Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots 2025 Schedule RELEASED!!

Episode Date: May 15, 2025

The New England Patriots official schedule for 2025 has been released. When do they play Josh Allen's Buffalo Bills? How about Lamar Jackson's Ravens?Let’s break down the easiest stretch and toughest stretch of the docket. Also, how many primetime games do the Patriots have and who do they host?Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOPatriots?sid=YouTubeLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFL#patriots #newenglandpatriotsSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

The 2025 schedule has been released and not everything will be easy. That's where we start on this episode of Locked On Patriots. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked On Podcasts Network, your team every day. What's up, Patriots fans? I'm your host Nick Cattles, born and raised in New England, your New England Patriots expert host of the Everything Pats podcast, co host of the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattles, and also a sports talk show host veteran on today's show, the softest stretch on paper for the Patriots this season, and we break down the prime time

schedule that's upcoming. But first, we start with the steepest hill to climb. We appreciate you joining the show, making us your first listen and for being an everydayer, the Lockdown Patriots podcast is a proud partner of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. As we get ready to break down this schedule, we'll look at the hardest stretch, the softest stretch, the prime time games.

We have to understand that strength of schedule is only a thing before the season kicks off. It's going to continue to evolve throughout the season. So what looks easy might end up being hard and vice versa. So we have to acknowledge that. Last year we thought the Patriots had one of the toughest schedules in all of football. When the season was over, they were right about the middle

of the pack. So these things change. This is another off season on paper scenario. And that strength of schedule will continue to change throughout the season. It might be tougher. It might be weaker We'll have to wait and see But let's look at this schedule on paper and let's start with the hardest stretch of the

2025 season and I think it starts week 12 week 12 the Patriots play at Cincinnati and then they have a little bit of a respite. So there is a caveat here. This is the toughest stretch for about a month, a month plus, but you do have a little bit of a respite after that game at Cincinnati because week 13, you host the giants, the giants should not be better than you. That's a home game. It's prime time. We'll get to that later.

And then you have the bi-week week 14. So you start with week 12 at Cincinnati Then you play the Giants at home in prime time then you get a bye week. So there's that caveat There's that little bit of a break but then off the bye week you play Buffalo Josh Allen and the Bills come to Gillette Stadium, week 15. And then you go on the road and you play at Baltimore against Lamar Jackson and Company. So the reason why I think this is the hardest stretch for the Patriots is first the quarterback position. The world revolves around quarterbacks as we know, the most critical position in all of sports in this country.

If you don't have a really good quarterback, it's very tough to contend consistently. And when you look at that stretch in the schedule, you start with Joe Burrow, one of the best quarterbacks in football. Of course, he's got Jamar Chase, T Higgins. They're both back. They both signed contracts. They are very happy. So Joe Burrow and that offense is never easy. I know some people might say, well, Nick, the Patriots, they beat Cincinnati last year in Cincinnati. That was week one. And what did we talk about leading into that game last season? Everybody talked about it. Cincinnati gets off to slow starts.

That's what's handcuffed them a lot. They gets off to slow starts. That's what's handcuffed them a lot. They get off to slow starts. Well, now you're playing them late in the season. Week 12, Cincinnati should be at their best. So you got to play Joe Burrow in Cincinnati later in the season. That's a tough game. Then you've got Josh Allen in December, a couple of weeks pushing forward after the Giants home game prime time and then the bye week. Then you're hosting the Bills in Josh Allen. Josh Allen, as we know, one of the best quarterbacks in football, super talented guy. Did you know that he has his most passing touchdowns in the month of December? He has thrown 54 touchdowns in the month of December through his NFL career.

That's not going to be easy. And then you got to go back to back, belly to belly, because after hosting Buffalo, you got to jump on the road and go to Baltimore to play Lamar Jackson, Derek Henry, and that very tough Ravens team. That's a tough stretch. Cincinnati, Buffalo, and Baltimore in a five week stretch because you got the bye week that's shoehorned in there, week 14. When you think about these teams, here's another reason why I think it's a hard stretch

and I would say, I would argue the hardest stretch of this schedule, The physicality, the physicality that you're going to have to bring as a team week in and week out during that stretch because we know Terrell Williams and Mike Vrabel they like their defense to play violent, they like to be physical. We understand that. But you want to talk about physicality. Josh Allen is one of the most physical quarterbacks in the game. You could argue he is the most physical quarterback in the game. James Cook is no joke. Their tight ends are no joke.

Keon Coleman, is he going to have a sophomore slump? He didn't have a great rookie season, but he's a bigger physical receiver. In Buffalo, they have revamped that defense. So you're talking about a physical football team in the Buffalo Bills in December. And then you've got to go again, back to back, you go to Baltimore, and we all know that Baltimore is physical. We all know Derrick Henry in December is no joke very difficult to get down. Derrick Henry, especially in colder weather. So you have that back to back the physicality and we're talking about week 15 and week 16.

You have played a lot of football. I know you have the bi-week, week 14, which will certainly help you. But that late in the season, playing those two really good football teams and playing those two physical football teams, that is going to be a massive challenge for Mike Vrabel and the Patriots.

And then you just look at it and break it down to its simplest form. This is the hardest stretch because I think you're playing against three playoff teams. I think Cincinnati gets in this year, and easily, if they stay healthy, there's just no way that I could ever envision the Bills not making the playoffs if they stay healthy, there's just there's no way that I could ever envision the bills not making the playoffs if they stay healthy. And there's no way that I could ever envision the Ravens not making the playoffs if they stayed healthy. So you're playing against not one not two but I think three likely playoff teams between

you know week 12 and week 16. You've got three games against I think playoff teams two of those three games are on the road you got to play at since see you got to play at Baltimore so those are the bookends you bookend this run against two likely playoff teams on the road and then you also have to understand these are seasoned playoff teams. They're experienced. They know how to win. And they certainly know how to win as the year gets to be later on the schedule.

We're talking about Cincinnati. Obviously, made a run going back a couple of years ago, fell just short. Buffalo, always in the conversation when we talk about AFC Championship game. Same thing with the Ravens, you could say at any point in time, they could make that run and get to a Super Bowl. So you have three likely playoff teams, three teams that are seasoned playoff teams that should be hitting their stride. If you go back to the Bill Belichick cliche of yesteryear that you want to be playing your best football after Thanksgiving, that's what you do.

I mean, usually playoff teams, they have rounded into shape, they know their strengths, they understand their weaknesses, and they are usually playing their best football of the season when you get into December. So this is going to be a massive challenge. The quarterback gauntlet of Burrow, Allen, and Lamar Jackson, you got a couple of tough running backs that you got to deal with. You got some tough receivers you got to deal with. You've got the physicality of Buffalo and Baltimore, more so Baltimore than Buffalo, but you've got physicality,

especially from Josh Allen, that offensive line from the Bills. And you're playing the top competition in the conference. Aside from the Kansas City Chiefs, you're playing three of the best teams, at least on paper, and they've backed it up the past few years by making the playoffs and making some runs. So you're playing three of the best teams, at least on paper, and they've backed it up the past few years by making the playoffs and making some runs. So you're playing three of the best teams in your conference and two of those on the road. So that to me is the hardest stretch this season, week 12 to week 16. But there is that little bit of a break playing against the bad Giants team, week 13, and

then you get the bye week week 14. So we've gone through the toughest stretch but there is a stretch where the Pats can do some damage. That's coming up next as we continue with today's episode of Lockdown Patriots part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. The NBA playoffs are in full swing. The Celtics forcing a game six without Jason Tatum. How about that? And every night delivers highlight worthy performances like Jaylen Brown, my goodness, major momentum shifts and can't miss moments. Whether it's a game winning shot or a breakout player, there's never been a better time to get in on the action. And FanDuel makes it easy to stay in the game before tip off and live with player props, performance trends, and same game parlays.

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time to sign up. Head to FanDuel.com and place your first $5 bet. If it wins, you'll get $200 in bonus bets. Make every moment more with Fandule, official sports betting partner of the NBA. We talked about the hardest stretch. Now let's talk about what I think is the softest stretch in the 2025 Patriots schedule. Back-, back to back four win seasons. It is crucial, as Mike Vrabel said in his introductory press conference, it is crucial to take advantage of bad football. And the Patriots have been incapable of doing that the past two years.

You don't have to be great. A lot of games in the NFL are decided by one score. A lot, a lot one score games that we look at at the end of the year and go, Oh man, if you only did this, if you only did that, how many games did you lose by three? How many did you lose by six? How many did you lose by seven? The difference is taking advantage of bad football. And you start winning more of those games when you do that. And that's why that was the message from Vrabel during that introductory press conference. So let's look at the 2025 softest stretch for this Patriots team. It begins week six, week six, you got to go down to New Orleans and play the Saints. Week seven,

you then go to Tennessee. How about that back to back road trip? If you're going on the road to watch Patriots games this year, how about going to New Orleans and then making your way up to Nashville? Not a bad back to back road trip for you and your friends or you and your family. So you've got at New Orleans, at Tennessee, then you come back home to Gillette and you host Cleveland and Atlanta. That to me is the softest stretch of this schedule. You could face, if you think about it, you could face three rookie quarterbacks and you could face them in three straight games.

Of course, the big news this week was Derek Carr retiring from the NFL. So the Saints, they need a quarterback. They drafted Tyler Shuck in the second round from Louisville. And he might actually be the guy. He probably is going to be the guy. So you start this stretch, week six, at New Orleans, but you're playing against a rookie quarterback in Tyler Shuck. And I would like my chances with this defense, with Mike Vrabel, Terrell Williams. I like my chances against any rookie quarterback So you play Shuck in week six likely?

Then you come back week seven and we all know who the Tennessee quarterback is because that was the number one pick in the draft We're talking Cam Ward. So week seven, you've got another rookie quarterback in Ward. So you've got Shuck and then Ward. And then Cleveland in week eight at home. Who knows what's going to happen with Cleveland? Who knows who's going to be the quarterback of Cleveland? We have no idea, but it's a coin flip

and it could be one of a couple of rookies. It could be Gabriel, it could be Sanders. Who knows what's going to happen with that quarterback competition, Kevin Stefanski fighting for his life. And if it's not one of the rookies, is it going to be what, Joe Flacco? Is that what we're looking at?

Are we looking at Joe Flacco? Who's, geez, I got to look this up quick. What is he, 40 years old? Is at Joe Flacco? Who's geez? I gotta look this up quick What is he 40 years old? Is he 41 years old? He's 40 years old So you're either going to be playing against Rookie rookie rookie or rookie rookie Joe Flacco weeks six seven and eight and That is an opportunity we talk about this defense and I am excited for this defense. I really am. I think this defensive line is talented.

I think you got two excellent cornerbacks, obviously one all pro and Christian Gonzalez, Carlton Davis, a really good second outside corner. You've got Spillane, some more athleticism at linebacker. You've got depth at safety that you can work with in a variety of ways. So you'll, I mean, you've got Landry and Chase on hopefully providing some, some pass rush that you didn't get last year and this stretch of four games at the saints, at Tennessee, home Cleveland, home Atlanta, this is an opportunity for this defense to really get it going. You know, you've had five weeks under your belt at this point, you feel pretty comfortable

with the scheme. The coaching staff should know who's better than the other options that they have at certain spots. And this is the opportunity against multiple rookie quarterbacks, maybe as many as three in a row, bing bang boom. So the defense, if we look for a stretch where the defense can truly dominate, I would not be surprised if we're talking weeks six, seven, eight, and maybe even nine. And when you look at this four game stretch, I just love that it ends with back to back home games.

So you get to come home, you play that back to back on the road at New Orleans, at Nashville, it'll be interesting to see if the Patriots come home. I would think they will, but you're so close to each other there with New Orleans and Nashville. Maybe they don't. Of course, Frable obviously with his history in Tennessee. I'm sure he knows plenty of people that he could get a practice field and get a hotel set up. I would imagine though that they do come back home. We'll see if they do, but you play at New Orleans and at Tennessee against two rookie quarterbacks most likely,. But you play at New Orleans and at Tennessee against two rookie quarterbacks, most likely, and then you get to come home and you have a couple

of games back to back at home against Cleveland and against Atlanta. And we know that Vrabel obviously was in Cleveland last year. He's going to have some comfort level with that. He knows that roster inside and out. He knows that coaching staff very, very well. He understands what Stefanski wants to do. He understands what bothers that team. So you've got that comfort level with the history last year of Rable being with the Browns. Michael Pennex and Atlanta, they're an interesting team. They thought they were going to make the playoffs last year. They paid Kirk Cousins all that money, and then they drafted Penix in the top 10, shocked the world by doing it.

But by the end of the season, Penix was the guy. So Penix is an interesting prospect. He's very good in the pocket. He doesn't necessarily extend plays. He's not necessarily great in the middle of the field. At least he wasn't at Washington. And he's got to go on the road. Who knows what the weather is going to be. It might be a break for Penix and the Falcons week nine. You know, you're still talking relatively early. You're not really talking

about the winter and terrible weather. So maybe they luck out there. But I just I love the idea of playing a rookie quarterback, a rookie quarterback, a rookie quarterback or 40 year old Joe Flacco. And then you got Michael Pennex on the road. Atlanta Atlanta on the road, we'll have to see how they adapt and how they play. They've got talent on that team. There's no doubt. But there might be something missing. We'll see. We'll see.

I wouldn't say I'm afraid of Michael Pennings. I think he's a good quarterback. I'm not afraid of Michael Pennings. And then when you flip it to the other side of the football, what's interesting is the defenses you're going against. Now Cleveland, of course you've got Myles Garrett. They made that peculiar move by trading down on the draft to draft Mason Graham. We'll see if Mason Graham fulfills his potential coming out of Michigan.

Maybe Graham is going crazy and then you've got Myles Garrett that you've got to deal with. But you know, that Cleveland defense, if you can can limit Miles Garrett, if Josh McDaniels has a game plan to somewhat slow down Garrett, unlike Alex van Pelt last year, who just let all the best players on the opposition just absolutely eat every Sunday, I would think that Josh McDaniels has a game plan for Miles Garrett. If you can limit Miles Garrett, I feel like you can do some good things against the Cleveland Browns defense. And then the Saints, the Saints, you look at their roster, I'm not in love with their pass rush.

There's some questions there. Their defensive backfield, they've got some age in the secondary. So I think you could do some things against the Saints defense. Vrabel knows some of the guys on that Tennessee Titans defense. I'm sure he knows some tricks of the trade against Jeffrey Simmons, even though Simmons is very difficult to deal with. We saw that last year, tip of the hat to again, Alex van Pelt for allowing that to happen. But you've got Vrabel feeling very comfortable in Tennessee. And then Atlanta, Atlanta has a lot of youth. They have a lot of youth on that defensive line.

And you know, can they get that going? They made the two big additions this past draft on that defensive line. They took a big swing, right? They made that deal for James Pierce. And many people were wondering what they were doing, you know, in a perfect world for them. If those picks work out, then they might have a killer pass rush. But we're talking about a really young defensive line, and I don't think they're great on the back end. So I like that stretch. To me, that's the softest stretch. At the Saints, at Tennessee, Tennessee versus Cleveland versus Atlanta. The Patriots will be in prime time in 2025. We'll discuss when and against who up next as we continue with today's

episode of Locked On Patriots, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. An indication that the NFL feels like you are a team that people are interested in is giving you prime time games. That's usually an indication. If the NFL gives you multiple prime time games, you feel like you're starting to turn things around as an organization because they're not going to put terrible teams in prime time three, four times a year. It's just not going to happen. Just look at last season. The NFL told us everything they felt about this Patriots organization and that roster.

They told us everything we needed to know when we got the schedule for 2024. And there was, wait a minute. Let me check my note one primetime game week three Thursday night football against the Jets The NFL was telling us Your team's not good We don't want you on primetime. We want to run away from you

This year, it's a little bit different We want to run away from you. This year it's a little bit different. This year the Patriots don't have just one prime time game. They don't have two prime time games. They've got three prime time games. Week five, Sunday Night Football at Buffalo. That's their first prime time game of 2025. Then you've got week 11, the Jets, Thursday Night Football.

I don't know if this is like a tradition. They've got to play the Jets every single year on Thursday night. It feels that way. But here we are again, week 11 against the Jets, Thursday Night Football. And then a quick turnaround. I mean, week 13, you're back in prime time and you are again, the host team as you play the Giants at Gillette Stadium.

So those are the three prime time games. At Buffalo, week five, Sunday night. Then you've got week 11 at home against the Jets, Thursday night. And then you've got week 13 against the Giants, Monday night. You tripled your prime time games. Now why?

Why does the NFL have the Patriots in three prime time games this year? You start I think with the head coach, the Mike Vrabel intrigue. He's known as one of the better coaches in football. He's incredibly quotable. He's a guy that's you know, sometimes he's got some histrionics on the sidelines. He has a great story, a great personality. People tend to love him. So I think there is a bit of the variable intrigue here.

First season back in New England, you got the story to tell, you know it. You know what's going to happen. Week five, Sunday Night Football at Buffalo, they're going to have all the videos of Vrabel as a Patriot, winning the Super Bowl, talking about him coming back to New England as the head coach. It's the storylines. And Mike Vrabel is an interesting storyline for the 2025 season. interesting storyline for the 2025 season. Then you've got the quarterback. You've got the quarterbacks, especially Sunday Night Football, Josh Allen, Drake May. You know, I know, we all know the NFL would absolutely love May versus Allen becoming a special rivalry. To have that matchup twice a year, the NFL would love it. And this is a big season for Drake. matchup twice a year.

The NFL would love it. And this is a big season for Drake. We've talked about it. So there's intrigue around Vrabel. There's also intrigue surrounding May. Is he going to take that step forward? Is he going to become one of the best young quarterbacks in the game?

And just the overall roster, I think people genuinely are interested in the game. And just the overall roster, I think people genuinely are interested in this roster. Milton Williams and Barmore in the middle. You've got Drake May, you've got Stefan Diggs, hopefully we'll be back by then, right? You would think he'll be back by week five, old revenge game in Buffalo on Sunday night. How about that? Don't you think the NFL might be planning on Stefan Diggs? Possibly taking the first month off and his first game back of the season is in Buffalo on Sunday night football? Oh, the NFL would be doing jumping jacks. But this roster is interesting. The roster's improvement. And that's another story, right? You can see the

graphics. You can see the graphics, you can see the graphics of the broadcast teams talking about how many guys left the team, how many guys join the team, the new captains, all the turnover by Vrabel and Elliott Wolf in the front office. It's just story, story, story, story. And that's what the NFL is looking for. Aside from good football, obviously. Now let's look at the travel. It's interesting. These three prime time games, two of the three are at home. So two of the three at home, there is going to be a difficult part though.

The Thursday night game, week 11 against the Jets, that follows a trip down to Tampa. So you are in Tampa week 10. You've got to fly up from Tampa. You get in on Sunday night. And then you play the Jets on Thursday night. Now, fortunately, it's not a game where you've got to travel again after traveling week 10, traveling week 11 for a prime time game on Thursday. A short week would be very difficult.

Fortunately, the Patriots won't be in that situation because again, they'll be hosting the Jets. But coming from Tampa in week 10, flying back up, getting in later on Sunday, and then, you know, having three days to recoup and then you're right back out there on Thursday night. That is a difficult part, a difficult part of this of this prime time game that we're looking at against the Jets. But you've got two of the three games at home. The only away game that you have in prime times in Buffalo, that's obviously a very short trip. So it's not like you're flying across the country to play in prime time. You're not flying hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of miles,

thousands of miles, the away games at Buffalo. And you got the bi-week. You got the bi-week after, you know, playing two prime time games in three weeks, which will be a nice little break because you've got the Jets week 11 Thursday night, you get the Giants week 13 Monday night, and then there's your bi-week week 14. So at least after playing two of the three prime time games within a three-week period, you will have that bi-week to kind of take a deep breath. And then of course, as we mentioned earlier week to kind of take a deep breath. And then of course, as we mentioned earlier, on this episode, after the bye week, you got to get ready, because you're playing the Bills and the Ravens right after that bye week, but at least you get that bye week. And you have

you know, no more prime time games, you're done with prime time after week 13. I would warn all of you, the Monday night game might get flex flexed I don't know if I don't know if by the end of 2025. We'll say the Patriots had Three prime time games now one of those games later in the season Could be flexed The buffalo game could easily be flexed depending on how the Patriots are at that point The Baltimore game could be flexed depending on how the Patriots are at that point. The Baltimore game could be flexed depending on how the Patriots are at that point. But I would not be shocked if the Giants game ends up getting flexed out because it's a Monday night game.

It's week 13. And of course, the NFL can flex games out between weeks 12 and 17. So that's in the sweet spot. If the Giants think out loud, if Russell Wilson's not the answer, if Jameis Winston's not the answer, I don't know. But of course, maybe Jackson Dart will be the guy. And at that point, Jackson Dart's starting. And maybe the NFL says, yeah, we want Jackson Dart on Monday Night Football because he's a young, exciting quarterback. But I want to be shocked if that was flex. But it's a great sign that the Patriots are back in prime time multiple times this year, three prime time games, because that

means the NFL is taking them much more seriously than they did a year ago. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. On tomorrow's show, I'll have three other big schedule takeaways. Let me know your thoughts on today's topics. Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C Radio, and don't forget to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel. Thank you for making Lockdown Patriots your first listen today. And for your second listen, check out Lockdown NFL Scouting. Kyle Krabs, Joe Marino, they'll have a bunch of schedule talk, and

they will make you the most informed NFL fan this offseason find a lockdown NFL scouting on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts have a great day and we will see you tomorrow