NFC EAST
Dallas Cowboys
Full schedule | Predicted record: 10-6
If the Cowboys want to return to the playoffs in coach Mike McCarthy’s first season, they must get off to a fast start. Of the first nine opponents, only two made the playoffs last season (Seattle, Philadelphia), and the Cowboys have three consecutive home games in October.
New York Giants
Full schedule | Predicted record: 6-10
2020 NFL Schedule Release
The Giants get a pair of Monday night home games, including the opener against the Steelers and in Week 8 against Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Philadelphia Eagles
Full schedule | Predicted record: 10-6
There are a pair of three-game stretches that stand out and will help shape how the season goes. The first is the October gantlet featuring the 49ers, Steelers and Ravens, and the other is a December trip to Green Bay sandwiched by home games against the Seahawks and Saints.
Washington Redskins
Full schedule | Predicted record: 6-10
After a disastrous 3-13 season in 2019, it’s clear the NFL isn’t anticipating much from Washington in Ron Rivera’s first season, with no prime-time games and only one prominent game — at Dallas on Thanksgiving, for the third time in five years.
NFC NORTH
Chicago Bears
Full schedule | Predicted record: 7-9
The Bears have a chance to race out of the gate. None of Chicago’s opening four opponents (Lions, Giants, Falcons, Colts) made the playoffs last year.
Detroit Lions
Full schedule | Predicted record: 8-8
Going on the road for four of the first six games is not ideal, nor is the early bye week that breaks up some of those road games. But the Lions avoid having to go to Green Bay in December, which is big.
Green Bay Packers
Full schedule | Predicted record: 11-5
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Four of the first six are on the road, one of those is against Tom Brady, another against Drew Brees. For the first time in franchise history, the Packers will open a season at the Vikings and the first season-opening meeting between the two teams since a Monday Night Football opener at Lambeau in 2008.
Minnesota Vikings
Full schedule | Predicted record: 10-6
The Vikings’ path toward getting back to the playoffs includes hosting the Packers in the season opener for the first time in the team’s 60-year history. It also features one of the toughest road schedules in the NFL with three prime-time games away from U.S. Bank Stadium.
NFC SOUTH
Atlanta Falcons
Full schedule | Predicted record: 9-7
The Falcons have a tough start out the gates in facing the Seahawks, Cowboys and Packers in the first four weeks. Both Seattle and Green Bay made the playoffs last season, and defending Russell Wilson, Dak Prescott, and Aaron Rodgers will be a tall task for the rebuilt Falcons’ defense.
Carolina Panthers
Full schedule | Predicted record: 6-10
Opening at home against a Raiders team that also is in rebuilding mode with three straight losing seasons gives coach Matt Rhule a chance to win his first NFL game and set the tone for a very young roster.
New Orleans Saints
Full schedule | Predicted record: 12-4
The NFL didn’t wait long to shine a spotlight on the new Tom Brady-Drew Brees rivalry in the NFC South. The Buccaneers are scheduled to come into the Superdome in Week 1 for the national late-afternoon game on Fox.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Full schedule | Predicted record: 11-5
The Bucs will face all teams in the NFC North and AFC West in 2020. Brady is a career-best 17-3 (.850) against NFC North opponents, but some of his biggest challenges have come against the AFC West, going 29-16 (.644).
NFC WEST
Arizona Cardinals
Full schedule | Predicted record: 9-7
The Cardinals’ schedule is streaky. There are homestands of two, three and two games, with road trips of three and two games. Starting the season in San Francisco will give Arizona an early measuring stick.
Los Angeles Rams
Full schedule | Predicted record: 8-8
SoFi Stadium will make its debut in prime time with the Rams hosting the Cowboys. It’s no coincidence that Jerry Jones’ squad will be the first to visit Stan Kroenke’s $5 billion masterpiece, given Jones played a crucial role in the Rams’ relocating to L.A. from St. Louis in 2016.
San Francisco 49ers
Full schedule | Predicted record: 11-5
The 49ers have no shortage of entertaining matchups. The stretch from Oct. 18 to Nov. 15 looks potentially daunting with games against the Rams, Patriots, Seahawks, Packers and Saints in consecutive weeks, and three of those are on the road.
Seattle Seahawks
Full schedule | Predicted record: 11-5
With a megastar quarterback in Russell Wilson, the Seahawks still have plenty of prime-time appeal, even if their roster is no longer as nationally recognizable as it once was. Hence, four appearances in prime time beginning in Week 2 against the Patriots (Sunday night).
AFC EAST
Buffalo Bills
Full schedule | Predicted record: 12-4
Bills fans clamored all offseason for more nationally televised games. Buffalo will play four prime-time games this season, including a Thursday Night Football showdown with the Chiefs, Monday Night Football matchups with the 49ers and Patriots, and a Sunday Night Football game against the Steelers.
Miami Dolphins
Full schedule | Predicted record: 7-9
In Year 2 of their rebuild, the Dolphins have their work cut out if they want to make a surprise playoff run. They start with four of their first six games on the road, including back-to-back road contests vs. the 49ers and Broncos and an opener in Foxborough, Massachusetts, against the new-look Patriots.
New England Patriots
Full schedule | Predicted record: 9-7
It is 2019 fourth-round pick Jarrett Stidham‘s job to lose as Brady’s successor, and if he follows through and seizes it, he will get an early baptism in two of the toughest road environments in the NFL — at Seattle in Week 2 and at Kansas City in Week 4.
New York Jets
Full schedule | Predicted record: 7-9
The first two games are a nasty way to start for the Jets, whose rebuilt offense will face two of the strongest defensive teams in the league — the Buffalo Bills (No. 2 in total defense) and San Francisco 49ers (No. 8)
AFC NORTH
Baltimore Ravens
Full schedule | Predicted record: 12-4
Reigning NFL MVP Lamar Jackson and the Ravens will command the national spotlight like few other teams in franchise history. The Ravens are scheduled to play five prime-time games for just the second time in their 25-year existence (the other time was 2011).
Cincinnati Bengals
Full schedule | Predicted record: 5-11
Rookie quarterback Joe Burrow‘s debut could be a rare season opener at Paul Brown Stadium when the Bengals host the Chargers. Going back to 2010, this is only the second home opener Cincinnati has had in Week 1.
Cleveland Browns
Full schedule | Predicted record: 9-7
The Browns now know the path to ending the NFL’s longest playoff drought, which has reached 18 years. And they’ll have an opportunity for a Week 1 statement at defending AFC North champion Baltimore.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Full schedule | Predicted record: 9-7
The Steelers start off with a bang in Monday Night Football against the Giants for Ben Roethlisberger’s return and Joe Judge’s debut as a head coach. A week later, Roethlisberger will make his Heinz Field return on Sept. 20, almost a year after his 2019 season ended because of an elbow injury.
AFC SOUTH
Houston Texans
Full schedule | Predicted record: 9-7
The Texans will play seven games against teams that made the playoffs in 2019: Baltimore, Green Bay, Kansas City, New England, Minnesota and Tennessee (twice).
Indianapolis Colts
Full schedule | Predicted record: 10-6
Philip Rivers, who is in his first season as the starting quarterback for the Colts after 16 years with the Chargers, will have an opportunity to get his new team off to a strong start. Six of the Colts’ first seven games are against teams that missed the playoffs last season.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Full schedule | Predicted record: 4-12
The Jaguars have a manageable start to the schedule, with four of their first six games against teams with losing records in 2019. They’ve got a brutal December, though, with games against 2019 playoff teams in three consecutive weeks beginning in Minnesota on Dec. 6.
Tennessee Titans
Full schedule | Predicted record: 10-6
After having just one prime-time game last season, the Titans are featured on the big stage three times this year. It all starts with a Monday night game against the Broncos in the season opener.
AFC WEST
Denver Broncos
Full schedule | Predicted record: 9-7
Despite four straight playoff misses, the Broncos get some prime-time duty. The nation will get an early look at quarterback Drew Lock and the Broncos’ revamped offense as they open the season as part of Monday Night Football’s doubleheader — against the Titans — and then have a Thursday night appearance in Week 4 against the Jets at MetLife Stadium.
Kansas City Chiefs
Full schedule | Predicted record: 12-4
The Chiefs will face defending division champion opponents in three of their first four games. The Thursday night opener against the Texans at Arrowhead Stadium features an opponent the Chiefs split with in two home games last season.
Las Vegas Raiders
Full schedule | Predicted record: 7-9
The rebranded Las Vegas franchise has six kickoffs at 10 a.m. PT and a pair of two-game roadies in the middle of the season, but it also has three of its last four games in the comfort of its new, state-of-the-art Allegiant Stadium
Los Angeles Chargers
Full schedule | Predicted record: 10-6
The Chargers open the season on the road facing the Bengals and No. 1 overall draft pick Joe Burrow, then must turn around for their SoFi Stadium debut to host Patrick Mahomes and the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs, whom they won’t see again until Week 17.
