Explaining Why Patriots Should Be Thrilled About Bye Week Timing

In 2024, the New England Patriots played an international game in Week 7 against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London. Their bye week was seven weeks later in Week 14, and smack dab in the middle of what became a six-game losing streak.

That alone is why the Patriots should be thrilled about where their bye week was placed in this year's schedule.

New England is heading overseas once again, this time a Week 10 bout with the Detroit Lions in Munich -- the second time in franchise history the Patriots will suit up for a game in Germany.

"I've never played overseas, so I'm excited to play overseas," Patriots free agent safety Mike Brown told reporters last week.

It's similar to the Patriots' schedule in 2023, when they traveled to Germany in Week 10 and got a bye week immediately after.

Traveling For Overseas Games Can Be Tough

When it comes to packing up the entire equipment closet, flying nearly 90 players across the Atlantic Ocean, adjusting to the time zone change in under a week's time, playing overseas cannot be a fun experience for some NFL players. You'd think that bye weeks would be worked into the international schedule, with teams getting them either right before or right after.

Nope, not at all.

Dec 28, 2024; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots linebacker Anfernee Jennings (33) on the sideline as they take on the Los Angeles Chargers in the second half at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images

It's a blessing for New England, especially when you consider all of the other teams that need to log thousands of flight miles for overseas games.

The Patriots may have a few tough pockets of games, including the first four to kick off the regular season and a few tough road matchups later in December. Those could have been good opportunuties to also get the bye week, to rest and recharge before and/or after hard games.

Instead, New England gets insanely lucky relative to the rest of the league -- and here's why.

How Each International Game Stacks Up With Bye Weeks:

Teams Playing International Games	Bye Week
San Francisco 49ers (Weeks 1, 11)	Week 8
Los Angeles Rams (Week 1)	Week 11
Baltimore Ravens (Week 3)	Week 13
Dallas Cowboys (Week 3)	Week 14
Indianapolis Colts (Week 4)	Week 13
Washington Commanders (Week 4)	Week 7
Philadelphia Eagles (Week 5)	Week 10
Jacksonville Jaguars (Weeks 5, 6)	Week 7
Houston Texans (Week 6)	Week 8
Pittsburgh Steelers (Week 6)	Week 9
New Orleans Saints (Week 7)	Week 8
Cincinnati Bengals (Week 8)	Week 6
Atlanta Falcons (Week 9)	Week 11
New England Patriots (Week 10)	Week 11
Detroit Lions (Week 10)	Week 6
Minnesota Vikings (Week 11)	Week 6

As you can see, only the Patriots, Jaguars and Saints receive a bye week right after playing an international game. The other 13 teams have to get back to the United States, recover and be prepared to play another game one week later.

That sounds exhausting.

I made a trip to the Patriots' 2023 game in Frankfurt against the Colts, and I was spent after getting back home. The long flight did a number on me, and I didn't play 60 minutes of football. Can you imagine what that must have been like for the players?

There's a lot of varying factors that go into an NFL schedule, and having the bye week be directly after the Patriots' game in Munich this year may not determine if they make a deep run or not.

But every little piece matters, and for the Patriots, it could matter a whole lot in 2026.

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