The NFL released its full, 272-game schedule for 2025 on Wednesday, officially marking the point many football fans start looking ahead to the upcoming season.
Naturally, football junkies immediately began poring over the schedule to find its most exciting matchups.
Often, those matchups are in primetime and feature matchups between some of the top projected teams in the league. However, there are also a handful of intriguing revenge games and homecoming that should be on the radar of NFL fans ahead of the 2025 season.
What are the most interesting matchups of the 2025 campaign? Below is a look at one matchup on which to keep an eye each week.
NFL schedule 2025: Most interesting matchups by week
Week 1
- Pittsburgh Steelers at New York Jets
If Aaron Rodgers signs with the Steelers, this could end up being a double revenge game. Rodgers, who has been tied to Pittsburgh throughout the offseason, would likely relish a chance to hand Aaron Glenn a defeat, as the veteran quarterback wasn’t happy with how the Jets handled his release during the offseason.
Meanwhile, Justin Fields started the first six games of last season for the Steelers, leading them to a 4-2 record before being benched in favor of Russell Wilson. He will have a chance to show Mike Tomlin and Co. what they missed by letting him walk in free agency.
Week 2
- Philadelphia Eagles at Kansas City Chiefs
Ben Johnson’s return to Detroit comes in a close second in a loaded Week 2 slate, but it’s hard to overlook an early-season Super Bowl rematch.
The Chiefs will be seeking vengeance after being blown out by the Eagles 40-22 in Super Bowl 59. It will be a great test for Kansas City’s new-look offensive line and will also be a litmus test for the Eagles, who have replaced a handful of key starters on their defense, notably defensive linemen Milton Williams and Josh Sweat.
Week 3
- Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills
The Dolphins and Bills met on ‘Thursday Night Football’ in Week 2 last season. In that contest, Tua Tagovailoa suffered a concussion that knocked him out four weeks and helped cause Miami to get off to a slow start from which it couldn’t recover.
Miami will be looking to keep Tagovailoa healthy in its first of two ‘TNF’ games while also looking to challenge the Bills early in the AFC East race.
Week 4
- Baltimore Ravens at Kansas City Chiefs
Many believed Lamar Jackson and the Ravens might face the Chiefs in the postseason. Instead, the Bills knocked the Ravens out in the divisional round, robbing Baltimore of a chance to avenge its 27-20 regular-season loss to the Chiefs.
The Ravens will get an early chance to see Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs again. The Mahomes vs. Jackson battle will be one of the best quarterback matchups of the first four weeks of the NFL season, and both playmakers should bring their A-game to what figures to be an early battle for control of the AFC.
Week 5
- Detroit Lions at Cincinnati Bengals
The Lions and Bengals sported two of the NFL’s best offenses last season. Detroit averaged a league-high 33.1 points while ranking third in offensive EPA while the Bengals ranked seventh in points per game (27.8) and seventh in offensive EPA.
Both offenses are returning a majority of their starters in 2025, so this figures to be an exciting shootout. It will also be a good test of the Lions’ offensive ceiling after losing offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who took the Bears coaching job during the NFL offseason.
Week 6
- Chicago Bears at Washington Commanders
Last time the Bears and Commanders met, Jayden Daniels completed an improbable Hail Mary to give Washington a win and send Chicago into a losing streak. The Bears lost 10 straight games following the Hail Mary and fired coach Matt Eberflus as it sputtered to a 5-12 finish.
Suffice to say that game left a sour taste in Chicago’s mouth. Caleb Williams will look to even up the series between the No. 1 and No. 2 picks in the 2024 NFL Draft while cornerback Tyrique Stevenson will look to atone for his lack of attention to detail during the Hail Mary throw.
Week 7
- New England Patriots at Tennessee Titans
Mike Vrabel is back in the NFL coaching ranks after taking the Patriots’ job following the dismissal of Jerod Mayo. He will return to Tennessee as he looks to prove the Titans made a mistake in firing him after the 2023 NFL season.
Vrabel already has a slight edge on the Titans after they sputtered to a league-worst 3-14 record in Brian Callahan’s first season with the team. Beating Tennessee with a rebuilding New England squad would provide another feather in the cap of the 2021 NFL Coach of the Year.
Week 8
- Green Bay Packers at Pittsburgh Steelers
Aaron Rodgers has never played against the Packers after spending the first 18 seasons of his career in Green Bay. Could that change in Week 8? Again, Rodgers hasn’t yet signed in Pittsburgh, but if he does, many fans will be eagerly watching to see if the 41-year-old can become the fifth quarterback in NFL history to beat all 32 teams. Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre and Drew Brees are the others.
Week 9
- Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills
Five of the last six Bills vs. Chiefs games have been decided by one score. That has included three postseason matchups all won by Kansas City.
Buffalo has typically performed well against its rival and has earned three consecutive regular-season wins over Kansas City. If the Bills can continue doing that, it may give them a path to the AFC’s No. 1 seed. That makes this a rare midseason matchup that could prove crucial to the AFC playoff picture.
Week 10
- Detroit Lions at Washington Commanders
The Lions’ season ended at the hands of the Commanders in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs. Washington crushed Detroit 45-31 in a game during which Jared Goff threw three interceptions and the Lions defense couldn’t stop Jayden Daniels.
Dan Campbell’s squad will be looking to avenge that loss, which brought to an early end one of the greatest seasons in Detroit’s franchise history. With a healthier, Aidan Hutchinson-led defense, the Lions could have a better chance to compete with the NFC runners-up.
Week 11
- Detroit Lions at Philadelphia Eagles
Here’s our chance to see what many believed the NFC championship game would be last season. If the Lions can beat the Commanders and Eagles in back-to-back weeks, it will lead Detroit fans to wonder what may have happened if the team’s defense was able to stay healthier in 2024.
This matchup could also help to determine who has the inside track for the NFC’s No. 1 seed in 2025, so this game will be an important one.
Week 12
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Los Angeles Rams
The Buccaneers and Rams have both made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons and have jockeyed with one another for playoff position in seasons past. That figures to happen again in 2025, as Tampa Bay and Los Angeles are both expected to compete for division titles once again.
The other element of this game? Baker Mayfield had a brief stint with the Rams in 2022, so it will be fun to monitor how Sean McVay schemes against his former quarterback.
Week 13
- Minnesota Vikings at Seattle Seahawks
The Vikings replaced Sam Darnold with J.J. McCarthy this offseason. The two will face off in Week 13 in what could be an important game for Minnesota’s chances of winning the NFC North. Darnold may relish an opportunity to diminish the Vikings’ postseason chances, so that storyline should make this a fun game to watch.
Week 14
- Tennessee Titans at Cleveland Browns
This game probably won’t come with the same playoff intrigue as some of the others being played at this time of year. However, this could end up being a matchup between No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders, who endured one of the most surprising NFL draft slides in recent memory.
Sanders was a fifth-round pick, so it’s hardly guaranteed he will start this game. That said, the contest will still be of interest, as the Browns were reportedly interested in Ward during the draft process. He may have been the choice had he been on the board with the No. 2 overall pick, so Cleveland fans can get a glimpse of what the team’s future might have been.
Week 15
- Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals
The matchup between Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow is always exciting. It could be even more thrilling if the Ravens and Bengals are close together in the AFC North race at this late stage in the season.
Week 16
- Jacksonville Jaguars at Denver Broncos
If you’re looking for a good time to see Travis Hunter in action, this might be it. He played collegiately at Colorado, so this will be something of a homecoming for him. It will also be a great test of the two-way star’s abilities, as he will be tasked with beating a stout Broncos defense on offense while covering a solid receiving corps led by Courtland Sutton and Marvin Mims Jr.
Week 17
- Philadelphia Eagles at Buffalo Bills
The Chiefs edged the Bills in the AFC championship game last season, but Buffalo was close to winning the game and getting a chance to match up against the Eagles in Super Bowl 59. Perhaps their late-season meeting will end up being a preview of Super Bowl 60 instead.
Week 18
- Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers
A classic, AFC North rivalry that could have playoff implications in Week 18? Sign us up, especially if Mike Tomlin needs to keep his consecutive streak of non-losing seasons alive.