3. New England Patriots Weeks 1-4
Heading into Seattle on banner night, hosting the new-look Pittsburgh Steelers, going into Jacksonville in September, and a date at the Buffalo Bills is a rough look for the AFC Champions from 2025. All of these games are winnable, but none of them will be a walk in the park.
A great boost for the Patriots is that the Pittsburgh game will be on a long week of rest since the 2026 campaign kicks off on a Wednesday. Given a lack of tape on all the new playmakers the Steelers have with Aaron Rodgers, an extra few days could be incredibly beneficial.
All four of these games are against playoff teams from last season, but only two of them won a game. So it is not an insurmountable stretch by any means. Three of those games being on the road, however, is a harsh outlook for the early portion of the schedule.
2. Buffalo Bills Weeks 13-16
Going into New England, then into Green Bay, hosting the Chicago Bears on a short week, and ending the stretch in Denver, also on a short week, is a brutal 4-game segment for Buffalo toward the end of the season. With every game in this portion coming against playoff teams from the 2025 season, it is a rough patch.
What makes things worse for the Bills is that three out of the four games listed are on the road. One helpful bit is that the matchup against the Patriots comes on a long week of rest.
If you wanted to add a Thanksgiving night cap against the Kansas City Chiefs and remove the Christmas day meeting with Denver, that would be completely understandable, depending on how one feels about either team. Both games come on a short week, although the Thanksgiving one is a couple of days shorter.
1. Miami Dolphins Weeks 15-18
Coming in with the hardest stretch in the AFC East is the Miami Dolphins. In reality, it is a brutal 6-game stretch to end the season.
Going to Green Bay in December, hosting a Chargers squad that should be in full playoff push mode, hosting the Bills, and going to the Patriots in January sounds horrifying for a rebuilding Dolphins team. For a warm-weather squad to go into a pair of potentially snowy atmospheres is not something that many players are likely looking forward to.
However, Malik Willis will have a revenge game narrative to maybe help fuel the Dolphins against the Packers. That said, that is not the entire stretch.
In Week 13, Miami goes into Denver, which is another game that could feature snow. Then they play host to the Bears. All in all, Miami finishes the season against six consecutive playoff teams from the 2025 season.
The schedule makers clearly did not do the Dolphins any favors. The hope would be that Miami has competent outings in most, if not all, of these games to have some kind of momentum heading into the offseason. The back third of this team’s season is absolutely brutal.
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