The NFL was always expected to announce its schedule at some point in early May. While May 9 had been thrown around as a potential date for the event, it turns out that it will take place a couple of days earlier.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, among other reports, the NFL schedule will be revealed on Thursday, May 7 starting at 8 p.m. ET.
This will be an important date for New England Patriots fans as they'll officially get to know the order in which the Patriots will take on their competition.
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The Patriots already know which teams they will be playing. They are as follows.
Home: Broncos, Raiders, Ravens, Cardinals, 49ers, Dolphins, Jets, Bills
New England Patriots
Away: Chargers, Chiefs, Texans, Rams, Seahawks, Dolphins, Jets, Bills
On paper, that's a difficult schedule given that the AFC West and NFC West are two of the toughest divisions in the league. And the Patriots are playing all four teams from both divisions.
Matchups with Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson, Deshaun Watson, and reigning regular-season MVP Lamar Jackson should test the Patriots' defense while likely-starter Jarrett Stidham will surely need to play well to keep the Patriots competitive in these contests.
We'll soon see the order in which these games are played. But hopefully, for the sake of Stidham, the Patriots get to take on a couple of their easier opponents to kick off the season instead of running Stidham into a gauntlet in what will likely be his first season as a starter.