The 2018 NFL schedule was released Thursday night and hoo-boy did it give us some dandies to look forward to next season.

Here’s looking forward to getting very excited to watch the first six plays of the Hall of Fame Game before dozing off until September for the actual start of the season. 

In the meantime, for your perusing pleasure, here’s a compilation of the five must-see matchups in 2018.

5. New York Jets at Cleveland Browns (Week 3, Thursday Night Football)

The third week of the regular season brings us some prime primetime television when the Jets travel to Cleveland. 

Stop laughing. This is not a joke.

The game will feature Browns rookie quarterback Josh Allen—already starting after Hue Jackson benches Tyrod Taylor for virtually no reason—against the quarterback Cleveland should have drafted first overall. 

It doesn’t even matter which quarterback that is. 

Josh Rosen, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, Lamar Jackson, Mason Rudolph, Kyle Lauletta, Danny Etling—or me for that matter—are all probably better options than using the first overall pick on Allen. 

But, with the Browns being the Browns, Allen to Cleveland is a lock and I’m here for it.

4. Indianapolis Colts at Tennessee Titans (Week 17)

The season finale between the Colts and the Titans may seem like an odd choice, but hear me out. 

Week after week, the Colts will tell us that Andrew Luck is close to coming back—and he just, um, never will. 

By the time Jacoby Brissett trots out of the tunnel as the Colts starter in Week 17, the team clinging to a five-win season, we’ll know for sure that Luck is officially a no-show for 2018. When the season mercifully comes to an end, Indy fans will yearn to hear these words next April:

“With the fourth overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft, the Indianapolis Colts select… Will Grier, quarterback, West Virginia.”

3. Dallas Cowboys vs. Dez Bryant

The first matchup between the Cowboys and whichever NFC East team inevitably signs Dez Bryant could come as early as Week 2 against the Giants.

The networks will pump this revenge matchup up to ungodly levels, but when it comes down to it, Dez is really not the same dominant receiver he once was. So the question is: Which quarterback will have trouble getting Dez the ball because he lacks the tools necessary to separate from defensive backs? Will it be Eli Manning? Alex Smith? Carson Wentz? 

Who knows? 

What I do know is that wherever Dez goes, it will become a huge media circus for a player that is a shell what his new fans will expect him to be.

2. Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints (Week 12, Thursday Night Football)

This is a game that the NFL should have been marketing as primetime viewing for over a decade. It appears the league has finally realized the error of its ways, because Falcons-Saints is, at last, being given the respect it deserves. 

The most underrated (read: best) rivalry in the NFL will be played on Thanksgiving Day this season. So slog through Chicago-Detroit and catch a nap during Washington-Dallas so you can be wide awake when Atlanta enters the Superdome in New Orleans for the nightcap on NBC. 

These two fan bases absolutely hate each other. And, while legacy rivalries like Green Bay and Chicago (yawn) get all the national attention, the decades-long battle for Dirty South supremacy is everything.

1. Los Angeles Rams at Oakland Raiders (Week 1, Monday Night Football)

We will get a little glimpse into Jon Gruden’s offense during the preseason but our first live look will be a late Monday night matchup against everyone’s Super Bowl pick, the Los Angeles Rams. 

The Raiders' brass committed a whole lotta cash to a guy who hasn’t coached in a very long time and then they backed that up by committing four years and $4 million to a friggin’ long snapper. 

For the sake of comedy, I’m hoping that Gruden’s offense is as outdated as Football Twitter would have you believe. How many fullbacks will make the active roster? Three? Four? I’m hoping for at least seven. 

NFL teams line up in shotgun about 80 percent of the time these days. Will the Raiders offense even crack 50 percent? Let’s hope not.

Mark your calendars, the NFL is back and the storylines are as compelling as ever.