Welcome to Week 5 of the 2025 NFL season. This Sunday, we’ve got a reduced afternoon schedule because the second international game of the season kicks off in the morning. It’s also the first bye week, with four teams sitting idle.
The Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Browns kick off in London today at 9:30 a.m. ET (6:30 a.m. PT) before the next games get underway at the usual Sunday start time of 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT). Find out which games are airing in your area and which streaming services carry the channels you need to watch.
If you find that your access is blocked because of an internet location glitch, there’s an option that doesn’t require subscribing to something like NFL Sunday Ticket or NFL Plus or searching the internet for a sketchy website: You can use a virtual private network. With a VPN, you can watch any of today’s games from anywhere.
Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles host the Denver Broncos on Sunday. Jim Nantz and Tony Romo will call the game on CBS.
How to watch NFL Week 5 from anywhere using a VPN
If you find yourself unable to view today’s games locally due to incorrectly applied blackout restrictions, you may need a different way to watch, and that’s where using a VPN can come in handy. A VPN is also the best way to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds on game day by encrypting your traffic, plus it’s a great idea for when you’re traveling and find yourself connected to a Wi-Fi network, and you want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins.
With a VPN, you’re able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to get access to the game. So if your internet provider or mobile carrier has stuck you with an IP address that incorrectly shows your location in a blackout zone, a VPN can correct that problem by giving you an IP address in your correct, nonblackout area. Most VPNs, like our Editors’ Choice, ExpressVPN, make it really easy to do this.
Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.
Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US and Canada, as long as you’ve got a legitimate subscription to the service you’re streaming. You should be sure your VPN is set up correctly to prevent leaks: Even where VPNs are legal, the streaming service may terminate the account of anyone it deems to be circumventing correctly applied blackout restrictions.
Looking for other options? Be sure to check out some of the other great VPN deals taking place right now.
Price $13 per month, $75 for the first year or $98 total for the first two years (one- and two-year plans renew at $100 per year)Latest Tests No DNS leaks detected, 18% speed loss in 2025 testsNetwork 3,000 plus servers in 105 countriesJurisdiction British Virgin Islands
ExpressVPN is our current best VPN pick for people who want a reliable and safe VPN, and it works on a variety of devices. Prices start at $3.49 a month on a two-year plan for the service’s Basic tier.
Note that ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Week 5 NFL TV schedule
It’s another early start to the Sunday schedule with a London game on NFL Network. After the international contest, there are six games in the early window on and four games in the late window on CBS and Fox.
According to 506 Sports, the 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) games that most of the country will see are the Broncos and Eagles on CBS and the Cowboys and Jets on Fox.
For the 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. PT) games, most people will get the Commanders and Chargers game.
Four teams are on a bye this week: Atlanta, Chicago, Green Bay and Pittsburgh.
NFL Week 5 Sunday schedule
| Away team | Home team | Time (all times ET) | TV channel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Vikings | Cleveland Browns | 9:30 a.m. | NFL Network |
| Houston Texans | Baltimore Ravens | 1 p.m. | CBS |
| New York Giants | New Orleans Saints | 1 p.m. | CBS |
| Denver Broncos | Philadelphia Eagles | 1 p.m. | CBS |
| Dallas Cowboys | New York Jets | 1 p.m. | Fox |
| Las Vegas Raiders | Indianapolis Colts | 1 p.m. | Fox |
| Miami Dolphins | Carolina Panthers | 1 p.m. | Fox |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Seattle Seahawks | 4:05 p.m. | CBS |
| Tennessee Titans | Arizona Cardinals | 4:05 p.m. | CBS |
| Washington Commanders | Los Angeles Chargers | 4:25 p.m. | Fox |
| Detroit Lions | Cincinnati Bengals | 4:25 p.m. | Fox |
How to watch NFL Week 5 in the US
If you don’t want to subscribe to a live TV streaming service, you can watch the CBS games with Paramount Plus, and Fox games with Fox One.
Football fans can stream CBS’ Sunday afternoon football schedule each week of the season on Paramount Plus with its $8 per month Essentials tier. You can check for yourself if your area has live CBS streaming here.
Read our Paramount Plus review.
Fox’s new direct-to-consumer streaming service costs $20 a month or $200 a year and lets NFL fans watch their local Sunday afternoon games on Fox. You’ll also get access to Fox’s complete TV portfolio, including sports-related channels such as Fox Sports, B1G, FS1, FS2 and local Fox stations.
Best live TV streaming services for NFL fans
While subscribing to Paramount Plus and Fox One is cheaper than a live TV streaming service, the advantage of the latter is the ability to flip quickly between the CBS and Fox games when both are on at the same time. Shutting down one streaming service and firing up another is much slower and more annoying, to the point that it’s not worth flipping to the other game during a commercial break of the one you’re watching.
The good news for football fans is that CBS and Fox available on most live TV streaming services, but not every service carries every local network, so check each one using the links below to make sure it carries CBS and Fox in your area.
Fubo’s main package costs $85 per month, but it has a new skinny bundle that includes most of the channels you need for the NFL. This new Fubo Sports plan costs $56 per month ($46 for the first month) and includes CBS, Fox and NFL Network, along with ABC and ESPN (but not NBC). It also includes access to ESPN’s new streaming app. It’s worth noting that the bundle is only available in certain regions at the moment, with a gradual rollout across the country.
You can also add RedZone for an extra $11 per month.
Click here to see which local channels you get in your region with Fubo. Read our Fubo review.
DirecTV’s MySports plan costs $70 a month and includes CBS, Fox and NFL Network in most markets, along with the rest of the channels for NFL fans. You can’t get the RedZone add-on with the MySports plan but will need to subscribe to the full $85-a-month package and then add RedZone for an extra $15 a month.
You can use DirecTV’s channel lookup tool to see which local channels are available where you live. Read our DirecTV review.
For $83 a month, you’ll get all the major football channels with YouTube TV, including CBS, Fox and NFL Network. You can also add RedZone for an extra $11 per month. Plug in your ZIP code on YouTube TV’s welcome page to see which local networks are available in your area.
YouTube TV is also the exclusive home to NFL Sunday Ticket. But note that Sunday Ticket doesn’t include local games. You can only watch Sunday afternoon games that aren’t being broadcast on CBS or Fox in your area. If you want to watch all the football on Sundays you’ll need Sunday Ticket plus a YouTube TV subscription (or just get Sunday Ticket and then use an antenna for local games).
To get the full experience of your local games, NFL Sunday Ticket and NFL RedZone, you’ll need the YouTube TV base plan ($83 per month), Sunday Ticket ($276 for returning subscribers or $480 for new subscribers for the season) and the Sports Plus add-on ($11 per month).
All the live TV streaming services above allow you to cancel anytime and require a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our live TV streaming services guide.
An over-the-air antenna connected to your TV provides another option for CBS and Fox. The best part about antennas is that there are no streaming or monthly fees required, although you will need to make sure you have good reception.
Quick tips for streaming the NFL with a VPN
- With four variables at play — your ISP, browser, video streaming provider and VPN — experience and success may vary.
- If you don’t see your desired location as a default option for ExpressVPN, try using the “search for city or country” option.
- If you’re having trouble getting the game after you’ve turned on your VPN and set it to the correct viewing area, there are two things you can try for a quick fix. First, log into your streaming service subscription account and make sure the address registered for the account is an address in the correct viewing area. If not, you may need to change the physical address on file with your account. Second, some smart TVs — like Roku — don’t have VPN apps you can install directly on the device itself. Instead, you’ll have to install the VPN on your router or the mobile hotspot you’re using (like your phone) so that any device on its Wi-Fi network now appears in the correct viewing location.
- All of the VPN providers we recommend have helpful instructions on their main site for quickly installing the VPN on your router. In some cases with smart TV services, after you install a cable network’s sports app, you’ll be asked to verify a numeric code or click a link sent to your email address on file for your smart TV. This is where having a VPN on your router will also help, since both devices will appear to be in the correct location.
- And remember, browsers can often give away a location despite using a VPN, so be sure you’re using a privacy-first browser to log into your services. We normally recommend Brave.
