NFL schedule wish list: Eagles-Chiefs on Christmas among ideal NFL matchups

It is a fun thought, but predicting the NFL schedule feels like a great wasteful energy. Thirty -two teams that play 272 games in five days of the week in the course of five months? Who could expect to nail more than a handful of useless predictions?

So, while we wait for the presentation of the 2025 calendar, which falls on Wednesday, May 14, let’s try a different approach. Instead of trying to predict what I think the NFL will do, I will not argue for what I think they should do with some bigger clashes.

This is a specific fun year for marquee clashes. Two of the strongest divisions of the League, AFC North and NFC North, face each other. The AFC West and NFC East also play with each other, creating many main clashes. And if that were not enough, the last three MVP of the NFL, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes, play this autumn.

It’s a lot to choose from. This is what I would like to see the league with 12 or its tentpole games for the next season.

There are a lot of good clashes at the Eagles schedule to choose from, but none better than this, the NFC championship game that a leg could have. Detroit and Philadelphia were NFC class last season, but never really with the playoffs. What better way to celebrate the new Eagles championship banner than a confrontation between two teams that once again appears to take into account the advantage of the races for the advantage of the field of origin?

International Game of Week 1, São Paolo: Chiefs vs. Chargers

I will be honest, they do not always sell me in the NFL philosophy that it is better, but I was a great admirer of the Opier on Friday night last season in Brazil. After a seven -month wait to start the season, complete the opening weekend with as much football as possible.

The chargers have been used as this year’s São Paolo team, and who better to help them grow the game in South America than in the bosses? Kansas City is already used to opening the season at Thorsday Night, so kicking one day until Friday should not sweat.

The Chiefs have owned the AFC West for a decade, and they have not dropped a game to the chargers like 2021, but do not let that deceive you. These games are always good, with seven of the last eight determined by a touchdown or less. It sounds like a perfect Friday for me.

It is a bone a long time, since it was a rivalry that is worth getting excited, but that is about to change in a big way. Jayden Daniels has not only revived one of the most famous franchises in the League, but has aroused one of the largest television markets in nations. Combine that with the popularity of the cowboys, and you have a potential for serious grades in your hands.

This would be Daniels’s first confrontation against Dak Prescott, since the veteran field marshal was lost the two Cowboy Commanders games last season due to an injury. Add all that together, with Tom Brady on the stand, and it would be a great game of the week in the first United States.

The victory on Monday at night of Seahawks over Denver a few years ago was so memorable that I would like to do it again. This time, we will put the shoe on the other foot. Sam Darnold finally enjoyed the success in Minnesota before the Seahawks offered him a $ 100 million contract. It would be very fun to see that this new era began in Seattle against its former team, and the intrigue is higher because JJ McCarthy will probably be making its first beginning for Minnesota.

These two teams play one of the best games of the 2024 season in December, and I bet that it would be equally fun.

Thanksgiving day (3 games)

Bears ate Lions: This feels inevitable. It was a sequence of bonkers on Thanksgiving in Detroit that cost Matt Eberflus his work last season, and that led Ben Johnson to become the new coach in the head of the scholarship. Of course, Johnson’s return to Ford Field, where he was the offensive coordinator of the lions for three years, would arrive on Thanksgiving. If I am configuring the clashes, I want the thesis vacation games to have as many intrigue possible, and this would qualify.

Packers ate Jeans: It would be a surprise to see the cowboys organize an NFC East opponent in thanksgiving, but they have done that four of the last five years that date back to 2020. I am ready for something new, although I still want something. Why not invite one of the NFC rivals of the old Dallas school? The cowboys and the Packers have history as old as the ICE Bowl and as new as that shocking beating of the wild card in 2024. Beyond that, both are third -place finalists in their division that they want more this season. What do you not like?

Crows ate Bengals: The NFL does not always program a division rivalry for the stellar schedule in thanksgiving, but I think it should. It cannot guarantee how any team will be seen at the end of November, but it is always likely that a division rivalry will increase bets. And what division rivals are playing more in the entertaining games at this time than Cincinnati and Baltimore? The last seven clashes in this series were decided by an average of 5.8 points, and the two games last year were instant classics. Give me Lamar against Joe on a national vacation.

We have learned throughout the years that people will find a way of watching any NFL game that is underway, regardless of time. I still don’t want to “waste” a confrontation of Marquesina Black Friday, when many people do not park in front of television for a second consecutive football day. Instead, how about a good cunning confrontation?

Patriots and Titans are main candidates for seasons, thanks to their young stars in Quarterback. Recent history tells us that we should not surprise ourselves if this confrontation looks much more fun in November than in May. In addition, there are serious revenge vibrations with Mike Vrabel now training in New England after spending six years in Tennessee.

Christmas Day (3 games)

Eagles ate Boss: There is always some risk involved with the programming of such an important game so late in the season, but the advantage is worth it, taking into account that they played in two of the last three Super Bowls and the confrontation still implies the best QB in the soccer taking. Waiting until Christmas would also make this a large measurement stick for playoffs, which will be just two weeks away. The result could balance MVP races or establish the expectations of who will win the Super Bowl LX.

49ers ate Branches: I will say it again: Each great holiday must include at least one rivalry of division, and this is one of the best. Nine of the last 12 NineS/Rams games have decided a leg for a possession, and both teams should be happy to win the NFC West in 2025. Another advantage is that, when playing this game in Sofi Stage in Los Angeles, we are a last range -Pas.

Bucaneros ate Invoices: However, I hope the winter weather plays a role in the Christmas Cup. Snow games are fun, and few fans bases make snow games better than Bills Mafia. This is an interconferencing confrontation between two teams with very little history, but that won the subject. Bills and Bucs have high -power crimes, so I like our chances of seeing many points and many snowballs thrown into the night air.

One of the best sub -films for 2025 are the bets surrounding the next generation of quartbacks. Twelve of the possible holders of the 1st of the League are 25 years old or less, and six of those guys have already been appointed for a Pro Bowl. An independent confrontation from Friday night between two of those six PRO professionals is an excellent way to conclude the Christmas festivities.

David Helman It covers the NFL for Fox Sports and presents the NFL podcast on Fox. It previously passed nine seasons covering the cowboys for the official website of the team. In 2018, he won a regional Emmy for his role in the production of “Dak Prescott: a family reunion” on the time of the field marshal in the state of Mississippi. Follow it on Twitter in @Davidhelman_.

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