2022 slate to open with Saints, feature homecoming for Justin Fields
The NFL released the 2022 season schedule Thursday, and the Atlanta Falcons will open the season at home Sept. 11, facing longtime rival New Orleans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The Falcons have one prime-time regular-season game Nov. 10, when they will travel to Carolina to take on the Panthers on “Thursday Night Football,” broadcast by Amazon Prime. Atlanta will also have a preseason “Monday Night Football” game Aug. 22 against the New York Jets on ESPN.
Also included on the Falcons’ schedule will be a Nov. 20 game against the Chicago Bears at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. It will be the first time former Harrison High School standout Justin Fields will face his hometown team.
Other key matchups include a Week 2 road trip to play Matthew Stafford and the reigning Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams, as well as two more games against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and quarterback Tom Brady — on the road Oct. 9 and at home the final week of the regular season.
The Falcons will also match up with the AFC North this season, hosting the Cleveland Browns (Oct. 2) and the Pittsburgh Steelers (Dec. 4), while traveling to the AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals (Oct. 23) and the Baltimore Ravens (Dec. 24).
FALCONS ACQUIRE EDWARDS IN TRADE
The Las Vegas Raiders traded wide receiver Bryan Edwards to the Atlanta Falcons, multiple outlets reported Friday.
The Raiders also sent a 2023 seventh-round pick to Atlanta in exchange for a 2023 fifth-round selection.
Edwards, 23, caught 34 passes for 571 yards and three touchdowns in 16 games (12 starts) last season.
A third-round pick out of South Carolina in 2020, he had 11 catches for 193 yards and one TD in 12 games
(three starts) in his rookie season. The Raiders still have plenty of targets for quarterback Derek Carr. They acquired All-Pro wideout Davante Adams in a trade with the Green Bay Packers in March, while Hunter Renfrow is coming off a 103-catch, 1,038-yard season in 2021. Tight end Darren Waller has 252 receptions for 3,006 yards in the past three seasons.
The Falcons are trying to make up for the loss of receiver Calvin Ridley, suspended for the 2022 season for betting on NFL games. Atlanta took Southern California’s Drake London with the No. 8 overall pick in last month’s draft.