Patriots Schedule Release Revealed; Who Does New England Play?

With next week's NFL Draft we can start penciling in players for the 2022 NFL season. And soon we can start marking our calendars for games. Maybe even new/old uniforms?

The NFL announced Thursday it will reveal the New England Patriots and rest of the league's full schedule May 12.

Mac Jones

Kendrick Bourne, Mac Jones

Mac Jones, Josh McDaniels

How does the scheduling format work?

Six games are made up from their AFC East opponents (home and away). Four are against teams from another division within the conference (rotating three-year cycle), with four being played against teams from an NFC division (rotating four-year cycle). Two games are played within AFC, based on the standings of the prior year. And finally one game will be played against an NFC team, also based on the prior year.

Bad news: New England will have nine road games because in the first season of the 17-game format, the Patriots had nine at home.

Since New England finished second in the AFC East, it will play the second-place schedule.

The Patriots' 2022 opponents:

Pat Patriot in 2022?

DeVante Parker

Malcolm Butler

Home: Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Indianapolis Colts

Away: Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Las Vegas Raiders, Arizona Cardinals

While the full schedule won't be released for three weeks, the NFL will reveal parts of the schedule earlier, beginning next week during the NFL Draft with the first Thursday Night Football matchup on Amazon Prime Video.

International games will be revealed May 4, and the Patriots could play one of the games. The Arizona Cardinals are expected to have a "home" game at Estadio Azteca this season, and the Patriots are a possible, attractive opponent.

Select games will also be revealed during the week of May 9 leading up to the full schedule release May 12.