Patrick Mahomes and the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs are scheduled to host the Houston Texans in the NFL season opener on Sept. 10. Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press

The Kansas City Chiefs will open defense of their Super Bowl championship by hosting Houston on Sept. 10 in the NFL’s annual kickoff game – pending developments in the coronavirus pandemic, of course.

The Texans won a regular-season game at Arrowhead Stadium in 2019, then blew a 24-0 lead in the divisional round of the playoffs.

If the NFL season begins on time, Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would open against Drew Brees and the Saints, in the first ever matchup of quarterbacks older than 40. Charles Krupa/Associated Press

Another highlight of the opening weekend will have Tom Brady’s regular-season debut with Tampa Bay against Drew Brees at New Orleans on Sept. 13 – the first matchup of 40-plus quarterbacks in NFL history.

The opening of SoFi Stadium in the Los Angeles area that Sunday night has the Rams hosting the Cowboys.

Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas will debut on the Monday night, Sept. 21, with the Raiders facing Brady and the Buccaneers.

All of the 32 teams released their schedules early Thursday evening, with the full 2020 list scheduled to be revealed by the league a bit later.

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The Chiefs, who won their first Super Bowl in a half-century last February, need baseball’s Royals to move their game for Sept. 10, which now is part of a doubleheader two days earlier. The teams’ stadiums share parking lots.

The NFL schedule, not to mention offseason activities and the preseason, has to be considered tentative given the current prohibition on large gatherings.

But Commissioner Roger Goodell has said the league is planning for a normal season, albeit while making contingency plans.

“The league and the clubs have been in contact with the relevant local, state and federal government authorities and will continue to do so,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said.

The traditional Monday night doubleheader on opening weekend will have Pittsburgh at the New York Giants, which has a rookie head coach in Joe Judge, and Tennessee at Denver.

“The number one positive is we’re getting ready to play football, so that’s the biggest thing,” Judge said. “Once you get the schedule, it starts moving a little bit faster in your mind in terms of preparing for what’s in front of you.”

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Top overall draft pick Joe Burrow and the Bengals start off against the sixth overall selection in April’s draft, Justin Herbert and the Chargers at Cincinnati. The Bengals also will face the other highly rated rookie quarterback, Tua Tagavailoa of the Dolphins, in Week 13.

Thanksgiving games will have Houston at Detroit, Washington at Dallas, then one of the league’s fiercest rivalries with Baltimore at Pittsburgh in the night game.

Late-season Saturday games have undetermined matchups for flexibility, something the NFL has done previously.

Certain to draw heavy early season interest will be the past two league MVPs, Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson, facing off in Week 3 on Monday night at Kansas City. The Chiefs and Ravens each have five prime-time games, as do New England, Dallas, Green Bay, Tampa Bay, defending NFC champ San Francisco, and the Rams.

Detroit and Washington have no prime-time outings.

 

This story will be updated.

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