The Patriots will play five games this season in front of a national TV audience.
New England's 2022 schedule became official Thursday night, and with it arrived details on four primetime matchups. The first primetime game is a Monday night matchup with the Chicago Bears in Week 7, whereas the other four will take place consecutively in the second half of the season.
Here they are:
Week 7: vs. Chicago Bears -- Monday night
Week 12: at Minnesota Vikings -- Thursday night (Thanksgiving)
Week 13: vs. Buffalo Bills -- Thursday night
Week 14: at Arizona Cardinals -- Monday night
Week 15: at Las Vegas Raiders -- Sunday night
Note: Amazon now owns the broadcasting rights for "Thursday Night Football," but only will carry the Week 13 Bills-Patriots game. NBC will handle the Thanksgiving evening matchup in Minnesota, as well as the "Sunday Night Football" broadcast in Vegas. ESPN will carry New England's two "Monday Night Football" games.
And here's the full Patriots schedule, in case you haven't seen it:
Preseason
Week 1: vs. New York Giants
Week 2: vs. Carolina Panthers
Week 3: at Raiders
Regular season
Week 1: at Miami Dolphins
Week 2: at Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 3: vs. Baltimore Ravens
Week 4: at Green Bay Packers
Week 5: vs. Detroit Lions
Week 6: at Cleveland Browns
Week 7: vs. Bears
Week 8: at New York Jets
Week 9: vs. Indianapolis Colts
Week 10: BYE
Week 11: vs. Jets
Week 12: at Vikings
Week 13: vs. Bills
Week 14: at Arizona Cardinals
Week 15: at Raiders
Week 16: vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Week 17: vs. Dolphins
Week 18: at Bills
That's a tough slate for New England, no matter how you slice it.
The first three games all will be played at 1 p.m. This also marks the first time the Patriots have opened on the road since 2016 and the first time they've opened with back-to-back road games since 2014.
Follow NESN.com throughout the week for more updates and analysis on New England's 2022 schedule.
