Getty Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes
As we’ve become accustomed to in previous years, the days/hours leading up to the release of the NFL schedule will draw a ton of attention and even quite a few leaks as well. Although the NFL surely does its best to keep bits and pieces of the schedule from trickling out, that’s almost never the case.
The league is set to run a show to reveal the games and breakdown the best matchups along the way. We’ll start there, by laying out how to watch the release, when the schedule is coming out and then updating the latest leaks which come to light.
When NFL Schedule Will Be Released: Date, Time & TV Coverage
Fans will know the full lineup of games for their teams on Wednesday, April 17 at 8 p.m. ET. According to NFL.com’s Kevin Patra, the league will make the full reveal on NFL Network at that time. The 17-week regular season will begin on September 5 and features a rivalry matchup to start off the action.
As ESPN’s Adam Schefter revealed, there will also be a two-hour SportsCenter special which is aired on ESPN2 in order to cover the release.
The NFL releases the actual schedule, so the TV coverage on ESPN will essentially cover the entirety of it and breakdown the games and matchups.
NFL Schedule Leaks 2019: What We Know
While the leaks typically come throughout the day of the actual release, there have been a few rumors and pieces of news already out. The league revealed that the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears will kick off the 2019 NFL season. This news came to light by NFL.com’s Grant Gordon, who points out that the opener will be in Chicago on September 5 at 8:20 p.m. ET.
Beyond that, Gordon revealed that the New England Patriots are slated to host the Sunday Night Football game in Week 1, but their opponent has yet to be revealed.
- Week 1: Green Bay Packers vs. Chicago Bears (Thursday Night Football)
- Week 1: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New England Patriots (Sunday Night Football) – via The Athletic’s Jeff Howe
The Patriots have a number of interesting potential opponents for that primetime slot, but rumblings point to the matchup being against the Kansas City Chiefs.
It’s also been revealed that the Chiefs will face the Los Angeles Chargers in Mexico City, which results in the loss of a home game for Los Angeles, per Kansas City’s website.
Another Chicago Bears Game Leaks
As Dan Wiederer and Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune revealed on Tuesday, the Bears are expected to play the Oakland Raiders in London on October 6. This news was originally brought to light by WGN-AM 720’s Harry Teinowitz.
Beyond that, John Ourand of Sports Business Daily revealed previously that the Bears are expected to travel to Detroit and face the Lions on Thanksgiving this season.
Running List of Rumored NFL Schedule Leaks
*Note: These have not been confirmed unless otherwise noted. Location of the report revealed next to each game.
UPDATE: The NFL leak account ‘NFL Schedule Leaks’ has revealed they were misinforming the public. Games have been updated to account for this.
TNF= Thursday Night Football
SNF= Sunday Night Football
MNF= Monday Night Football
Week 1
- Green Bay Packers vs. Chicago Bears (NFL.com confirmed) – TNF
- Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New England Patriots (The Athletic’s Jeff Howe) – SNF
- Houston Texans vs. New Orleans Saints (The Athletic’s Nick Underhill) – MNF
- Denver Broncos vs. Oakland Raiders (Mike Klis of 9News) – MNF
- Tennessee Titans vs. Cleveland Browns (NFL Schedule Leaks)
- Buffalo Bills vs. New York Jets (Manish Mehta of New York Daily News)
- Baltimore Ravens vs. Miami Dolphins (NFL Update)
- New York Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys (Ryan Dunleavy of NJ.com)
- San Francisco 49ers vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports)
- Kansas City Chiefs at Jacksonville Jaguars (NFL Update)
- Los Angeles Rams vs. Carolina Panthers (The Athletic’s Joe Person)
Week 2
- New England Patriots vs. Miami Dolphins (The Athletic’s Jeff Howe)
- Cleveland Browns vs. New York Jets (Manish Mehta of New York Daily News) – MNF
- New Orleans Saints vs. Los Angeles Rams (The Athletic’s Nick Underhill)
- Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers (Tom Silverstein of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
- Buffalo Bills vs. New York Giants (Art Stapleton of NorthJersey.com)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Carolina Panthers (The Athletic’s Joe Person) – TNF
Week 3
- Denver Broncos vs. Green Bay Packers (Marques Eversoll WDUZ)
- New York Jets vs. New England Patriots (NFL Update)
- New York Giants vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Art Stapleton of NorthJersey.com)
- Los Angeles Rams vs. Cleveland Browns (NFL Update) – SNF
Week 4
- New England Patriots vs. Buffalo Bills (The Athletic’s Jeff Howe)
- Dallas Cowboys vs. New Orleans Saints (NFL Update) – SNF
- Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears (Harry Teinowitz of WGN)
- Washington Redskins vs. New York Giants (Art Stapleton of NorthJersey.com)
Week 5
- Chicago Bears vs. Oakland Raiders (NFL UK) – London
- New York Jets vs. Philadelphia Eagles (Manish Mehta of New York Daily News)
- New England Patriots vs. Washington Redskins (The Athletic’s Jeff Howe)
- Minnesota Vikings vs. New York Giants (Art Stapleton of NorthJersey.com)
Week 6
- Carolina Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFL UK) – London
- New York Giants vs. New England Patriots (The Athletic’s Nick Underhill) – TNF
- Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Jets (Manish Mehta of New York Daily News)
- Detroit Lions vs. Green Bay Packers (Tom Silverstein of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) – MNF
Week 7
- New England Patriots vs. New York Jets (The Athletic’s Nick Underhill) – MNF
- Arizona Cardinals vs. New York Giants (Art Stapleton of NorthJersey.com)
Week 8
- Green Bay Packers vs. Kansas City Chiefs (Terez Paylor of Yahoo Sports) – SNF
- Cincinnati Bengals vs. Los Angeles Rams (NFL UK) – London
- Cleveland Browns vs. New England Patriots (NFL Update)
- New York Jets vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (Manish Mehta of New York Daily News)
- Miami Dolphins vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald) – MNF
- New York Giants at Detroit Lions (Art Stapleton of NorthJersey.com)
Week 9
- Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants (Art Stapleton of NorthJersey.com)
- Houston Texans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (NFL UK) – London
- Carolina Panthers vs. Green Bay Packers (Marques Eversoll WDUZ)
- New England Patriots vs. Baltimore Ravens (The Athletic’s Nick Underhill) – SNF
- New York Jets vs. Miami Dolphins (Manish Mehta of New York Daily News)
Week 10
- New York Giants vs. New York Jets (Manish Mehta of New York Daily News)
Week 11
- Kansas City Chiefs vs. Los Angeles Chargers (ESPN’s Adam Schefter) – Mexico City
- New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles (The Athletic’s Jeff Howe)
- New York Jets vs. Washington Redskins (Manish Mehta of New York Daily News)
Week 12
- Dallas Cowboys vs. New England Patriots (The Athletic’s Jeff Howe)
- Oakland Raiders vs. New York Jets (Manish Mehta of New York Daily News)
- New York Giants at Chicago Bears (Art Stapleton of NorthJersey.com)
Week 13
- Thanksgiving: Chicago Bears vs. Detroit Lions (Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune)
- Thanksgiving: TBD vs. Dallas Cowboys
- Thanksgiving: New Orleans Saints vs. Atlanta Falcons (NFL Update)
- New England Patriots vs. Houston Texans (The Athletic’s Nick Underhill) – SNF
- New York Jets vs. Cincinnati Bengals (Manish Mehta of New York Daily News)
- Green Bay Packers vs. New York Giants (Art Stapleton of NorthJersey.com)
Week 14
- Kansas City Chiefs vs. New England Patriots (The Athletic’s Jeff Howe)
- Miami Dolphins vs. New York Jets (Manish Mehta of New York Daily News)
- New York Giants vs. Philadelphia Eagles (Art Stapleton of NorthJersey.com)
Week 15
- New England Patriots vs. Cincinnati Bengals (The Athletic’s Jeff Howe)
- New York Jets vs. Baltimore Ravens (Manish Mehta of New York Daily News)
- Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers (Tom Silverstein of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
- Miami Dolphins vs. New York Giants (Art Stapleton of NorthJersey.com)
Week 16
- Buffalo Bills vs. New England Patriots (The Athletic’s Jeff Howe)
- Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New York Jets (Manish Mehta of New York Daily News)
- New York Giants vs. Washington Redskins (Art Stapleton of NorthJersey.com)
Week 17
- Miami Dolphins vs. New England Patriots (The Athletic’s Jeff Howe)
- New York Jets vs. Buffalo Bills (Manish Mehta of New York Daily News)
- Green Bay Packers vs. Detroit Lions (Zach Kruse of Packers Wire)
- Minnesota Vikings vs. Chicago Bears (due to Packers/Lions matchup)
- Philadelphia Eagles vs. New York Giants (Art Stapleton of NorthJersey.com)
- Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Redskins (due to Eagles/Giants game)
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