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2018 NFL Schedule Leaks: Latest Rumors Ahead of Official Release
On April 19 at 8 p.m. ET the
NFL will release the 2018 schedule for every team. We've known for months who each team's opponents are, but we have yet to find out the schedule.
As the schedule release approaches, bits and pieces of news come out about the schedule. Whether it's potential opponents for certain weeks, which teams will be playing abroad or if there are any time shifts for prime-time game.
Below, we'll look at these reports and examine them.
There will be a
two-hour special starting at 8 p.m. on the NFL Network for the schedule release.
Eagles to Open Against Vikings
According to Howard Eskin of Fox29 Philadelphia
, the Philadelphia Eagles are set to host the Minnesota Vikings on September 6 to open the season in a rematch of the NFC Championship Game:
While it will technically be a rematch for the teams, the personnel will look a little different, most notably at quarterback.
For the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles, they'll hope to have Carson Wentz back under center.
For the Vikings, they'll look to have quarterback Kirk Cousins lead them to a victory in a hostile Philly environment.
We knew the Eagles were going to open up the season since they're champions, but it was unclear who they would face.
A rematch with the Vikings is deserving of this slot as it should be a competitive game. Let's just hope it won't be a repeat of the Eagles 38-7 shellacking over the Vikings.
All Prime-time Games to Start Sooner
Well this should make football fans happy.
According to
Ben Volin of the
Boston Globe, all NFL prime-time games will start a bit earlier.
Here's the breakdown Volin has reported:
Of course, this is a win-win for everyone as those extra few minutes do make a difference.
The 15 minutes taken off of
Monday Night Football could lead to games ending closer to 11 p.m. than midnight eastern time.
It's not confirmed why this scheduling change was made, but an educated guess would be in an attempt to try to restore ratings a bit.
As Volin noted in his tweet, the east coast football fans can't always stay up until midnight watching football for various reasons like going to work the next day.
This was a great move by the NFL, and it will hopefully lead to more people staying up to finish the game.
Mexico City Game Revealed
For the third consecutive year, the NFL is going to head south of the border to play in Mexico City.
The yearly affair resurfaced in 2016 after being on a hiatus since 2005.
According to
ESPN Mexico [h/t
RamsWire],the Los Angeles Rams and Kansas City Chiefs will meet on November 19 on
Monday Night Football in Mexico City.
This will be a fantastic opportunity for the NFL to showcase its product in Mexico as both the Chiefs and Rams should be fairly competitive in 2018, especially the Rams.
Most notably it will be in Patrick Mahomes' second-year with the Chiefs, but it will be his first full season as the starting quarterback.
The Rams will also have newcomers Ndamukong Suh and Brandin Cooks to showcase, too.
But most notably, we'll see the returns of two players against their former teams. Cornerback Marcus Peters, formerly of the Chiefs, and wide receiver Sammy Watkins who signed this offseason with the Chiefs.
This has the makings of another great example of prime-time football.