NFL Schedule Release: Ranking the best Sunday Night Football games

As if football fans couldn’t get enough of the sport throughout the day, there’s one more treat of a tilt waiting for them on Sunday night. It’s the perfect way to round out a full day of action, and usually features some of the most competitive teams in the league. We’ll rank the most attractive Sunday Night games this upcoming season from worst to first.

A lot of the interest in this game will be determined by whether or not Denver can recover from a brutal 2022 season. However, there’s also the possibility that Minnesota’s high powered offense can be limited by a strong Broncos defense, cold weather and high altitude. This matchup has a lot of “if’s” it’ll need to answer for.

For the better part of two decades, the Steelers have been one of the most competitive teams in the AFC. Their streak of finishing seasons over .500 is well documented, but they’ve transitioned to a more conservative style of play since drafting Kenny Pickett. Las Vegas’ style of play remains to be seen, as the organization incorporates new quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.

These two teams know each other extremely well, and usually have gameplans that effectively hinder what the other does well. The Dolphins and Patriots have played close, lower scoring games in recent years, and we can expect that to be the blueprint for Week 2’s matchup as well. Strategy will factor into this contest heavily, and one big play might make all the difference.

The Chiefs are an automatic win from a primetime TV draw perspective, and Lambeau Field always plays well as the season heads into the winter months. However, we don’t know how well Jordan Love will command Green Bay’s offense, giving this matchup the potential to be a blowout. Love was compared to Patrick Mahomes coming out of college as well.

Pittsburgh has been the class of the AFC North for a long time, but Cincinnati looks poised to control the division for the next decade. The Steelers always come to play, but the Bengals are immensely more talented at this point. It wouldn’t be surprising for Pittsburgh to try and bleed out the clock in hopes of dominating time of possession.

The NFL is leaving the door open for the possibility that Green Bay won’t miss much of a beat without Aaron Rodgers, as evidenced by their choice to highlight this game in the second to last week of the year. This might be a good matchup for Jordan Love, as the Vikings had one of the worst defenses in the league last season.

This game technically isn’t on Sunday night, as the Lions and Chiefs will square off on Thursday night to open the season(but it’s part of the Sunday night package). Technicalities aside, it will be fun to watch the Chiefs raise a championship banner in front of the Arrowhead Stadium faithful. Detroit will hope to keep it close for four quarters.

Two of the league’s blue blood franchises square off in Week 5, but this classic “rivalry” has been anything but in the last two years. Dallas has been knocked out of the postseason in each of the last two years by San Francisco, and it seems clear that the 49ers are the superior team. The Cowboys will hope to exact some measure of revenge during the regular season.

This game can be branded “The Brian Daboll Bowl”. Daboll was the offensive coordinator in Buffalo during Josh Allen’s early years, and deserves credit for his ascension to star status. Daboll now coaches the Giants, and will look to achieve the same level of success with Daniel Jones. It’ll be interesting to see if New York can slow Allen down with Daboll’s previous familiarity.

Seattle boasts one of the best homefield advantages in the NFL, as their 12^th man rabid fan base brings the noise. It’s difficult for opposing offenses to operate verbally there, so they’ll often adjust by going to a silent count. San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan seems to have an answer for most potential hurdles, and will likely have something ready for this contest as well.

The first actual Sunday night game of the season features two NFC East teams, as Dallas will head north to face the Giants. The loser of this game will be subject to week-long questions centered around whether the season is over before it ever began. New York will be tested against Dallas’ ultra-skilled defense.

NFL fans can throw out the records for this game, as this Chicago-Los Angeles contest figures to be an appealing contest. These teams will not have to deal with the elements, which should allow quarterbacks Justin Fields and Justin Herbert to have a field day on the ground and in the air. Don’t be surprised if this game eclipses its over total by the third quarter.

The broadcast is sure to mention the “Heidi Bowl” played by these two teams in 1968. The game ended in thrilling fashion with a 43-32 final score, but most people didn’t see it because the network cut away to a movie called “Heidi”. There doesn’t seem to be a significant risk of that happening this time around.

The Ravens will head to Jacksonville in what will be a matchup of an exciting game that was played in the 2022 season. Baltimore seemed to have the game well in hand, but the Jaguars came back to take a late lead. Ravens kicker Justin Tucker tried to launch a deep field goal as time expired but it landed a bit short.

This should be a tremendous matchup between a team that has entrenched itself as an AFC powerhouse, and a franchise looking to take the leap in 2023. New York feels confident with its acquisition of future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers, who will hope to go throw for throw with Patrick Mahomes in this tilt.

Two of 2022’s most explosive offenses will meet in Week 7, as the Dolphins will square off with the Eagles. Wide receivers A.J. Brown, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and Devonta Smith all have a chance to go off. Additionally, both quarterbacks were teammates at Alabama, Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa and Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts.

Los Angeles will get its fair share of exposure to rushing quarterbacks on Sunday Night Football, as they’ll welcome Baltimore into town in Week 12. These teams go about offensive football very differently, but are dynamic in their own way. This will be an important game that will help shape the AFC playoff picture.

The Eagles got off to a massive start in the 2022 season, putting the Cowboys and everyone else in their rear-view mirror. Dallas will hope to close the gap in 2023, and this late-season contest at home will be a prime opportunity to do so. Philadelphia will hope to maintain their level of dominance.

This game figures to be great based on the ability on the field, and because it’s a rematch of last year’s playoff game. However, this will also be a rematch in the location of the frightening Damar Hamlin incident took place. There will be a lot of emotion surrounding this game on both sides, and for viewers at home.