of those four teams, the Patriots will play three in the first half of the season including two relatively early. They'll host the Steelers in Week 4 and visit the Saints in Week 6. They'll then host the Browns in Week 8. There's a real chance all three of those teams are still trying to find their best starting quarterback for that matchup. Even with the Browns in Week 8, with so many options available they could still be going through the process in late October.

As for the Giants, by Week 13 there should be some more certainty. They do have two veterans in Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, but with Jaxson Dart being a first-round pick and Brian Daboll likely on the hot seat, it wouldn't be surprising if the Giants have made the move to the rookie well before they visit the Patriots. Still, a rookie quarterback on the road in a primetime matchup could be a favorable matchup for the Patriots in its own way.

For the second year in a row and third time in five years, the Patriots will have a Week 14 bye - the latest bye week on the calendar. It may not be as consequential as it was last year when there was a potential quarterback change looming, but still conditioning will be important without a break early in the year. Even their mini-bye week (coming off of Thursday Night Football) doesn't come until Week 11.

Unless there are issues regarding stadium ability (construction, hosting events, etc.) it's pretty rare to see an NFL teams have three consecutive home or road games. However that'll be the case for the Patriots this year with a three-game 'road trip' in Weeks 5, 6, and 7.

That trip starts out with what is one of the three toughest games on the Patriots' schedule, their Sunday night matchup in Buffalo. It gets easier after that though as they take on the New Orleans Saints and Tennessee Titans - the latter being Vrabel's return visit to his former team. While three road games in a row is tough those projec as two of the easier games on the Patriots' schedule and they'll need to be able to capitalize.

Since the return of the Patriots' red throwback uniforms in 2022 they've worn them twice a year, usually once early and once late. What will be the throwback games this year?

For the early game, both the Steelers and Panthers matchups make sense in Weeks 3 and 4. For the later one, it wouldn't be surprising if the Patriots line a throwback game up with a national TV spot and wear them against the Giants in Week 13. The Bills matchup the next week could work as well.

There is also the new 'rivalry' uniforms the NFL is introducing this year, with the Patriots included in the first group. Those are expected to be worn in divisional games only. The debut of those uniforms is going to be announced by the league when the uniforms are revealed.