Patriots QB Drake Maye looks to escape Pittsburgh pass rusher Derrick Harmon last season at Gillette Stadium. The Steelers will be the Patriots' foe in their home opener on Sunday, Sept. 20. (AP photo)

We already knew the who and the where, now we know the when.

The NFL schedule was released on Thursday night, and yes, the Prime Time Patriots are back, with five night games, including the season opener at the Seattle Seahawks on Wednesday, Sept. 9.

Barring any flexing – that can be done after Week 5 – the Patriots have only one of those prime time games at home, on Thursday Dec. 10 vs. Minnesoata at Gillette Stadium.

The other three: A Thursday nighter in Chicago, and Sunday night at the Los Angeles Chargers, and Monday, Dec. 21 at the Kansas City Chiefs.

But the thing about this schedule is the Patriots will start with three of their first four games on the road, conjuring up the memory of their so-called “road warrior” mentality of last season’s Super Bowl run.

After the Seattle game, 11 days later they have their home opener vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 1 p.m. That’s almost a year to the day when the Steelers were last in Foxborough with an Aaron Rodgers quarterbacked team that squeaked out a win before the Patriots went on their long winning streak.

But the next two for New England are on the road, both at 1 p.m.: Sunday Sept. 27 at Jacksonville and then Sunday Oct. 4 at the Buffalo Bills.

They return to Gillette for the following two weeks, vs. Las Vegas on Sunday, Oct. 11, and vs. the Jets on Sunday, Oct. 18, both at 1 p.m.

Then it’s off to Chicago for the Thursday night Oct. 22 Amazon game, then at Miami on Sunday, Nov. 1 at 1 p.m.before returning home to Gillette to face the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, Nov. 8 at 4:25 p.m. It’s a FOX network game, so it’s possible that could be Tom Brady’s first appearance as a broadcaster at Gillette.

The Patriots make their return to Germany on Sunday, Nov. 15 at 9:30 a.m. vs. the Detroit Lions. The weekend of Nov. 22 is their bye week.

They return from the bye to visit the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday Night Football Nov. 29, then host the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, Dec. 6, in their second 4:25 p.m. home game at Gillette.

They’re home four days later to host the Vikings on Thursday Night Football, then play another prime time game on Monday, Dec. 21 at the Chiefs. That’s more or less a mini bye, 11 days in between games.

Their final road game is at the Jets on Sunday, Dec. 27 before finishing the regular season with back-to-back home games, vs. Denver on the weekend of Jan. 2-3 and, as they did last year, the Miami Dolphons on the weekend of Jan. 9-10. The NFL does not release the days or times for those games as they put some on Saturdays, and even in prime time.

In all, the Patriots travel the fifth most distance in the league this season, according to bookies.com, with a total of 27, 590 miles. No wonder the Patriots schedule release video had the players

The Patriots also have two prime time preseason games in August: Thursday, Aug. 13 vs. the Indianapolis Colts at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Aug. 22 vs. the Philadelphia Eagles at 7 p.m.. Their final preseason game is on the road at Cleveland on Thursday, Aug. 27 at 8 p.m.

Graphic courtesy of NE Patriots

Here’s the regular season schedule by month, and there is also a graphic above released by the Patriots.

SEPTEMBER

Sept. 9 at Seattle, 8:20 p.m.; 20 vs. Pittsburgh, 1p.m. 27 at Jacksonville, 1 p.m.

OCTOBER

Oct. 4 at Buffalo, 1 p.m.; 11 vs. Las Vegas, 1 p.m.; 18 vs. Jets, 1 p.m.; 22 at Chicago.8:15 p.m.

NOVEMBER

Nov. 1 at Miami, 1 p.m.; 8 vs. Green Bay, 4:25; 15 at Detroit (Germany), 9:30 a.m.; 22 bye; 29 at L.A. Chargers, 8:20 p.m.

DECEMBER

Dec. 6 vs. Buffalo, 4:25 p.m.; 10 vs. Minnesota, 8:15 p.m.; 21 at Kansas City, 8:15 p.m.; 27 vs. Jets, 1 p.m.

JANUARY

Jan. 2-3 vs. Denver, 9-10 vs. Miami.