2018 New England Patriots Schedule: Full Listing of Dates, Times and TV Info

The path to the next Super Bowl is now set for the New England Patriots.

It is seemingly a foregone conclusion Tom Brady and the Patriots will be in the playoffs after reaching the Super Bowl in three of the last four years and winning two Lombardi Trophies in that span. They also have nine straight AFC East crowns and captured the division 14 of the last 15 seasons.

They now know the opponents they will need to go through to add to that list of accomplishments in 2018 following Thursday's schedule release, per NFL.com.

Here is a look at New England's 2018 slate.

Patriots' 2018 Schedule

Week 1: vs. Houston Texans on Sept. 9 at 1 p.m. ET on CBS

Week 2: at Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 16 at 4:25 p.m. ET on CBS

Week 3: at Detroit Lions on Sept. 23 at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC

Week 4: vs. Miami Dolphins on Sept. 30 at 1 p.m. ET on CBS

Week 5: vs. Indianapolis Colts on Oct. 4 at 8:20 p.m. ET on Fox/NFL Network

Week 6: vs. Kansas City Chiefs on Oct. 14 at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC

Week 7: at Chicago Bears on Oct. 21 at 1 p.m. ET on CBS

Week 8: at Buffalo Bills on Oct. 29 at 8:15 p.m. ET on ESPN

Week 9: vs. Green Bay Packers on Nov. 4 at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC

Week 10: at Tennessee Titans on Nov. 11 at 1 p.m. ET on CBS

Week 11: Bye week

Week 12: at New York Jets on Nov. 25 at 1 p.m. ET on CBS

Week 13: vs. Minnesota Vikings on Dec. 2 at 4:25 p.m. ET on Fox

Week 14: at Miami Dolphins on Dec. 9 at 1 p.m. ET on CBS

Week 15: at Pittsburgh Steelers on Dec. 16 at 4:25 p.m. ET on CBS

Week 16: vs. Buffalo Bills on Dec. 23 at 1 p.m. ET on CBS

Week 17: vs. New York Jets on Dec. 30 at 1 p.m. ET on CBS

Analysis

The Patriots are going to look different in 2018.

The Miami Dolphins signed wide receiver Danny Amendola, the New York Giants signed offensive tackle Nate Solder and the Tennessee Titans signed running back Dion Lewis. The Titans also added cornerback Malcolm Butler after he was benched on defense during the Super Bowl.

Butler wasn't the only impact player the Patriots lost, as they traded wide receiver Brandin Cooks to the Los Angeles Rams.

It wasn't all personnel losses for New England. The team traded for Cordarrelle Patterson, signed Jordan Matthews and will have wide receiver Julian Edelman back after he missed the 2017 campaign with a torn ACL.

Even with the roster upheaval, the presence of Brady, tight end Rob Gronkowski and head coach Bill Belichick makes it difficult to envision any other team winning the AFC East this season.

That is assuming Brady and Gronkowski will still be playing, which is apparently not a guarantee at this point. Adam Schefter of ESPN reported Wednesday the signal-caller "still has not committed to playing in 2018, even though people who know him believe he will be back for the coming season." Schefter also reported Gronkowski hasn't officially decided if he will play either.

If they do play, the Brady and Gronkowski combination will need to put up a significant amount of points with a defense that was a mere 29th in the league in yards allowed in 2017 tasked with facing the likes of Aaron Rodgers, Andrew Luck and Ben Roethlisberger, among others, but arguably the greatest quarterback of all time has made a living doing just that.

Pivotal Matchups

The Buffalo Bills were the closest thing to an AFC East contender outside of the Patriots in 2017 when they went 9-7 and made the playoffs. However, New England beat them in both matchups last season to keep them at bay and will look to do the same this year against a new-look offense.

Buffalo traded quarterback Tyrod Taylor and signed AJ McCarron this past offseason and likely needs to win at least one of the games with the Patriots to realistically challenge for the division.

New England's showdowns with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Kansas City Chiefs also jump out considering they were the other three AFC division winners last year.

The clash with Jacksonville is a rematch of the AFC Championship Game, and Brady and Co. beat the Steelers during the 2017 regular season to seize the inside lane in the race for the No. 1 seed and the home-field advantage that helped propel them to another Super Bowl.

These matchups figure to go a long way toward New England's quest for home-field advantage again this year.