The flashy Los Angeles Rams will start their journey to defend their Tremendous Bowl championship in opposition to the Buffalo Payments, a crew that provided one of the crucial memorable video games in N.F.L. historical past the final time it performed.
Russell Wilson will begin his profession with the Denver Broncos by returning to his earlier dwelling of a decade — and can absolutely be greeted by a deafening refrain of boos, cheers or each — in opposition to the Seattle Seahawks on ESPN’s “Monday Night time Soccer” in Week 1.
And a streaming platform will debut its new broadcasting talents with a bitter rivalry between two A.F.C. West foes.
The N.F.L. on Thursday launched its 2022 regular-season schedule, which incorporates contests the league hopes will construct off the 2021 season’s success and an low season outlined by high-profile trades and free-agent signings. Groups have identified their 2022 opponents for months primarily based on their divisions and data final season, however the N.F.L. formally solidified dates and time slots after disclosing a few of the matchups in current weeks.
The Rams, whose star-studded roster contains defensive deal with Aaron Donald, receiver Cooper Kupp and quarterback Matthew Stafford, have the hardest energy of schedule: The groups they may play received 57 p.c of their video games within the 2021 season. They open the season on Sept. 8, a Thursday, at 8:20 p.m. Japanese time on NBC at dwelling in opposition to the Payments. Buffalo in free company signed exterior linebacker Von Miller, who grew to become a key part of the Rams’ Tremendous Bowl run after arriving from Denver in a commerce.
In January, Buffalo misplaced an exciting divisional-round playoff recreation to Kansas Metropolis so consequential that it compelled the league to rewrite its postseason additional time guidelines to permit every crew to obtain an offensive possession. Led by Miller, quarterback Josh Allen and receiver Stefon Diggs, the Payments are Caesars Sportsbook’s betting favourite to win the Tremendous Bowl, which shall be hosted on Feb. 12, 2023, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
The Rams and the new-look Broncos will play one of many three Christmas video games at 4:30 p.m. on CBS and Nickelodeon. The opposite video games that day embody the Inexperienced Bay Packers at Miami Dolphins at 1 p.m. on Fox and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the Arizona Cardinals at 8:20 p.m. on NBC. It’s the first tripleheader for the N.F.L. on Christmas and can immediately compete with the N.B.A. for consideration on the vacation.
The Rams typically performed in opposition to Wilson throughout his tenure with the Seahawks, however the Christmas recreation would be the groups’ first encounter since Seattle dealt Wilson in March to the Broncos in a blockbuster commerce. The league scheduled Wilson’s homecoming to Seattle for 8:15 p.m. on ESPN on Sept. 12, a recreation that may even be the debut for the community’s new broadcast tandem, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, previously of Fox. Tickets for that recreation offered at a mean worth of $451 inside an hour of the schedule’s launch, in line with the web ticket market Vivid Seats, the very best common worth for a Seahawks dwelling recreation since 2017.
The announcement of the schedule on Thursday — in a prime-time broadcast on NFL Community and ESPN — continued the N.F.L.’s development of turning low season occasions, together with the draft and the scouting mix, into spectacles because it tightens its grip as the highest sports activities league in the US. Backed by profitable media-rights offers and a scores spike in 2021 after increasing the common season to 17 video games from 16, the N.F.L. constructed suspense in current weeks by revealing sure video games on morning exhibits with broadcast companions and previewing marquee matchups on social media.
The streaming service Amazon Prime Video will start broadcasting the league’s Thursday evening video games on Sept. 15 with a notable Week 2 matchup between Kansas Metropolis and the Los Angeles Chargers. The A.F.C. West rivals, who break up shut video games final season with one-possession margins, will look completely different. The Chargers, with their blossoming younger quarterback, Justin Herbert, added defensive help within the edge rusher Khalil Mack and cornerback J.C. Jackson, whereas Kansas Metropolis dealt the speedy receiver Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins in March after he requested a commerce.
Kansas Metropolis may even play in prime time in opposition to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a rematch of the 2020 season’s Tremendous Bowl, on Oct. 2 at 8:20 p.m. on NBC. Tampa Bay stays a nationwide draw after quarterback Tom Brady, 44, the winner of a document seven Tremendous Bowls, introduced he would return for a twenty third N.F.L. season after briefly retiring in February. This week, Fox introduced that Brady would change into a commentator for the community each time his taking part in profession ended.
The Buccaneers may even play within the N.F.L.’s first recreation in Germany, the place they may face the Seahawks in Munich on Nov. 13 at 9:30 a.m. on NFL Community. It’s a part of the N.F.L.’s return abroad after it canceled video games overseas in 2020 due to the pandemic. In 2022, London will host three video games: the Minnesota Vikings in opposition to the New Orleans Saints on Oct. 2 at 9:30 a.m. on NFL Community; the Giants in opposition to the Inexperienced Bay Packers on Oct. 9 at 9:30 a.m. on NFL Community; and the Denver Broncos in opposition to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Oct. 30 at 9:30 a.m. on ESPN+. The Arizona Cardinals will play the San Francisco 49ers in Mexico Metropolis on Nov. 21 at 8:15 p.m. on ESPN.
Holding with custom, the Lions and the Cowboys will play on Thanksgiving. Buffalo will play at Detroit at 12:30 p.m. on CBS, and Dallas will host the Giants at 4:30 p.m. on Fox. Within the evening recreation, the New England Patriots will face the Vikings at 8:20 p.m. on NBC.
Cleveland’s quarterback Deshaun Watson will go to Houston to play the Texans, the crew that drafted him within the first spherical in 2017, until the league disciplines him for the 22 civil circumstances filed by girls who’ve accused him of sexual misconduct. That recreation is scheduled for Dec. 4 at 1 p.m. on CBS.
The league didn’t announce instances for the divisional matchups in Week 18, as these video games could also be moved to prime time in the event that they carry playoff implications. Kansas Metropolis’s highway recreation in opposition to the Las Vegas Raiders, who now characteristic Davante Adams, and Baltimore Ravens’ matchup on the Cincinnati Bengals, the reigning A.F.C. champions, could also be candidates for these slots.
