Because the Patriots have become a laughing stock team in the NFL over the last few seasons, it has prompted the league to take away primetime games from their schedule. They were once a team shown on national television the most every season, despite being a team that every fanbase out of New England absolutely despised.
But they were still a cash cow and a winning team, so they made for good television. Over the last three seasons, that hasn't been the case, so much so that their primetime game against the Chiefs during the 2023 season was unprecedentedly moved to Sunday afternoon from Monday night, further proving they weren't the Patriots of old anymore.
That led to just one primetime game during the 2024 season, a Thursday Night Football matchup with the Jets early in the year. Given that they have a new head coach and a promising young quarterback, the assumption has been that they will be shown in that national timeslot more this fall, and that appears to be accurate with the 2025 schedule release.
The Patriots will be highlighted in primetime again in 2025
With Mike Vrabel in the building to revitalize the team and Drake Maye under center ready to lead them to success, the Patriots are expected to be a fascinating team to watch again, for much different reasons than they have been in a long time.
For many reasons, they weren't enjoyable during the 2024 season, with the apparent dysfunction being the most prominent of all. Even diehard fans weren't interested in watching their likely implosion, regardless of Maye's exciting showing every week.
However, that's not projected to be an issue under Vrabel, who has been awarded two primetime games by the NFL for the 2025 season. They are set to take on the Jets on Thursday Night Football in Week 11 and the Giants on Monday Night Football in Week 13.
The Jets are a team hoping to recover from the failed Aaron Rodgers experiment, similar to the Patriots this year after the Mayo era ended. They will have a new head coach to lead the way. Their longtime rivalry will be on full display again this year on Thursday Night, followed two weeks later by the storied history with the Giants on Monday Night.
The Patriots will have (at least) two solid chances to show the rest of the league how far they've come and the kind of team they hope to be when all of America is watching. Fortunately, there's a good chance they could walk off the field with a win against these two New York teams, which makes the pressure of primetime much more worth it.
UPDATE:
Current rumors suggest the Patriots will face the Buffalo Bills in Week 5 on Sunday Night football.
*Article will be updated as soon as the final number of primetime games is announced