As we await the highly anticipated 2025 NFL schedule release on May 14, I'm looking forward to matchups that will have some added juice. I'm talking about games that will cook this year and could be part of a simmering feud for seasons to come.
One that jumps out to me is Browns versus Steelers. It's already brimming with heat because, well, it's the Browns and Steelers. But can you imagine the additional intrigue if Shedeur Sanders -- the quarterback so often projected to Pittsburgh in Round 1 mocks leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft -- is Cleveland's starter when the two teams meet? It would be a chance for the Browns to show they were the ones who made the savvy football move by stopping his slide in Round 5, not their division rivals. Anyhow, that's speculating best left for sometime down the road with a wide-open QB competition in Cleveland still to play out. And no, before you ask, the Browns don’t play the Falcons this season.
Without further ado, here are the high-stakes skirmishes I'm most excited for, pulled from the list of each team's opponents for the upcoming campaign:
Please, let this game be on Thanksgiving again. For one, it will give the Bears a chance to cleanse last year’s debacle in Detroit. It's kind of like when you gather as a family for the holiday and there's some tension in the air. And in this scenario, one family member is the Lions, who might still be upset that the Bears stole away former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. They haven’t let it go. Like, not at all. This rivalry could be a fun one for years to come.
The Eagles and Chiefs are likely to enter 2025 as the favorites in their respective conferences. And while a Super Bowl rubber match -- following Philly's defeat of K.C. in Super Bowl LIX and the Chiefs' win over the Eagles in Super Bowl LVII -- is certainly a possibility in February, we know these two teams will get it going during the regular season. Yes, I realize that doesn't carry the same punch as a title clash for all the marbles, but it should still be very entertaining -- like the main event of WrestleMania this year. I know some people thought it wasn’t cool, only because the previous year was so epic. Still pretty good, though. And it will be an opportunity for the Chiefs to score a point in the first half, unlike what they managed the last time out against the Eagles, so they have that going for them.
This has always been a spirited rivalry, but the stakes were raised last year when the Commanders made a surprise run to the NFC title game behind Jayden Daniels -- only to fall to Philly in a 55-23 laugher. I’m sure every team in the NFC East still wants to beat Dallas desperately, even with the Cowboys coming off a 7-10 record. But you know Dan Quinn is going to have his team ready for both matchups in this series, especially after Washington's Eagles-esque moves to beef up in the trenches this offseason. And the addition of Deebo Samuel should certainly help.
EDITOR'S UPDATE: One of the two regular-season meetings between Philadelphia and Washington is scheduled for Week 16 -- the Commanders will host the Eagles on Saturday, Dec. 20, the NFL announced on May 12.
Some might argue the Commanders’ run to the NFC Championship Game was the result of a butterfly effect that can be traced to Week 8 -- when they won on a Hail Mary after Chicago CB Tyrique Stevenson chose to engage with the Washington fans instead of covering his man. The Commanders went to the playoffs, while the Bears lost nine more consecutive games and fired their coach. This will also be the second career meeting between former No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams and former No. 2 overall pick Jayden Daniels, with each fanbase claiming their quarterback is the best of the 2024 NFL Draft. Only this time, Daniels is an Offensive Rookie of the Year winner with a souped-up supporting cast, while Williams will have an O-line and offensive scheme built to help him reach his potential. By the way, this has to be the Sunday Night Football game in Week 1, yeah?!
The Bills and Chiefs are embroiled in arguably the AFC's top rivalry -- though, with Kansas City having eliminated Buffalo from the postseason four times in the Patrick Mahomes-Josh Allen era, it has become a little one-sided, like Notre Dame vs. Navy. All right, that might be a bit harsh, because the Bills do always seem to get the better of the Chiefs in the regular season, including their past four such matchups. Then again, those wins come with much lower stakes than their playoff showdowns. You'd think all that context might take some juice out of this game, because the true test won't come until the postseason -- but Mahomes vs. Allen will always be must-see TV. And Buffalo will surely want to shed any lingering memories of these teams' last encounter.
Let’s not forget the other team scrambling for AFC supremacy: the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens have gone on their annual quest to add wide receiver help for Lamar Jackson, landing on DeAndre Hopkins in free agency. Last season, Hopkins played for the Titans and Chiefs, who traded for him after Rashee Rice's season-ending injury. Well, played for feels generous, because the Chiefs didn’t really target Hopkins an awful lot (59 targets, 41 receptions and 437 yards in 10 regular-season games). Hopkins to the Ravens can still draw a headline, and the 32-year-old did top 1,000 receiving yards with seven receiving TDs in 2023, but it’s been a while since Hopkins really put up some serious numbers. The days of D-Hop taking over games feel like they came and went eons ago. Maybe this tilt against his recent former team will motivate him.
We might as well complete the triangle. The Ravens were the No. 1 seed in the playoffs in 2023 and lost to the Chiefs at home in the AFC title game. Well, they did not fall to K.C. again in the 2024 playoffs -- but unfortunately for them, it was because they lost to the Bills in the AFC Divisional Round before they could get a chance to face Mahomes and Co. Baltimore did win the teams' regular-season meeting last season, but I'm not sure how much that changed the tone of a series in which the Ravens have dropped three of the past five games (including playoffs). And then there's this added wrinkle: Josh Allen just kept Lamar Jackson from claiming his second straight (and third total) MVP award. I get the feeling everyone is going to bring it for this one.
OK, so it might be kind of hard to see why the Bengals would want vengeance here at first glance; the teams have played just twice since Joe Burrow was drafted in 2020, and Cincinnati won both games, including in Week 17 last season, when the Bengals ground out an overtime win to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. This is actually about what happened the next week, when the Broncos beat the Chiefs -- against whom Cincinnati fans might also be holding a grudge, for resting a bunch of starters in that game -- to snag the No. 7 seed in the AFC and prevent Burrow and Co. from reaching the postseason. This is not to take anything away from what the Broncos did, going out there with their rookie quarterback and winning a bunch of games last season. But I also see why the Bengals would be miffed to miss a playoff trip during their window with Burrow, which could make this matchup pretty intense, especially for the fans.
Cooper Kupp was a Super Bowl MVP for the Rams, who released him this offseason to ... sign Davante Adams? I didn’t realize Aaron Rodgers is actually L.A.'s new QB now. Kidding. Adams was pretty good last year with the Jets (67 receptions, 854 yards and seven TDs), so this really is a smart move for the Rams. On Kupp's end, though, I could see how the 31-year-old, who returned to his roots in Washington when he signed a three-year deal with the Seahawks, would want to show the only NFL team he's ever played for to this point that he's still got it. And he'll have two chances to do so during the regular season.
Even with the aforementioned Kupp coming aboard, the Seahawks will have plenty of receiving targets to go around after cutting Tyler Lockett and trading DK Metcalf to the Steelers, presenting an opportunity for Jaxon Smith-Njigba that I -- a JSN fanboy who also manages him in my dynasty fantasy league -- welcome. I do question how moving on from Metcalf, a superstar who won't turn 28 until December, will impact Seattle's offense. And while Metcalf ultimately did secure both the exit he wanted and a four-year, $132 million extension from Pittsburgh, he would no doubt love to put up a dominant stat line against his old team. As luck would have it -- at least for this piece -- he'll get his chance when the Steelers and Seahawks lock up this season. And it goes without saying that it’s a huge bummer the Cowboys and Steelers don’t lock up this year with George Pickens being traded to Dallas.
