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New York Times
14-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
How to watch the 2025 NFL schedule release on Wednesday night
It's something of a minor holiday for pro football obsessives and folks who ritualize stadium road trips. The NFL's 18-week regular-season schedule is revealed in full on Wednesday night, with updated slates for all 32 teams and a look at the primetime broadcast picks. Flights will be checked, group chats will pop off and way-too-early predictions will be made. Advertisement We already know a select few national TV matchups that the league has teased out — the Philadelphia Eagles, defending Super Bowl champions, will open the season against historic rivals in the Dallas Cowboys. Philly is also set to play the Chicago Bears on 'Black Friday.' Here's everything that's been confirmed ahead of Wednesday's complete announcement: Every NFL team plays 17 regular-season games and takes one bye week for rest. Here's a reminder on how these schedules are formed, using the reigning Lombardi Trophy holders as an example. As always, there are six divisional games — two meetings with each rival, one at home and one on the road. The Eagles have annual home-and-away sets with the Giants, Cowboys and Commanders. Then we add four total games against teams from an in-conference division — two at home and two on the road. Philadelphia, along with its NFC East peers, has drawn the NFC North this year. Hello, Vikings and Packers and Lions and Bears (oh my). Next, another four games versus an out-of-conference division — two at home and two on the road. The members of the NFC East face the AFC West squads this year. Woah, that means a Super Bowl rematch with the Chiefs, plus matchups with the Raiders, Broncos and Chargers. Then we tack on two games against teams from the remaining divisions in-conference — one game at home and one on the road. Matchups are determined by 2024 standings. The Eagles play the entire NFC East and North field this season, so the remainders here are the NFC West and South. Because the Eagles finished in first place, they'll take on fellow division winners in the Rams and the Buccaneers. The 17th game is a non-conference opponent outside of the scheduled division. NFC teams hosted this 17th game in 2024, so the AFC teams host it this year. Matchups are determined by 2024 standings. The Eagles are in the NFC, of course, and their corresponding non-conference division for 2025 is the AFC West. So, they could've drawn first-place teams from the AFC North, South or East. It's the East in this latest rotation, so Eagles-Bills. Advertisement Make sure you're following The Athletic's NFL desk, with the best coverage in the game and the sharpest football minds known to humankind. Now is the perfect time to read about the man behind this comprehensive scheduling process. He's on the verge of retirement and has an interesting story to tell. Streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication. (Photo by Patrick Smith / Getty Images)
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Iowa football DB Sebastian Castro could cash in as a top NFL Draft sleeper
The long line of Iowa Hawkeyes who have gone from underrecruited high school athletes to slept on NFL draft picks that ultimately blossom into not just NFL starters, but Pro Bowlers and Super Bowl Champions is one rich with tradition. This year, Iowa will have a full crop of individuals expected to go in the later rounds of the draft who will be given the opportunity to become a focal point for the NFL team lucky enough to draft them. One of those players comes from Iowa's always talented defense. Advertisement Defensive back Sebastian Castro, despite his experience and impressive film, is viewed as a top sleeper pick in the 2025 NFL Draft by Pro Football Focus. Sebastian Castro spent five years with the Hawkeyes and during his time there he appeared in 53 games, which allowed him to see different schemes and looks from offenses across the Big Ten. With the Hawkeyes under Phil Parker's defense, Castro tallied 163 career total tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 5 forced fumbles, 18 pass deflections, and 4 interceptions. He has a proven nose for the ball, comes from a defensive unit known for producing NFL talent, and is not afraid to play in the run game or pass game with his extreme versatility. Advertisement Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions. Follow Riley on X: @rileydonald This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa football DB Sebastian Castro a top NFL Draft sleeper
USA Today
13-02-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Give Brad Holmes time as he continues to build the Detroit Lions defense
One year ago, every Lions fan seemed to be calling for Brad Holmes to have a statue built outside of Ford Field. Much of that was due to the Lions finally winning meaningful games but also, Holmes was drafting impact players such as Brian Branch, Jahmyr Gibbs and Sam LaPorta. The famous phrase was 'Let Brad Cook!' The Lions let Brad cook but because he didn't win a Super Bowl this season, there's been plenty of fans calling for Holmes to improve the recipe. Specifically with developing a dominant defense. Much of this is the reaction is due to what the Philadelphia Eagles did with their defense this season. Before we go any further, can everyone take a breath for a second? Comparing what the Lions are building on defense is different from what the Eagles have been building on defense. The same goes for any other team you want to compare and contrast to the Lions. We should all know that. But using the Super Bowl Champions as the example. Let's go ahead and compare both defenses. Specifically, their defensive lines. In the process, let's remember we're using two different timelines between the Eagles and the Lions. Howie Roseman became the General Manager (GM) of the Eagles in 2010. As we all know, Brad Holmes became the GM of the Lions in the winter of 2021. Here's how Holmes constructed the Lions defensive line: 2021: DE Levi Onwuzurike — 2nd Round of the 2021 NFL Draft, DT Alim McNeill — 3rd Round of the 2021 NFL Draft 2022: DE Aidan Hutchinson — 1st Round of the 2022 NFL Draft, DE Josh Paschal — 2nd Round of the 2022 NFL Draft, DE/LB James Houston — 6th Round of the 2022 NFL Draft 2023: DT Brodric Martin — 3rd Round of the 2023 NFL Draft 2024: DT Mekhi Wingo — 6th Round of the 2024 NFL Draft In total, Holmes has drafted 7 defensive lineman in his four seasons with the Lions. Additionally, he's spent draft capital by trading for player such as Za'Darius Smith at this year's trade deadline. When he's not using draft capital, he's spent cap space on other players. That list includes, John Cominsky, D.J. Reader, Marcus Davenport and quite a few others. As for Roseman, here's the draft capital he's used on the defensive lineman that played in Super Bowl LIX against the Chiefs: 2010: DE Brandon Graham — 1st Round of the 2010 NFL Draft 2018: DE Josh Sweat — 4th Round of the 2018 NFL Draft 2021: DT Milton Williams — 3rd Round of the 2021 NFL Draft 2022: DT Jordan Davis — 1st Round of the 2022 NFL Draft 2023: DT Jalen Carter and DE/LB Nolan Smith — 1st Round of the 2023 NFL Draft, DE Moro Ojomo — 7th Round of the 2023 NFL Draft 2024: DE Jalyx Hunt — 3rd Round of the 2024 NFL Draft From that list above, they saw contributions from 8 total defensive lineman in the Super Bowl. None of those players were acquired through trading multiple draft picks or giving them $100 million dollar contracts. It was all through the draft. Throughout Roseman's tenure in Philadelphia, there has been plenty of trial and error with drafting defensive lineman. In total, Roseman has drafted 29 defensive lineman since 2010. That list also includes players such as Fletcher Cox, Vinny Curry, Shareef Miller, Derek Barnett, Kyron Johnson, Marlon Tuipulotu and plenty of others. Outside of having more attempts at finding the right fit for their defense, it's worth noting that the Eagles defensive line stayed healthy for a good portion of 2024. Yes, I know defensive end Brandon Graham tore his tricep in week 12 and needed surgery but he was able to return for the Super Bowl. Plenty of fans have wondered if Aidan Hutchinson would have been able to return if the Lions made the Super Bowl. Overall, that's the biggest difference between both teams from this season. One team was able to stay healthy (for the most part) and the other had injuries catch up with them at the worst time of the season. The Lions did their best to piece it all together with practice squad players and aging veterans but injuries to Hutchinson, McNeill, Cominsky, Davenport, Wingo and Peko made things incredibly difficult. That's not including what happened to their linebackers and defensive backs. While it would have been nice if the Lions would have traded for a player such as Danielle Hunter at the 2023 trade deadline, that wasn't exactly feasible. Detroit would have needed to give him a costly contract extension and they would have needed to convince their division rival, Minnesota Vikings, to trade their best pass rusher. The odds were slim to probably none. That's why the Lions made a move at this years trade deadline for Za'Darius Smith. The Browns wanted to move him and getting him was feasible but still difficult. Does that mean the Lions could trade for Myles Garrett this off-season? Yes, anything is possible. But the Browns do want to keep Garrett because it's costly for them to move him. Over the next two seasons, the Browns would have to pay $36.2 million dollars for Garrett to NOT be in Cleveland. Additionally, the Lions would need to ensure they can take on the Garrett contract while still being able to give extensions to players such as Aidan Hutchinson, Jameson Williams and others. Lastly, the Lions could have moved previous draft capital to acquire players such as Danielle Hunter, Chase Young or even Maxx Crosby. However, we need to remember that those moves would have prevented them from drafting impact players such as Jahmyr Gibbs, Sam LaPorta, Brian Branch and others. Oh, and one last thing. The Lions won 15 games this season. They have the most regular seasons wins over the last two seasons combined for any NFL team. And have they not won the NFC North in back-to-back seasons? Despite a disappointing end to a historic season, let's remember that this Detroit Lions team is well on their way to years of success. We're already seeing that success starting to mount. They're well built, they're well coached and eventually, it will all come together with them standing tall at the top of the mountain. Remain patient and most importantly, trust the process as we continue to give Brad Holmes time to build a winning franchise.
