The NFL released its 272-game schedule on Wednesday night for its 2025 regular season, which will kick off on Sept. 4 and conclude on Jan. 4.
The schedule features tripleheaders on Thanksgiving and Christmas, a Black Friday game and a regular slate of Monday night and Thursday night contests. In December, there’ll be three Saturdays with NFL games.
The seven international contests include the first games in Ireland, Spain and Berlin as well as the second in Brazil and three more in London.
It’s possible there won’t be an NFL game this season that doesn’t have a player from an Alabama high school or college on the field. With almost four months until the season’s kickoff, some of those games already have storylines. Here are 10 such games involving players with Alabama football roots:
**Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles: Thursday, Sept. 4**
The NFL’s 2025 season will kick off with the 2024 champion Eagles taking on an NFC East rival in a Thursday night game. Each team used its first-round pick in the 2025 draft on an Alabama player, so the contest could mark the NFL debut for Dallas guard Tyler Booker, the 12th pick, and Philadelphia linebacker Jihaad Campbell, the 31st pick. Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs (Alabama) is expected to be ready after missing six games in 2024 and undergoing knee surgery in January. Five of Diggs’ 20 interceptions have come against the Eagles.
**Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers: Sunday, Sept. 7**
When the fans at Lambeau Field last saw Brian Branch (Alabama), the Lions safety was leaving the Frozen Tundra with arms held high as he flipped off the stadium. Branch was leaving the field because he had been ejected from the game for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Packers receiver Bo Melton.
**Philadelphia Eagles at Kansas City Chiefs: Sunday, Sept. 14**
The Eagles defeated the Chiefs 40-22 in the teams’ previous meeting – Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9. Philadelphia quarterback Jalen Hurts (Alabama) won the MVP Award for that contest. Hurts also had an outstanding showing when the teams squared off in Super Bowl LVII, which Kansas City won 38-35 on Feb. 12, 2023. And in the teams’ previous meeting before that championship contest, Hurts threw for a career-high 387 yards, but the Chiefs posted a 42-30 victory on Oct. 3, 2021. In the three games, Hurts completed 76-of-108 passes for 912 yards with five touchdowns and one interception and ran for 189 yards and four touchdowns on 34 carries.
**Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens: Sunday, Oct. 5**
During eight seasons with the Tennessee Titans, running back Derrick Henry (Alabama) terrorized the other teams in the AFC South. When Henry left in free agency for the Ravens last offseason, the division was almost done with him. The Houston Texans were Baltimore’s AFC South opponent last season, and Henry ran for 147 yards and one touchdown on 27 carries in the Ravens’ 31-2 victory. The Texans are representing the AFC South on Baltimore’s schedule again in 2025, giving Henry the opportunity for an eighth 100-yard game against Houston.
**Cincinnati Bengals at Green Bay Packers: Sunday, Oct. 12**
Cincinnati wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase led the NFL in receptions, receiving yards and touchdown receptions last season and has 5,425 receiving yards since joining the Bengals from LSU as the fifth choice in the 2021 NFL Draft. While with the Bayou Bengals, Chase faced Alabama twice. In the first meeting, he didn’t have a reception in the Crimson Tide’s 29-0 victory on Nov. 3, 2018. The next season, Chase had six receptions for 140 yards and one touchdown in LSU’s 46-41 victory over Alabama in a showdown of unbeaten teams on Nov. 9, 2019. The same quarterback who threw to Chase in those games will be doing the passing for Cincinnati – Joe Burrow. And they’ll be opposed in the secondary by Xavier McKinney again. This will be the safety’s first game against Chase since the SEC contests. McKinney had four tackles and a pass breakup in the 2018 game and 13 tackles and two sacks in the 2019 contest for Alabama.
**Baltimore Ravens at Miami Dolphins: Thursday, Oct. 30**
In the past two Ravens-Dolphins meetings, Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (Alabama) has thrown for 698 yards and eight touchdowns and Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson has thrown for 639 yards and eight touchdowns. The Dolphins won 42-38 on Sept. 18, 2022, and the Ravens won 56-19 on Dec. 31, 2023.
**Denver Broncos at Houston Texans: Sunday, Nov. 2**
Houston defensive end Will Anderson Jr. (Alabama) and Denver quarterback Bo Nix (Pinson Valley, Auburn) went right into NFL lineups as first-round draft picks – Anderson at No. 3 in 2023 and Nix at No. 12 in 2024. They squared off in one Iron Bowl – the Crimson Tide’s 42-13 victory on Nov. 28 – and Anderson sacked Nix in that contest. Anderson has 22.5 sacks in 33 regular-season and playoff games in his two NFL seasons.
**Pittsburgh Steelers at Los Angeles Chargers: Sunday, Nov. 9**
The Steelers could have made sure they had Najee Harris (Alabama) in their backfield in 2025 last offseason, but Pittsburgh declined to pick up its option on the first-round running back’s contract. Harris responded by posting his fourth consecutive 1,000-yard season since he joined the Steelers in 2021. Then Pittsburgh let Harris walk in free agency as he signed a one-year contract with the Chargers for $5.25 million, ranking him 17th on the running-back pay chart for the 2025 season.
**New England Patriots at Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Sunday, Nov. 9**
Carlton Davis’ homecoming game comes with New England after a season with Detroit. The Buccaneers traded the cornerback to the Lions last offseason with one season remaining on his contract after he’d spent six seasons in the team’s secondary. That paid off in a three-year, $54 million deal with the Patriots this offseason. The game also reunites Dean and Tampa Bay cornerback Jamel Dean at Raymond James Stadium. After being teammates at Auburn, the defensive backs were teammates for five seasons with the Bucs.
**Washington Commanders at Minnesota Vikings: Sunday, Dec. 7**
Defensive lineman Jonathan Allen (Alabama) played eight seasons for Washington and earned Pro Bowl recognition twice. Last season, Allen sustained a pectoral injury on Oct. 13 that was supposed to sideline him for the rest of the campaign. Instead, Allen battled back to play in the final two regular-season games and the Commanders’ three playoff contests. Then Washington released him on March 7 for $16.471 million in salary-cap savings.
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_Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at_ [@_AMarkG1_](https://twitter.com/AMarkG1).