NFL Revenge Games 2025: Best Games to Watch this Season, including Micah Parsons vs Cowboys

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NFL Revenge Games 2025: Best Games to Watch this Season, including Micah Parsons vs Cowboys

Matt Johnson · Sportsnaut

Fri, Aug 29, 2025 ·

7 min read

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One of the most beloved things in the National Football League is revenge games. Whether it's a team avenging a heartbreaking loss the previous year or a player facing his former club, the matchups always mean a little more.

With the 2025 season about to kick off, we're highlighting the top NFL revenge games to watch in 2025. We'll order it based on the NFL schedule , taking you from Week 1 through 18.

Week 1: Pittsburgh Steelers at New York Jets

NFL Revenge Games 2025 — Credit: Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Aaron Rodgers is a future Hall of Famer and the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback is also one of the all-time greats at holding a grudge. So, you can bet that he took the New York Jets ' decision to release him as a deep slight. Jets' players might also want to get a bit of revenge on Rodgers for everything that transpired last season, adding to the stakes of this game. On top of all that, Jets quarterback Justin Fields gets to face the team that benched him when he had a 4-2 record with a 93.3 QB rating. Both quarterbacks being out for revenge, with their teammates fighting extra hard to help deliver that for them, makes this a juicy matchup in Week 1.

Week 1: Baltimore Ravens at Buffalo Bills

The Baltimore Ravens dominated the Buffalo Bills in their regular-season matchup last year, winning 35-10, before Buffalo avenged that defeat by knocking Baltimore out of the playoffs in the Divisional Round. There's also the MVP angle to this matchup, though it's clear that both quarterbacks, Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen , are now only focused on winning their first Super Bowl. While the MVP vs. MVP narrative feels more media-driven, what makes this one of the best NFL revenge games is that it's a battle between Super Bowl contenders and could decide the No. 1 seed in the AFC.

Week 2: Philadelphia Eagles at Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs were embarrassed by the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl. Falling short of a three-peat is one thing, but it's truly humiliating for your opponent in the biggest game of the year to have a large enough lead that they can put their backups in. Patrick Mahomes , Travis Kelce , and Steve Spagnuolo will see this as an opportunity for redemption. While this is a one-sided revenge game, Philadelphia will recognize an opportunity to send a message to the rest of the NFL in Week 2 about its dominance.

Week 2: Seattle Seahawks at Pittsburgh Steelers

Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf gets a shot at revenge just a few months after the Seattle Seahawks traded him. Rodgers knows how much this game will mean to his No. 1 receiver, so Metcalf will get all of the targets he can handle. While there's no 'revenge' angle for Seattle since they traded Metcalf, you can guarantee the Seahawks' cornerbacks can't wait to see if they can contain their former teammate, whom they went head-to-head against countless times in practice. The combination of Metcalf's revenge and the matchup against a great secondary makes this a game to watch.

Week 4: Green Bay Packers at Dallas Cowboys

Jerry Jones gifted Micah Parsons to the Packers, and Parsons gifted the football world one of the best NFL revenge games in 2025. You can bet Parsons will remember everything the Dallas Cowboys owner said about him this summer and during the post-trade press conference. It makes it all the more fitting that Parsons gets to return to AT&T Stadium to face Dallas on Sunday Night Football in Week 4. Leading one of the best NFL defenses in 2025 , Parsons will do everything in his power to wreck the Cowboys' offense. It'll be particularly juicy if Parsons helps Green Bay win, delivering a dominant performance, making for a fascinating post-game meeting with reporters from Jones after his team loses on the national stage once again to the Packers with Parsons making splash plays on SNF.

Week 6: Chicago Bears at Washington Commanders

The Chicago Bears defense remembers every second of that infamous collapse against Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders . That's the revenge angle here for this Monday Night Football matchup in Week 6. There's another element to this game: Bears quarterback Caleb Williams wanting to make up for his ugly performance ( 10-for-24 with 131 passing yards and 3 sacks ) and being outdueled by the quarterback drafted after him. There's a reason this game was put on primetime, and it will deliver on the expectations.

Week 7: New York Giants at Denver Broncos

This is one of the new NFL revenge games in 2025 that might not come to fruition if Jaxson Dart takes over as the New York Giants starting quarterback by mid-October. Then again, New York might not want Dart to face the Denver Broncos defense. Russell Wilson will absolutely want to prove himself versus his former team, especially since Sean Payton made it clear how much he disliked having Wilson as his quarterback. Payton will view this as a chance to prove how right he was and Wilson will try and show that he's still got something left. Given the state of the Giants' offense and how great Denver's defense is, Wilson's revenge game probably ends very badly for him.

Week 7: New England Patriots at Tennessee Titans

From the Tennessee Titans' perspective, this game has very low stakes. That's far from the case for the New England Patriots. Mike Vrabel faces the organization that fired him and the Patriots locker room has a few former Titans players on it, including Austin Hooper , Harold Landry and Isaiah Iton . Vrabel is great at motivating his players and the added revenge element to this game, especially with the added importance for some of those on the field, makes this an intriguing draw in Week 7.

Week 8: Green Bay Packers at Pittsburgh Steelers

The schedule makers were elated when Aaron Rodgers signed with the Steelers because it gave them two NFL revenge games this season. The four-time NFL MVP certainly remembers that the Green Bay Packers made the call to move on from him, so he'll be very motivated to stick it to the GM he never seemed to be fond of. For the Packers, head coach Matt LaFleur gets to prove his offense runs better without Rodgers, and Packers defenders like Kenny Clark , Rashan Gary , and Devonte Wyatt will have a chance to sack the quarterback they couldn't hit in practice.

Week 10: Detroit Lions at Washington Commanders

The Detroit Lions were convinced last season's team would hoist the Lombardi Trophy. Instead, they were left stunned in a first-round knockout at the hands of the Commanders. Jared Goff (4 turnovers and 2 sacks) was abysmal, and the injury-depleted Lions defense wasn't much better. Detroit will remember all of that in the back of their minds as they prepare for this Week 10 matchup. As for Washington, in a season where everyone expects regression, this provides the Commanders with an opportunity to prove they are just as good as they were last year.

Week 15: Detroit Lions at Los Angeles Rams

Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford have already gone head-to-head three times since the franchise-altering trade between the Lions and the Los Angeles Rams . Goff emerged victorious in Stafford's trip to Detroit last season, winning 26-20 in overtime, and the Lions also won in their Wild Card Round matchup two years ago, a 24-23 bout. This will be Goff's first game back in Los Angeles against the Rams since 2021, when he threw 2 interceptions in a 28-19 loss. There's still a bit of the revenge element for both quarterbacks, and this is a matchup between two of the best teams in the NFC when they should both be firing on all cylinders in Week 15.

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