Patriots Schedule Leaks: What We Know About New England’s 2020 Season
1:39 p.m.: For the second straight season, the Patriots will make a Monday night visit to MetLife Stadium. They have a primetime road game against the New York Jets on Monday, Nov. 9, according to a report from Brian Costello of the New York Post.
The Patriots throttled the Jets on “Monday Night Football” last season, winning 33-0 in the Sam Darnold “seeing ghosts” game.
12:45 p.m.: The Patriots will visit the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, Nov. 1, according to a report.
Per source, the #Bills home opener will take place on 9/13 against the NY Jets. The Bills will also play the Patriots at home on 11/1 and Dolphins at home on 1/3.
— Bradley Gelber (@BradleyGelber) May 7, 2020
11 a.m.: The Patriots’ schedule might not be frontloaded with NFC games after all.
According to Kyle Meinke, who covers the Detroit Lions for MLive, previous reports of teams playing four non-conference games to begin the season were not accurate.
The AFC v. NFC thing isn't correct. It's Detroit hosting the Bears in Week 1. https://t.co/K5quxBKPDv
— kyle meinke (@kmeinke) May 7, 2020
8:45 a.m. ET: The New England Patriots’ schedule won’t be officially unveiled until 7:30 p.m. Thursday night, but details already have begun to trickle out.
For instance, ESPN’s John Clayton reported Wednesday that all four of each team’s non-conference games will be stacked at the start of the season, meaning the Patriots will face the Arizona Cardinals (home), Los Angeles Rams (away), San Francisco 49ers (home) and Seattle Seahawks (away) in the first four weeks. (The exact order of those games has yet to be reported.)
This setup would allow the NFL to cancel early games without significantly impacting AFC and NFC playoff races if the COVID-19 pandemic delays the start of the season.
Follow along with this tracker for live updates on any additional Patriots schedule leaks as they happen. As a refresher, here’s the full list of New England’s 2020 opponents:
Home: Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets
Away: Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Chargers, Kansas City Chiefs, Houston Texans, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets