By Terrance Turner
May 12, 2022
Tonight, after months of anticipation and weeks of leaks, the NFL 2022 season schedule was released. The results were unveiled in a star-studded special on ESPN2: newly transferred ‘Monday Night Football’ hosts Joe Buck and Troy Aikman were on hand, along with Super Bowl-winning Rams coach Sean McVay.
The first game of the season will be one to remember: the season will kick off on Thursday, Sept. 8, when the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams face the Buffalo Bills. This match is of particular import because linebacker Von Miller won a Super Bowl with the Rams before leaving to join the Bills in free agency.
According to CBS Sports, “Starting this season, Amazon Prime will become the NFL‘s exclusive “Thursday Night Football” partner. (“Thursday Night Football” has previously aired on CBS, NBC and Fox.) Each game will kick off at 8:20 p.m. ET.” Here’s a rundown of each subsequent Thursday night game for the 2022 season.
Week 2 (Sept. 15): Los Angeles Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs
Week 3 (Sept. 22): Steelers at Browns
Week 4 (Sept. 29): Dolphins at Bengals
Week 5 (Oct. 6): Colts at Broncos
Week 6 (Oct. 13): Commanders at Bears
Week 7 (Oct. 20): Saints at Cardinals
Week 8 (Oct. 27): Ravens at Buccaneers
Week 9 (Nov. 3): Eagles at Texans
Week 10 (Nov. 10): Falcons at Panthers
Week 11 (Nov. 17): Titans at Packers
Week 13 (Dec. 1): Bills at Patriots
Week 14 (Dec. 8): Raiders at Rams
Week 15 (Dec. 15): 49ers at Seahawks
Week 16 (Dec. 22): Jaguars at Jets
Week 17 (Dec. 29): Cowboys at Titans
According to a press release from NBC, quarterback Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys will open up the Sunday Night Football slate against QB Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a rematch of last season’s NFL Kickoff Game. The game will start at 7:20 CST on Sunday, Sept. 11.
The Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears renew the NFL’s most-played rivalry on SNF, with the 205th meeting in the series in Week 2 (Sept. 18) at Lambeau Field. The Denver Broncos host the 49ers on Sept. 25, and the eagerly anticipated Brady-Mahomes VI takes center stage on Oct. 2 as Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs visit Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the sixth matchup of the former NFL and Super Bowl MVPs. (The first meeting between the star signal callers was on NBC’s SNF on Oct. 14, 2018.)
Following Brady-Mahomes, the October slate of star-studded QB matchups continues one week later (Oct. 9) with a divisional battle as Joe Burrow and the AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals visit Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens. Then to close out the month, back-to-back NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers visit Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills on Oct. 30 in a matchup of 2021 division winners.
The Tennessee Titans face the Kansas City Chiefs on Nov. 6. The Los Angeles Chargers battle the San Francisco 49ers on Nov. 13. The Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers play on Nov. 20. On Thanksgiving Day, the Minnesota Vikings host their first-ever Thanksgiving Day game in Minnesota as the New England Patriots visit. The Green Bay Packers battle the Philadelphia Eagles the following Sunday, Nov. 27. The Indianapolis Colts play the Dallas Cowboys in Week 13 on Dec. 4. The Chiefs spar with the Broncos on Dec. 11. The Patriots spar with the Las Vegas
Raiders on Dec. 18.
On Christmas Day, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers visit the Arizona Cardinals. (That’s one of three games that day: the Broncos play the Rams at 3:30 pm that day, and the Green Bay Packers are slated to play the Miami Dolphins at noon that day.) The final SNF game of the season is an LA showdown, as the Rams face the Chargers in Los Angeles.
The first Monday Night Football game of the year will be a homecoming for the ages as Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos head to the Pacific Northwest to play Wilson’s old squad, the Seattle Seahawks. Here is the entire Monday Night Football schedule, according to NBC:
Sept. 12 — Denver at Seattle
Sept. 19 — Tennessee at Buffalo and Minnesota at Philadelphia (ABC exclusive)
Sept. 26 — Dallas at NY Giants
Oct. 3 — LA Rams at San Francisco
Oct. 10 — Las Vegas at Kansas City
Oct. 17 — Denver at LA Chargers
Oct. 24 — Chicago at New England
Sunday, Oct. 30 — Denver vs. Jacksonville (international game in London)
Oct. 31 — Cincinnati at Cleveland
Nov. 7 — Baltimore at New Orleans
Nov. 14 — Washington at Philadelphia
Nov. 21 — San Francisco at Arizona
Nov. 28 — Pittsburgh at Indianapolis
Dec. 5 — New Orleans at Tampa Bay
Dec. 12 — New England at Arizona
Dec. 19 — LA Rams at Green Bay
Dec. 26 — LA Chargers at Indianapolis
Jan. 2 — Buffalo at Cincinnati
Jan. 7 — TBD doubleheader
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