Patriots 2022 schedule release: New England to host Ravens in Week 3 home opener

New England Patriots fans will have to wait until late September to see their team take the field at Gillette Stadium for the first time. The team will start its 2022 regular season slate with back-to-back road games before the home opener in Week 3.

As was announced by the club two hours before the NFL’s official schedule release, New England will host the Baltimore Ravens that day. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. ET kickoff on September 25.

The Patriots and Ravens are no strangers to one another. While they met only twice in the last five years, their history is a storied one that includes four playoff meetings in a six-year span between the 2009 and 2014 seasons. While Baltimore won two of those, the recent history favored New England: the team has won four of five going back to the 2013 season.

Obviously, though, the teams set to meet this year look a lot different. But while quarterbacks Tom Brady and Joe Flacco are gone — replaced by Mac Jones on the Patriots’ side and Lamar Jackson on the Ravens’ — head coaches Bill Belichick and John Harbaugh are still leading the clubs.

Given their track record of excellence through the years, their meeting in September already projects as an exciting one. Of course, the Patriots will hope for a better home opener than last year’s — a Week 1 loss to the Miami Dolphins.

As for those back-to-back road games mentioned above: the Patriots will travel to Miami and Pittsburgh in Weeks 1 and 2, respectively.