The NFL will officially release the full 2017 regular-season schedule on Thursday night, but that doesn’t mean we won’t get drips and drabs of information about the schedule over the coming hours.

Like this: Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald tweeted that the New England Patriots will host the Kansas City Chiefs in the now-traditional Thursday night regular-season opener.

The last time the Patriots and Chiefs met in the regular season was Week 4 of 2014, a 41-14 Kansas City win. They also played in the AFC divisional round in 2015, a Patriots win.

The Patriots are also scheduled to play the team they beat in Super Bowl LI, the Atlanta Falcons, this season, but that rematch will likely happen later in the season; our guess would be a prime-time November matchup to take advantage of sweeps month.

As the defending Super Bowl champions, the Patriots will have the chance to host the first official game of the 2017 season; like many other things, the league and teams have made these games an event, with concerts, fireworks and the unveiling of championship banners.

We would expect nothing less from New England, which celebrated its Super Bowl LI win at the White House on Wednesday.