NFL schedule-making is pretty straight-forward. After all, it’s basically the same every year.
Even with a 17th game added to the equation last season as part of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, a significant portion of future opponents is already known years in advance. Essentially, divisional standings are the only variables in this process.
As a result of this, the New England Patriots already knew all of their 2022 opponents by the end of the 2021 regular season:
- They knew they would play the three teams in their division (twice).
- They knew they would play one entire division in each of the two conferences.