Cotton candy, black jelly beans, and the Starbucks pink drink—these are several cloying and sugary things that fall spectacularly short of revenge’s ripe sweetness. What with all the pageantry surrounding tonight’s 2025 NFL schedule release, I thought I’d take a look at the full bill of games for the upcoming campaign and list out some of the best revenge games on the calendar.
In case anyone out there reading this article is unfamiliar with the concept of exacting transactional justice, the methodology for triangulating a revenge game on the calendar requires a nose for beef. I do recognize that beef is not sweet at all. Still. Which players have beef with former teams they’re scheduled to play? Which teams had close, high-stakes matchups last year that have the losers slavering for a rematch?
And, to quote Lord of the Rings, now that the schedule’s released and we’ve got specific dates for beef-squashing: “Meat’s back on the menu, boys!”
Here are my five favorite revenge games, with small accompanying blurbs, listed below.
2025 NFL schedule release: Best revenge games
Week 1: Baltimore Ravens at Buffalo Bills
Rematch of 2024 AFC Divisional Round
We are eternally grateful to the NFL for hitting us in the mouth right from the jump. Not many non-timed downs in football will be remembered more in the modern era than the failed two-point conversion attempt from Lamar Jackson to all-world-and-sure-handed tight end Mark Andrews. That he managed to drop such an easy lob ball with such little defender interference remains remarkable. And it sent the Bills to the AFC Championship game.
Probably good for the Ravens, psychologically, to get this one out of the way early. Week 1 football is some of the sloppiest football we’ll see. I’d bet the Ravens put a little extra juice in preparing for this one so they bring their best form to Orchard Park, where Bills Mafia eagerly awaits them.
Week 2: Philadelphia Eagles at Kansas City Chiefs
Super Bowl LIX rematch at Arrowhead
What more to say, here? This would only be more fun if it were the home opener in Philadelphia. But that’d be a bit too heavy-handed.
We all know the story of LIX. The Eagles ran away with it at the end. The Chiefs had no answer from the start. A lot of the LIX-winning Eagles defense has since packed their bags and headed elsewhere; Howie Roseman & co. filled those gaps in the draft.
Maybe the most interesting question here is whether or not the Kansas City Chiefs look any more watchable by Week 2, when they’re charged with hosting the current champions.
Week 9: Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills
Allen vs. Mahomes (again, and again, and again)
Smack dab in the middle of the season, and we get treated to the best quarterback duel we hope to see each AFC postseason. Allen vs. Mahomes. Steinfeld vs. Swift. Sinners vs. Tortured Poets.
It’s got it all! The gift that keeps on giving.
Week 11: Seattle Seahawks at Los Angeles Rams
Cooper Kupp returns to SoFi
There is no question whatsoever that Cooper Kupp has Christmas-dinner-sized beef with the Los Angeles Rams. The only question just how spicy it is—and I’m not sure we’ll ever know.
We do know that Kupp publicly stated—in his social media blast upon being informed that he’d be traded—that he disagreed with the decision. I’d go so far as to say he disagreed with a lot of the steps leading to the decision, too. A lot of the conversations had, or conversations avoided. Did the organizational business-of-it-all get so ugly that it tainted the storied relationship between Rams QB Matthew Stafford and Cooper—once breakfast buddies?
Other than Tyreek Hill’s cryptic tweets in Miami, this might be the most enigmatic as-of-yet-unsquashed beef in the entire league. Cooper Kupp has a bone to pick with the entire building.
Week 17: Houston Texans at Los Angeles Chargers
Justin Herbert’s chance to rise from the ashes
There’s a chance Justin Herbert has already played the most memorable game of his entire career. That’s if things go very wrong from here. Not many of us expect them to—Jim Harbaugh, the Chargers HC, is indeed a quarterback whisperer. There’s no reason to believe he can’t very meticulously spot-lobotomize Herbert so that he’s forgotten about the 2024 Wild Card loss to the Texans altogether. Herbert infamously threw four interceptions in that game, and was the primary reason his team lost. On paper, the Chargers were far better and had much more momentum than the Texans.
Oh—do you remember the joy on the faces of Herbert Haters, Inc.? The Chargers’ season ended after that game, so the runway folks had to just rake Herbo over the coals was limitless.
It’s in Week 17, too. Which means the Texans and the Chargers—both playoff-hopefuls for 2025—could be fighting for seeding, for a Wild Card spot, etc.
Bad news for the Chargers—the Texans only got better this offseason. So who’s got beef with who, here? Justin Herbert with Justin Herbert. Derek Stingley, Jr. with folks who believe he doesn’t own the deed to the Los Angeles Chargers, per se.
Here’s hoping it’s not just all handoffs to Najee/Omarion from the boys in electric blue.
