Last week, there was the release of the 272-game slate for the league's 107th season. It all starts on September 9 in the Pacific Northwest with a Super Bowl LX rematch between the champion Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots.
Now it’s time for a little analysis and not just the traditional numbers showing the combined winning percentage of a team’s 2026 opponents from a season ago.
Here are the 5 most intriguing NFL schedules for 2026
5. Cleveland Browns
Back in 2023, the team finished second in the AFC North with an 11-6 record. NFL Coach of the Year Kevin Stefanski guided the team to the playoffs, utilizing five different starting quarterbacks. Over the past two seasons, the Browns are a combined 8-26 and now have a new head coach in Todd Monken. Talk about a rollercoaster ride schedule-wise? The club plays three straight road games from Weeks 7-9, then doesn’t travel until Week 15. They host the Houston Texans, have an off-week, then host the Las Vegas Raiders, Cincinnati Bengals, and Atlanta Falcons.
4. New Orleans Saints
There always seems to be one team each season that has a big say in how a division will play out. By all indications, it appears to be Kellen Moore’s improving Saints. The club opens on the road at Detroit, and at Baltimore. They are then the host team in four of their next five games, including a Week 7 clash with the Pittsburgh Steelers in Paris. The key here is that four of New Orleans’ last five games come vs. their NFC South rivals, with three of those contests on the road. Moore’s club will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 18.
3. Buffalo Bills
The team has a new head coach and a new stadium. They also own the longest active postseason streak in the league, but have yet to get back to the Super Bowl in the past seven years. The Bills have a pair of tough stretches in 2026. Their first five games are vs. teams with winning records in 2025 (Texans, Lions, Chargers, Patriots, and Rams), and they face Detroit, the Los Angeles Chargers, and New England at home. From Weeks 13-16, there’s a rematch with the Pats, followed by clashes with the Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears, and Denver Broncos (on Christmas).
2. Detroit Lions
The team that finished 15-2 and earned the top seed in the NFC playoffs in 2024 fell to 9-8 and last place in the NFC North this past season. There will be quite the matchup in Week 2 on a Thursday night at Buffalo, and Dan Campbell’s team has an early vacation in Week 6. Then the Lions get down to business with back-to-back home games vs. the Packers and Minnesota Vikings. All told, the club plays all six of its divisional games in the final 12 weeks of the season, closing out 2026 at Chicago and then at Green Bay.
1. Denver Broncos
The defending AFC West champions will be facing quite the gauntlet from the get-go before getting some time off in Week 10. They open with the rival Kansas City Chiefs on a Monday night at Arrowhead Stadium, then play five straight games (Jaguars, Rams, 49ers, Chargers, and Seahawks) vs. 2025 playoff teams. There’s a trip to Arizona in Week 7, a rematch with the Chiefs the following Sunday, then a trek to Carolina to face the reigning NFC South champion Panthers. This should be a battle-tested team by late November.
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