2025 NFL Schedule: Everything You Need to Know About the Upcoming Season

Kickoff and Season Overview

The 2025 NFL season marks the 106th season of the National Football League, with the regular season running from September 4, 2025, to January 4, 2026. The season opens with the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles hosting the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL Kickoff Game.

International Series Expansion

The 2025 season features an unprecedented seven International Series games, including:
– First-ever NFL regular season game in Brazil: Kansas City vs. Los Angeles Chargers in São Paulo
– Historic debut in Ireland: Minnesota vs. Pittsburgh at Croke Park, Dublin
– Three games in London, UK
– One game in Berlin, Germany
– First NFL regular season game in Spain: Washington vs. Miami at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium

Key Schedule Features

Holiday games remain a crucial part of the schedule. The traditional Thanksgiving games feature a new start time, with the early game moved to 1 p.m. to align with Sunday scheduling. The NFL will continue its tradition of Christmas Day games, which falls on a Thursday this year.

Christmas Day will feature a special tripleheader:
– Cowboys at Commanders (1 p.m.)
– Lions at Minnesota (4:30 p.m.)
– Broncos at Chiefs (8:20 p.m.)

Broadcast Changes and Flexibility

The NFL continues its television partnerships, with Sunday afternoon games split between CBS and Fox. CBS maintains the AFC package while Fox covers the NFC games.

The flexible scheduling system now includes Thursday Night Football, with an important change: the deadline to flex Thursday games has been reduced from 28 to 21 days before kickoff. Teams are limited to two Thursday games on short rest during the season, and multiple away Thursday night games require team approval.

Notable Rule Changes

The NFL has implemented several rule changes for 2025, including modifications to the dynamic kickoff rule from last season, with the league aiming to increase kickoff returns.

A significant change to overtime rules ensures both teams will have a possession opportunity, aligning regular season and postseason overtime rules. Regular season overtime remains limited to 10 minutes.

Looking Ahead

Historical data suggests a strong correlation between Week 1 performance and playoff success. Since 2020, teams that made the playoffs have won 70% of their Week 1 games. In 2024, nine of the 14 postseason teams won their opening week games, with most losses coming against other eventual playoff teams.