2026 NFL regular-season key video games: Loaded Week 1 contains Super Bowl rematch

The 2026 NFL common season will embrace 10 new head coaches, a document 9 worldwide video games and, as at all times, loads of drama.

The full, 272-game schedule dropped on Thursday. Week 1 begins with a Super Bowl rematch when the Seattle Seahawks host the New England Patriots on Wednesday, Sept. 9, continues with the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers enjoying in Melbourne, Australia, and wraps up on “Monday Night Football” with the Kansas City Chiefs internet hosting the Denver Broncos.

The Rams’ look in Australia is the primary of seven prime-time video games for the franchise. Los Angeles follows up that Thursday evening opener (though it is going to be performed Friday morning in Melbourne) with a Week 2 Monday evening showdown at dwelling towards the New York Giants earlier than touring to face the Broncos in Week 3 on “Sunday Night Football.” After per week out of the highlight, the Rams host a Week 5 Monday nighter towards the Buffalo Bills.

Los Angeles leads the way in which with these seven standalone video games, whereas the Bills, Seahawks, Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers every have six prime-time video games, and the Patriots, 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears have 5.

From quarterback revenge matchups to playoff rematches, listed here are the important thing video games to observe.

Notable playoff rematches

Patriots at Seahawks, Week 1: A rematch of Super Bowl 60. The Seahawks led final 12 months’s season finale 9-0 at halftime and saved the Patriots scoreless till the fourth quarter. Seattle dominated in its 29-13 victory that earned the Seahawks their second Lombardi Trophy.

Seahawks vs. 49ers, Weeks 5 and 12: Seattle’s protection shut down the San Francisco offense in back-to-back video games. The Seahawks allowed simply 3 factors within the regular-season finale after which 6 factors within the divisional spherical sport two weeks later. The 49ers had been restricted by a plethora of accidents in these video games, however the Seahawks had an elite protection, regardless. These are two elite groups led by masterminds on reverse sides of the ball in Kyle Shanahan and Mike Macdonald.

Bears vs. Packers, Weeks 5 and 16: These NFC North foes met for the third time in a month in final season’s wild-card spherical. And it ended simply the way in which the 2025 Bears appeared to love it: an 18-point fourth-quarter comeback.

Patriots at Chargers, Week 12: Los Angeles quarterback Justin Herbert fell to 0-3 within the playoffs after final season’s 16-3 wild-card loss to the Patriots.

Bills at Broncos, Week 16: Bills followers want to neglect the 33-30 additional time loss in final season’s divisional spherical that ended with a controversial Broncos interception. Josh Allen cried at his postgame information convention, and head coach Sean McDermott was fired within the aftermath.

Rams vs. Seahawks, Weeks 16 and 18: After the NFC West rivals’ two regular-season matchups had been determined by a complete of three factors, together with a 38-37 additional time choice in Seattle that featured the 2-point conversion controversy, the Rams and Seahawks met within the NFC title sport. The Seahawks gained 31-27 in a sport that got here all the way down to the ultimate drive.

Broncos at Patriots, Week 17: In a Denver snowstorm, the Patriots punched their tickets to Super Bowl 60 with a 10-7 win in final 12 months’s AFC Championship Game. The situations didn’t assist both offense, however the Broncos absolutely missed quarterback Bo Nix, who broke his ankle the week prior and wasn’t in a position to play.

Eagles at 49ers, Week 17: A Niners workforce that couldn’t keep away from damage final season despatched the reigning Super Bowl champions packing with a 23-19 win within the wild-card spherical. Even after tight finish George Kittle tore his Achilles within the second quarter, San Francisco closed out the win with its protection and two fourth-quarter Christian McCaffrey touchdowns.

A battered and bruised 49ers workforce nonetheless managed to finish the Eagles’ 2025 season within the wild-card spherical. (Elsa / Getty Images)

Reunion/revenge video games

Chiefs at Seahawks, Week 7: Kenneth Walker III was due for a giant payday after hitting his stride in the course of the Seahawks’ run to Super Bowl 60. His 161-yard efficiency in Seattle’s Super Bowl win earned him the MVP trophy; he’s the primary working again to win it since Super Bowl 32. Fresh off his hottest season, Walker was snagged by the Chiefs in free company, getting a contract value as much as $45 million, with $28.7 million assured.

Ravens vs. Bengals, Weeks 7 and 17: Given the way in which the saga performed out the previous couple of years between Trey Hendrickson and the Cincinnati Bengals, you may depend on Hendrickson eager to be at his finest in these two divisional matchups. A second layer to this matchup is that Ravens normal supervisor Eric DeCosta mentioned the Ravens had been making an attempt to land Maxx Crosby and Hendrickson concurrently, although there are legitimate questions on whether or not that might/might have occurred. What did occur was that the Ravens rescinded the Crosby commerce and instantly signed Hendrickson afterward. With the Las Vegas Raiders not on Baltimore’s schedule in 2026, put together to listen to some rehashing of the beginning of free company this 12 months when the Ravens and Bengals meet.

Raiders at Jets, Week 8: There are a number of revenge layers to this one. First, Geno Smith’s one season in Las Vegas was tough. He threw a league-high 17 interceptions and ranked thirty seventh out of 42 quarterbacks in EPA per dropback, although he didn’t have a lot assist round him. He was traded to make manner for No. 1 choose Fernando Mendoza, which led to a reunion with the Jets, the workforce that drafted Smith in 2013. He spent 4 seasons with New York, however these weren’t very memorable both. Ten years since he final performed for the Jets, can Smith change his legacy in New York? At the very least, it seems like he’ll have extra assist round him.

Cowboys at Colts, Week 9: We’ve seen brothers sq. off all through the years, whether or not or not it’s a quarterback duel of Peyton Manning and Eli Manning, or the Kelce brothers with a Super Bowl on the road. But there’s one thing particular when the brotherly matchup is a real brother-on-brother affair, which is what would be the case when rookie defensive again Caleb Downs and the Cowboys play towards huge receiver Josh Downs and the Colts.

Titans vs. Jaguars, Weeks 10 and 12: Whether it was a praise, a jab, or one thing in between, Jags coach Liam Coen didn’t appear to love it when then-49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh mentioned Jacksonville had a “really advanced sign-stealing type system” final 12 months. After the Jags beat the Niners the next week, Coen yelled towards Saleh to “keep my name out of your mouth.” We’ll see if the dangerous blood carries over now that Saleh is the top coach of the Titans.

Steelers at Eagles, Week 11: One of the eternal photographs from the 2026 NFL Draft can be USC huge receiver Makai Lemon on the cellphone with the Steelers, just for the Eagles to leap proper forward of them in a commerce with the Dallas Cowboys to grab Lemon. How that second is considered might largely be decided by how Lemon’s profession unfolds, however you may guess the sentiments can be uncooked between the state rivals once they meet in Lemon’s rookie 12 months.

Falcons at Browns, Week 14: Cleveland fired coach Kevin Stefanski after six seasons in January. The 2020 and 2023 Coach of the Year went 8-26 over his final two seasons, and quarterback uncertainty continued to linger over the franchise. But it didn’t take Stefanski lengthy to discover a new touchdown spot with Atlanta. He’ll have an opportunity to make his previous workforce miss him and face off towards first-time NFL head coach Todd Monken on this matchup.

Dolphins at Packers, Week 15: Aside from the proprietor, the people on the prime of the chain of the three most vital layers of a workforce — entrance workplace, teaching workers and gamers — are the overall supervisor, the top coach and the quarterback. For the rebuilding Dolphins, all three of these people had been in Green Bay final season in quarterback Malik Willis, coach Jeff Hafley and GM Jon-Eric Sullivan.

Week 1 matchups for brand spanking new coaches/quarterbacks

Raiders’ Klint Kubiak vs. Dolphins: We don’t know but if Week 1 would be the NFL debut of Mendoza, the highest choose. The Raiders have expressed a willingness to have the rookie begin on the bench, in the event that they consider it’s finest for his improvement. They have a powerful veteran choice in Kirk Cousins, in the event that they select to take action. Regardless, it is going to be the top teaching debut for Kubiak, who’s recent off main the Seahawks’ offense to a Super Bowl title.

Ravens’ Jesse Minter at Colts: The final time the Ravens opened the season with anyone apart from John Harbaugh as their head coach, George W. Bush was president of the United States. It’ll be a distinct look on the Baltimore sideline shifting ahead as Minter makes his head teaching debut.

Giants’ John Harbaugh vs. Cowboys: Speaking of Harbaugh, he’ll start his second head teaching stint within the NFL, making an attempt to return the Giants to the postseason. The Giants haven’t been to a convention championship sport since their final Super Bowl run within the 2011 season. Harbaugh brings his expertise to a scenario that already has a beginning quarterback and had two top-10 picks on this 12 months’s draft, and he’ll debut towards the rival Cowboys on “Sunday Night Football.”

Browns’ Todd Monken at Jaguars: The Browns’ hiring of Monken, the previous Ravens offensive coordinator, wasn’t splashy, however the scenario in Cleveland was a tricky promote. The offense wants a number of work, and Monken, who has 11 years of NFL offensive teaching expertise (although by no means as a head coach), is tasked with fixing it. Cleveland took a step in the suitable path with an offense-heavy 2026 draft class, however now it should get the items to work collectively on the sector.

Cardinals’ Mike LaFleur at Chargers: Circumstances are removed from preferrred for LaFleur, who will get his first probability to be a head coach by taking up the worst workforce in the very best division in soccer. On prime of that, the Cardinals moved on from Kyler Murray and didn’t substitute him with a viable franchise-caliber quarterback. Arizona is clearly in a long-term rebuild, so there isn’t strain on LaFleur to win instantly, however his period of teaching is about to start again in Los Angeles, the place he was most not too long ago the Rams’ offensive coordinator.

Bills’ Joe Brady at Texans: Perhaps essentially the most controversial teaching change of the offseason got here in Buffalo, because the Bills moved on from Sean McDermott and elevated Brady, the offensive coordinator, to take his place. There can be immense strain for Brady to win instantly as he takes over a franchise that has gained no less than one playoff sport in every of the previous six seasons.

Titans’ Robert Saleh vs. Jets: It’s been a depressing previous couple of seasons for the Titans, however they’ve a franchise quarterback in Cam Ward and obtained him a respectable weapon within the draft in huge receiver Carnell Tate. Head teaching alternatives are usually not limitless within the NFL. Saleh had his first shot with the Jets, so the strain is on for him to take advantage of out of this second probability, and he will get to face his previous workforce proper off the bat.

Robert Saleh will instantly sq. off along with his former workforce, the Jets. (Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)

Dolphins’ Jeff Hafley at Raiders: The Dolphins had been in want of a manufacturing facility reset, and the 2026 season will give the franchise simply that. They could also be hampered by Tua Tagovailoa’s contract this season, however they’ve a brand new normal supervisor, head coach and beginning quarterback. That ought to be a welcome sight for Dolphins followers after the final couple of years.

Falcons’ Kevin Stefanski at Steelers: Cleveland hasn’t been the best place for a head coach to succeed, but Stefanski gained Coach of the Year twice with the Browns and broke a 17-year postseason drought. The Falcons have expertise in place, and the NFC South is a manageable division to win in, so it’ll be attention-grabbing to see how Stefanski fares in his second spot.

Steelers’ Mike McCarthy vs. Falcons: There can be no person happier or extra emotional for McCarthy’s debut as Steelers head coach than McCarthy himself. He is a Pittsburgh native and has at all times worn his roots on his sleeve. Beyond that, it’ll be a number of conflicting feelings for the lots not seeing Mike Tomlin on the sidelines and seeing the coach who beat the Steelers within the Super Bowl within the 2010 season in Tomlin’s place.

Top contenders, QB matchups, extra to observe

Chiefs vs. Broncos, Week 1: Even although Patrick Mahomes tore his ACL towards the top of the 2025 season, restoration from that damage has come a great distance lately. There was at all times a superb probability Mahomes can be prepared for the workforce’s season opener, and the Chiefs offered an replace not too long ago saying Mahomes could also be prepared for coaching camp. If so, all eyes can be on the face of the league in Week 1.

Ravens at Bills, Week 8: This matchup between Allen and Lamar Jackson gave us an early contender for Game of the Year final season, when the Bills mounted a livid comeback to win 41-40 on a walk-off area aim in Week 1 on “Sunday Night Football.” Expectations can be excessive for this sport.

Chiefs at Bills, Week 12: Although the Bills and Chiefs didn’t end in the identical spot of their respective divisions in 2025, the AFC East is scheduled to play towards the AFC West in 2026. That means one other duel between arguably the 2 finest quarterbacks within the NFL in Mahomes and Allen. That it lands on Thanksgiving ought to solely improve the fireworks. The Chiefs performed on Thanksgiving final 12 months as properly, and their vacation matchup towards the Cowboys in 2025 grew to become the most-watched regular-season sport in NFL historical past.

Chiefs at Bengals, Week 14: The final time Mahomes misplaced to an AFC workforce within the playoffs? That can be towards Joe Burrow and the Bengals within the 2021 season. Burrow has handled accidents all through his profession however stays one of many premier skills on the place when wholesome.

Ravens vs. Bengals, Weeks 7 and 17: Burrow and Jackson, each of whom had injury-riddled 2025 campaigns, provide contrasting types of play, however each are elite quarterbacks. As the cherry on prime, these are division rivals, so we’ll get to see them face off twice within the season.

Ravens vs. Steelers, Weeks 15 and 18: It’s Ravens vs. Steelers, Harbaugh vs. Tom… oh wait. One of the fiercest divisional rivalries within the NFL could have a brand new look to it. It’ll be attention-grabbing to see if the smashmouth, intense model of play will carry over to groups led by Minter and McCarthy, respectively.