New England Patriots’ most likely 2019 primetime games

The New England Patriots are used to playing under the bright lights of primetime television the past 20 years, and this season should be no different.

The New England Patriots played five games in primetime last year – against the Lions, the Colts, the Chiefs, the Bills, and the Packers, all before their bye in Week 11. Especially now that the team just won another Super Bowl, it’s a safe bet that they’ll probably once again receive the opportunity to play five of their 16 games on primetime.

New England is one of the most popular, highest-valued franchises in the NFL. Even people who don’t love the Patriots love to hate them, which makes any game featuring pro football’s resident “evil empire” must-see television. As long as the greatest quarterback-head coach combo in league history continue to call One Patriot Place their home, the rest of the world will continue to tune in to New England football.

The Patriots caught a bit of a break this offseason when their 2019 regular season opponents were announced, and the list ended up ranking as one of the easiest schedules in the NFL based off of 2018 winning percentages. Obviously last year is last year, and there’s always a chance that same schedule could end up representing one of the hardest slates by the end of December.

But for the time being at least, New England shouldn’t have too hard a time seeking a way back to their fifth Super Bowl appearance in the last six years (the Patriots have won three of four in the past five seasons).

While we probably won’t know the exact order of opponents and the time of those games for at least another couple of weeks, it’s never too early to start speculating as to which matchups could find themselves highlighted as part of the NFL’s primetime agenda of events.