7h ago
Divisional rivalries, International Series, RedZone headline NFL's Week 1 action on TSN
The 2025 NFL season officially kicks off Thursday, Sept. 4 to begin an action-packed week on the TSN Network that includes seven games on the Week 1 slate and the highly-anticipated return of NFL RedZone.
TSN.ca Staff
The 2025 NFL season officially kicks off Thursday, Sept. 4 to begin an action-packed week on the TSN Network that includes seven games on the Week 1 slate and the highly-anticipated return of NFL RedZone.
Below is a list of all the games that can be seen on TSN this week and where to find them.
Thursday Night Football - Dallas Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Jalen Hurts and the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles begin their title defence on Thursday Night Football with a matchup against Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys.
The Eagles enter the new season with many returning roster pieces that took down the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, and will look to start off this season with a win over their heated NFC East rival Cowboys.
Saquon Barkley, who was recently ranked as the No. 1 player in the NFL, gets set for his second season with the Eagles after posting a 2,005-rushing yard, 13-touchdown campaign that helped earn him the 2024 Offensive Player of the Year award, the first of his career.
The Eagles went 14-3 last year, winning the division over the Washington Commanders. There has yet to be a repeat winner in the NFC East since 2003-04, but Philadelphia will look to make a statement in the early stages of the season and get off to a hot start to retain their divisional crown.
The 2024 season ended in disappointing fashion for the Cowboys, who missed the playoffs for the first time in four years and fired head coach Mike McCarthy after a five-year stint with the team.
Already dealing with a plethora of injuries to their defence, the Cowboys had their 2024 campaign derailed when Prescott sustained a season-ending hamstring injury in Week 9.
The three-time Pro Bowler is back to full health to begin the year and is set to run one of the highest-powered offences in the NFL featuring CeeDee Lamb, Jake Ferguson, and George Pickens.
Pickens, acquired from the Pittsburgh Steelers over the offseason, is set to make his season debut in Week 1 alongside running back Javonte Williams and newly-hired head coach Brian Schottenheimer, who has been charged with righting the ship in Dallas.
NFL International Series - Kansas City Chiefs vs. Los Angeles Chargers
The NFL's 2025 International Series also gets underway in Week 1 with the Kansas City Chiefs taking on Los Angeles Chargers in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Friday night.
The Chiefs won their third consecutive AFC title last season but were blown out by the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl to end their chances at becoming the first team in NFL history to three-peat as Super Bowl champions.
Patrick Mahomes and company have been nothing short of dominant against the Chargers in recent years, winning each of their last seven matchups against their AFC West rivals dating back to the 2021 season.
Kansas City will be without top receiver Rashee Rice, who accepted a six-game suspension from the league for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy, but the Chiefs still boast one of the best all-around rosters in the league with Travis Kelce, Isiah Pacheco, Xavier Worthy, Chris Jones, and Trent McDuffie all poised to play impact roles for Andy Reid's squad this year.
The Chargers returned to the playoffs in their first season under Jim Harbaugh last year, but were bounced in wild card by the Houston Texans.
Justin Herbert led the team to an 11-6 record in 2024, throwing for 3,870 yards, 23 touchdowns, and just three interceptions en route to a ninth-place finish in MVP voting.
Ladd McConkey is once again set to lead Los Angeles' receiver room following a 1,000-yard rookie season, while Najee Harris and 2025 first-rounder Omarion Hampton figure to form one of the deepest committee backfields in the NFL.
Los Angeles will look to break the trend of Chiefs dominance in front of a raucous Brazilian crowd that packed 47,236 fans into Corinthians Arena last year.
NFL RedZone returns on TSN+
NFL RedZone is back in action for Week 1, bringing fans seven hours of coverage from all around the league on Sunday.
Every score, turnover, and big play from both the 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. slates will be on display for viewers holding a subscription to TSN+.
Subscribe to TSN+ to watch NFL RedZone LIVE Sunday at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT.
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Cleveland Browns
Joe Burrow leads the Cincinnati Bengals into a divisional battle against Joe Flacco and the Cleveland Browns to begin their season on Sunday.
The Bengals missed the playoffs in 2024 for a second consecutive year despite career seasons from Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, and London, Ont. native Chase Brown.
Cincinnati's offence ranked among the top 10 in the league in stats such as points, yards, third-down conversions, and touchdowns scored, but were unable to make up for a 25th ranked defence that allowed 348.3 yards of total offence and 25.2 points per game.
The Bengals replaced defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo with Al Golden, while also re-signing Tee Higgins and Chase this offseason. As well, Cincinnati gave star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson a sizeable pay raise to end his months long contract dispute and drafted Texas A&M standout Shemar Stewart to shore up what was a shaky defensive unit in 2024.
Head coach Zac Taylor enters the season with two more years remaining on his deal, but could potentially be on the hot seat if the team gets off to another one of their patented slow starts. Under Taylor, Cincinnati has gone 1-11 over the first two weeks of the season and are 7-14-1 in the month of September with him at the helm.
Cleveland is coming off of a disappointing 3-14 season in 2024, but have since re-signed 2023 Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett to a four-year, $160 million deal while drafting an impressive crop of rookies in this year's draft.
Mason Graham and Dylan Sampson are expected to be see time on the field early on, while 2024 Heisman Trophy finalist Dillon Gabriel or Shedeur Sanders could be called upon under centre before season's end. Quinshon Judkins, a second-round pick out of Ohio State, has yet to sign his rookie deal in the wake of off-field legal troubles, but head coach Kevin Stefanski has yet to close the door on the possibility of him logging snaps this season.
Cleveland has reunited with Joe Flacco, who won Comeback Player of the Year and led the team to the playoffs in 2023, while Jerry Jeudy, Cedric Tillman, and David Njoku are all set to feature heavily in their offence.
Flacco's first test comes against the Bengals in Week 1, who swept the season series 2-0 last year.
Miami Dolphins vs. Indianapolis Colts on TSN+
Tyreek Hill and the Miami Dolphins open their 2025 season with a road matchup against Jonathan Taylor and the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
Subscribe to TSN+ to watch the Dolphins play the Colts LIVE Sunday at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT.
The Dolphins and Colts finished with identical 8-9 records last season, finishing ninth and 10th in the conference while both missing out on the wild card.
Tua Tagovailoa enters the year with a cast of familiar faces on offence, as Hill, Jayden Waddle, and De'Von Achane should reprise their roles in Mike McDaniel's pass-heavy offence.
On the defensive side of the ball, Miami shook things up this offseason by trading Jalen Ramsey for Minkah Fitzpatrick and adding Pro-Bowl linebacker Matthew Judon in free agency.
Miami had made the playoffs in each of McDaniel's first two seasons as head coach before missing out last year, and will look to get back on track in 2025 beginning with a matchup against the Colts.
Indianapolis will be starting their 11th starting quarterback since Andrew Luck's retirement in 2019 after head coach Shane Steichen named Daniel Jones the starter following a training camp battle between him and the incumbent Anthony Richardson.
Taylor figures to be the focal point of the offence once again after his third career season of posting over 1,000 rushing yards, while Michael Pittman Jr., Josh Downs, and rookie tight end Tyler Warren should handle most of the pass-catching duties.
The Colts have not won a playoff game since the 2018 season and have not won the AFC South in over a decade, with both of those feats last coming with Luck under centre.
A porous secondary from last year has been overhauled with the signings of Charvarius Ward, Cameron Bynum, and Xavien Howard, while also adding Mekhi Blackmon via trade from the Minnesota Vikings.
Indianapolis will once again place their trust in a different quarterback to begin the new year, and his chance to make an impression on his new team will come in front of a home crowd in Week 1.
San Francisco 49ers vs. Seattle Seahawks
The action continues into the late afternoon on Sunday as Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers start the 2025 campaign with a matchup against Sam Darnold and the new-look Seattle Seahawks.
San Francisco was bitten by the injury bug early and often last year, with Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk, Trent Williams, Javon Hargrave, and first-round pick Ricky Pearsall all missing significant time over the course of the season with a variety of ailments.
Purdy, fresh off of a five-year, $265 million extension signed over the offseason, will now look to lead a healthier 49ers team back to the playoffs after finishing last in the division at 6-11 in 2024.
George Kittle and Fred Warner also inked lucrative extensions over the summer, which meant that the team had to cut costs and part ways with a number of players from their 2023 NFC Championship team, including Deebo Samuel, Jordan Mason, Dre Greenlaw, Charvarius Ward, Aaron Banks, and Talanoa Hufanga.
The Niners still boast enough talent to contend in the NFC, but Purdy and head coach Kyle Shanahan will have their work cut out for them in the early stages of the season while Aiyuk begins the year on the physically unable to perform list.
Like their division rivals, the Seahawks also failed to qualify for the playoffs last season, finishing one game out of the wild card at 10-7.
Seattle made some big changes to their offence, letting Geno Smith and Tyler Lockett walk in free agency, while trading top receiver DK Metcalf to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a 2025 second-round pick.
The Seahawks signed Sam Darnold, Cooper Kupp, and DeMarcus Lawrence in free agency in the hopes of getting back to the postseason for the first time in three years.
Darnold served as Purdy's backup in San Francisco during the 2023 season, making one start and five appearances before signing with the Minnesota Vikings and posting a career year with 4,139 passing yards, 35 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions.
The pair now go head-to-head in a divisional game to get their 2025 seasons underway.
Sunday Night Football - Baltimore Ravens vs. Buffalo Bills
Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens square off against Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills on Sunday Night Football in a rematch of last year's thrilling AFC Divisional Round matchup..
Allen and the Bills came away with a razor-thin 27-25 victory over the Ravens, thanks in part to a dropped two-point conversion by Mark Andrews with less than two minutes remaining in regulation, just minutes after after fumbling earlier in the fourth quarter.
The Bills would go on to fall to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game one week later, but 2024 marked the first time Buffalo had made it to championship weekend since the 2020 season.
Allen took home his first career NFL MVP award after throwing for 3,371 yards, 28 touchdowns, and six interceptions, while also adding anther 531 yards and 12 scores on the ground.
The Bills have won the AFC East in each of the past five seasons and are heavy favourites to do so again this year.
While the Ravens' season ended on a sour note, they once again enter the season with a promising roster highlighted by Jackson, Derrick Henry, Zay Flowers, Kyle Hamilton, and Roquan Smith.
Henry’s addition to the Ravens’ backfield resulted in a 1,921 yard season to go along with 16 touchdowns, his second best single-season marks after his Offensive Player of the Year award win in 2020.
Both Buffalo and Baltimore appear set to challenge Kansas City's dominance of the AFC come playoff time, but the pair will each look to make a statement with the rest of the league watching on primetime.
Monday Night Football - Minnesota Vikings vs. Chicago Bears
A stacked Week 1 slate comes to a close on Monday Night Football with yet another divisional game, this time coming in the ultra-competitive NFC North, as Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears play host to Justin Jefferson and the Minnesota Vikings.
While the Bears missed out on the playoffs as part of a hectic season that saw head coach Matt Eberflus fired the day after American Thanksgiving, the Vikings were able to grab a wild card spot before being eliminated in the opening round by the Los Angeles Rams.
Vikings management made the decision to move on from Sam Darnold after a career season, handing 2024 10th overall pick J.J. McCarthy the keys to the franchise as their new starting quarterback.
McCarthy, a national champion in his time at Michigan, is set for his first career regular season start for the Vikings after a torn meniscus last summer kept him sidelined for the entirety of his rookie year.
He will take over an offence headlined by Jefferson, T.J. Hockenson, Jordan Addison, Jordan Mason, and Aaron Jones.
Kevin O’Connell has earned himself the reputation of a quarterback whisperer in recent years after having success with both Darnold and Kirk Cousins, but it remains to be seen what kind of success he can have with a 22-year-old quarterback in a what should be a one of the best division in the NFL.
Also debuting on Monday Night Football is head coach Ben Johnson, who left his offensive coordinator position with the Detroit Lions for Chicago over the offseason.
Johnson’s hiring was seen as a stark improvement for Williams' development, the top overall selection in last year’s draft, over the defensive-minded Eberflus.
The Bears have never had a quarterback throw for over 4,000 yards at any point in their lengthy franchise history, but Williams stated this offseason that the benchmark is a “goal” of his for this upcoming year.
Chicago lost 10 out of 11 games to end a disappointing 2024 season, but with a full offseason for both Williams and 2024 ninth overll pick Rome Odunze, the Bears should be a mich better team on the offensive side of the ball and could pose a threat to a number of teams, perhaps even contending for a playoff spot for the first time since 2020.