After a slow trickle of leaks and announcements, the NFL announced its schedule for the 2026 season Thursday, putting dates and times to the matchups that were determined at the end of last season.
Week 1 will begin on a Wednesday this year, as the defending Super Bowl champions will play a day early to accommodate the league’s first ever regular season game in Australia, which will take place the next day.
The regular season starts Sept. 9 and runs through Jan. 10. The Super Bowl will be held Feb. 14 — Valentine’s Day! — in Los Angeles.
Here are the 10 most intriguing games from the schedule reveal.
The teams who played the final game of last season will play the first of 2026, as New England and Seattle will square off in a Super Bowl rematch. Patriots quarterback Drake Maye should be highly motivated after he struggled mightily in the championship game. The Seahawks, meanwhile, could send an early message about avoiding any kind of Super Bowl hangover. One more subplot looms: Will New England head coach Mike Vrabel be on the sidelines?
Both the Ravens and the Bills are coming off disappointing seasons that led them to make coaching changes. The path to the Super Bowl was supposed to be open for them last year after the Chiefs missed the playoffs. Instead, Baltimore also failed to reach the postseason, and Buffalo lost to the Broncos in the divisional round. This should be a measuring-stick game for both first-year head coaches as they try to stake their claims as the top AFC contender.
Seattle’s defense powered it all the way to a Super Bowl victory, which is why it could be a great test for Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft. The mystery here is whether Mendoza will start this game, as the Raiders seem interested in bringing him along gently. If he does get the call, seeing him try to figure out the Seahawks will be an early marker in what Las Vegas hopes will be a long, illustrious career.
The NFL’s ultimate quarterback rivalry gets one of the best time slots of the year, as Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen will do battle in prime time on Thanksgiving. The big question here, obviously, is how well recovered Mahomes will be after he tore an ACL last year. Allen and Buffalo won the most recent matchup, which the Bills hosted in November.
These are two teams with massive fan bases and polarizing quarterbacks coming off disappointing seasons. The Eagles’ offense cratered after their Super Bowl run in the 2024 season, while Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott finished under .500 as a starter for the first time a year ago (minimum 10 starts). Whatever happens in this one, however good these teams are, this matchup should be great for overreactions that will carry us through the long weekend.
Bears head coach Ben Johnson poured gasoline on the Packers-Bears rivalry at his introductory news conference when he said how much he loved beating Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur. Then the teams took turns throwing matches into the fire last season with three incredible games: a down-to-the-wire thriller in Green Bay and then two improbable Chicago comebacks, including the unforgettable 31-27 Bears win in the playoffs.
Said Johnson after that game: “F--- the Packers!”
The Rams and the Seahawks were the two best teams in the NFL last season, and they delivered three fantastic games between the regular season and playoffs. The combined score in their three matchups? Seattle 88, Los Angeles 85. If these clubs are anywhere near as evenly matched as last season, this should be an absolute thriller.
Will this be a great game? Almost definitely not. Could this game decide which team ends up with the No. 1 pick? Almost definitely yes.
The Mike McDaniel revenge game! The Dolphins fired McDaniel as their head coach after he led them to two playoff appearances in four years. Now, one of the league’s brightest offensive minds is offensive coordinator for Justin Herbert, the quarterback Miami passed on to draft the since-released Tua Tagovailoa in 2020. McDaniel may try to drop 70 points on his old team.
A rematch of a snowy, tense AFC championship game. New England defeated Denver to advance to the Super Bowl, as the Broncos were limited without starting quarterback Bo Nix. Were the rises of these two teams a fluke? Or could Nix and Maye begin a new quarterback rivalry in the AFC?
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