
[Source: Reuters]
The 2025 NFL season starts this week with the Philadelphia Eagles raising their Super Bowl banner, Aaron Rodgers embarking on a new chapter with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the first of a record seven games scheduled outside the U.S.
Philadelphia, who denied the Kansas City Chiefs a Super Bowl three-peat in February with a 40-22 rout, kick off the regular season on Thursday at home to a Dallas Cowboys team seeking their first Vince Lombardi Trophy since January 1996.
The bad news for the rest of the league is that Philadelphia are bringing back the bulk of their championship core, including quarterback Jalen Hurts, running back Saquon Barkley and elite receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said his team refuse to focus on past success and are instead trying to stay in the present in their bid to repeat as Super Bowl champions.
There will be plenty of focus on Pittsburgh as Rodgers, a four-times NFL Most Valuable Player, will be making his Steelers debut after the 41-year-old quarterback signed a one-year deal with the team during the off season.
Rodgers secured his legacy as one of the game’s greatest quarterbacks during his 18 years with the Green Bay Packers but, after failing to hit his stride during a two-year tenure with the New York Jets, many wonder what he has left to offer.
Rodgers stopped short of offering predictions for this next chapter in his career and instead said he wanted to enjoy the chance to play for a Steelers franchise that has won a record-tying six Super Bowl titles.
Rodgers, who threw for 3,897 yards and 28 touchdowns on a New York team that went 5-12 last season, will face the Jets in Pittsburgh’s season opener on Sunday and his former Packers team on October 26.
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