To the Super Bowl winner goes the spoils of opening the entire schedule at home. So the Los Angeles Rams will host the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night, Sept. 8, to begin the 2022 season.
It’s a juicy matchup of the team generally considered the title favorite by oddsmakers in the Bills traveling to SoFi Stadium, where the Rams won the championship over Cincinnati in February.
The Bengals are home to their division rivals, the Steelers, on Sunday, Sept. 11 when all but two other teams get started. Those two clubs playing on Monday night also offer an enticing storyline: Russell Wilson bringing his Broncos to Seattle. The Seahawks traded their longtime quarterback to Denver in the offseason.
The New England Patriots will open the season at Miami. Sunday’s prime-time game features Tom Brady – unless he retires again before September – and the Buccaneers at Dallas. Brady’s decision to unretire after a short hiatus forced NFL schedule makers to scramble and redo some of the game slots. The rest of the opening Sunday has some eye-opening matches, such as Jacksonville, with new coach Doug Pederson, at Washington, with new quarterback Carson Wentz. Pederson coached Wentz in Philadelphia and won a Super Bowl with the Eagles, although Nick Foles was behind center with Wentz injured.
Several key division matchups are on tap for Sept. 11: New Orleans at Atlanta, Indianapolis at Houston, Las Vegas at the Los Angeles Chargers and Green Bay at Minnesota. Also, it will be Cleveland at Carolina, San Francisco at Chicago, Philadelphia at Detroit, Baltimore at the New York Jets, Kansas City at Arizona, and the New York Giants at Tennessee.
The remainder of the entire schedule will be released later Thursday evening.
JAGUARS: No. 1 overall draft pick Travon Walker and Jacksonville agreed to terms on a four-year, $37.4 million contract that includes a $24.4 million signing bonus.
Walker’s deal is fully guaranteed and includes a team option for a fifth year, both standard for NFL first-round picks. He’s the 10th first-rounder from the 2022 draft under contract, including four of the first six selections. He will count $6.8 million against the team’s salary cap this fall.
BRONCOS: Wide receiver Jerry Jeudy , was arrested Thursday on a domestic violence-related charge in suburban Denver and was being held at the Arapahoe County Jail, which is next to the team’s training complex.
Jeudy, the Broncos’ first-round draft pick out of Alabama in 2020, was taken into custody on suspicion of second-degree criminal tampering with a domestic violence enhancer, a misdemeanor, the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office said. Arapahoe County Sheriff Tyler Brown called a news conference for Thursday evening to discuss the case.
HALL OF FAME: The Pro Football Hall of Fame has hired Anthony Muñoz as its first Chief Football Relationship Officer.
The hall said Thursday that the 1998 inductee will engage with current and prospective business partners and sponsors; be involved in philanthropic efforts for the museum; promoting the hall’s mission and initiatives. He will report directly to Hall of Fame President Jim Porter.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
