The Ravens won’t have to wait long to try to avenge their most painful loss from last season.

Baltimore will open its 2025 season on the road against the Buffalo Bills on Sept. 7 in a rematch of last season’s AFC divisional round showdown, which also took place in Orchard Park, New York. The game will be shown on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” a befitting national stage for a showdown between the NFL’s two most recent Most Valuable Player Award winners — Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who edged out Jackson for the honor last season.

The last time the teams met, on a snowy evening at Highmark Stadium, Baltimore turned the ball over three times but still had a chance to tie the game until tight end Mark Andrews, wide-open at the goal line, dropped a 2-point conversion pass from Jackson with 1:33 remaining.

Buffalo held on to win, 27-25, to advance to the AFC championship game, while the Ravens’ season once again came to an agonizing end.It will mark the third meeting between the teams in less than 12 months, with the Ravens having blown out the Bills, 35-10, in Baltimore in a Week 4 Sunday night game last season. It’s also unsurprisingly one of at least four prime-time games on the Ravens’ slate this season.

That includes a Thanksgiving night tilt against the Cincinnati Bengals at M&T Bank Stadium in what will likely be a pivotal AFC North showdown. It’s the third Thanksgiving game for Baltimore following victories over San Francisco (2011) and Pittsburgh (2013).

The Ravens will also play the Detroit Lions, who last season had the NFL’s best record at 15-2, on Monday night in Week 3 in Baltimore. It’s just the fifth home “Monday Night Football” game for the Ravens since coach John Harbaugh was hired in 2008 and the first since 2021. In Week 9, they will travel to South Florida to take on the Miami Dolphins on Thursday night.

The Ravens will also travel the third-fewest miles (10,647) in the NFL this season, behind only the Bills and Bengals, and the farthest west they will travel is Kansas City, Missouri. But they have one of the league’s toughest schedules.

After facing the second-toughest slate (based on opponents’ 2023 win percentage) and finishing 12-5 and as AFC North champs last season, Baltimore has the ninth-most difficult schedule this year based on last season’s win totals. Eight of their opponents made the playoffs last season.

Five of those playoff teams also come in the first six weeks.

After playing their home opener Sept. 14 against the Cleveland Browns in Week 2, the Ravens host the Lions followed by a trip to Arrowhead Stadium on Sept. 28 for a 4:25 p.m. showdown against Patrick Mahomes and the defending AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs. Last season, Baltimore opened the NFL season against the Chiefs and came within an Isaiah Likely toe of potentially tying or winning the game on the final play, but Likely was ruled out and Kansas City held on for the 27-20 win.

After that, the Ravens return home for two straight home games, first against the AFC South champion Houston Texans, then against the NFC West champion Los Angeles Rams.

Baltimore’s bye week also comes early this year in Week 7. The Ravens then return to action with a home game against the Chicago Bears on Oct. 26, followed four days later with a road game against the Dolphins and another away game against the Minnesota Vikings on Nov. 9. It’s the Ravens’ third trip to Minnesota, which is the only NFL team Baltimore hasn’t beaten on the road in the franchise’s 30-year history.

Then begins a spate of divisional games in Cleveland against the Browns, followed by a home game against the AFC East’s New York Jets, then the Thanksgiving game against the Bengals, followed by a Dec. 7 home showdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers with a game at Cincinnati to follow.

The Ravens wrap up their home schedule with a Dec. 21 game against the New England Patriots, followed by two straight road games — at the Green Bay Packers in what will be Jackson’s first game at Lambeau Field, followed by a regular-season finale at Pittsburgh for just the second time in franchise history.

Ravens schedule

* – Flexible scheduling games

Week 1 (Sunday, Sept. 7): at Buffalo Bills, 8:20 p.m., NBC

Week 2 (Sunday, Sept. 14): vs. Cleveland Browns, 1 p.m., CBS

Week 3 (Monday, Sept. 22): vs. Detroit Lions, 8:15 p.m., ESPN/ABC

Week 4 (Sunday, Sept. 28): at Kansas City Chiefs, 4:25 p.m., CBS

Week 5 (Sunday, Oct. 5)*: vs. Houston Texans, 1 p.m., CBS

Week 6 (Sunday, Oct. 12)*: vs. Los Angeles Rams, 1 p.m., FOX

Week 7 (Sunday, Oct. 19): BYE WEEK

Week 8 (Sunday, Oct. 26)*: vs. Chicago Bears, 1 p.m., CBS

Week 9 (Thursday, Oct. 30)*: at Miami Dolphins, 8:15 p.m., Prime Video

Week 10 (Sunday, Nov. 9): at Minnesota Vikings, 1 p.m., FOX

Week 11 (Sunday, Nov. 16)*: at Cleveland Browns, 4:25 p.m., CBS

Week 12 (Sunday, Nov. 23): vs. New York Jets, 1 p.m., CBS

Week 13 (Thursday, Nov. 27)*: vs. Cincinnati Bengals, 8:20 p.m., NBC

Week 14 (Sunday, Dec. 7): vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, 1 p.m., CBS

Week 15 (Sunday, Dec. 14)*: at Cincinnati Bengals, 1 p.m., CBS

Week 16 (Sunday, Dec. 21)*: vs. New England Patriots, 1 p.m., CBS

Week 17 (Dec. 27/28 TBD): at Green Bay Packers, TBD

Week 18 (Jan. 3 / 4 TBD): at Pittsburgh Steelers, TBD

PRESEASON

Week 1 (Thursday, Aug. 7): vs. Indianapolis Colts, 7 p.m., NBC

Week 2 (Saturday, Aug. 16): at Dallas Cowboys, 7 p.m., NBC

Week 3 (TBD): at Washington Commanders, TBD

Have a news tip? Contact Brian Wacker at bwacker@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/brianwacker1.