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

AFC EastBillsDolphinsJetsPatriotsAFC NorthBengalsBrownsRavensSteelersAFC SouthColtsJaguarsTexansTitansAFC WestBroncosChargersChiefsRaidersNFC EastCommandersCowboysEaglesGiantsNFC NorthBearsLionsPackersVikingsNFC SouthBuccaneersFalconsPanthersSaintsNFC West49ersCardinalsRamsSeahawksScores & ScheduleStandingsFantasyNFL OddsNFL PicksNFL DraftPodcastsNFL NewsletterSuper Bowl Contender Rankings2027 NFL Free AgentsPower RankingsEarly 2027 Mock DraftThe BeastNFL Schedule Sam Darnold and the Seahawks host the Patriots right off the bat in a Week 1 Super Bowl rematch. Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images Share article2The 2026 NFL regular season will include 10 new head coaches, a record nine international games and, as always, plenty of drama. The full, 272-game schedule dropped on Thursday. Week 1 starts 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 playing in Melbourne, Australia, and wraps up on “Monday Night Football” with the Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Denver Broncos. The Rams’ appearance in Australia is the first of a whopping eight primetime games for the franchise. Los Angeles follows up that Thursday night opener (although it will be played Friday morning in Melbourne) with a Week 2 Monday night showdown at home against the New York Giants before traveling to face the Broncos in Week 3 on “Sunday Night Football.” After a week out of the spotlight, the Rams host a Week 5 Monday nighter against the Buffalo Bills. Los Angeles leads the way with those eight standalone games, while the Bills, Seahawks, Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers each have six primetime games, and the Patriots, 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears have five. From quarterback revenge matchups to playoff rematches, here are the key games to watch. Patriots at Seahawks, Week 1: A rematch of Super Bowl LX. The Seahawks led last year’s season finale 9-0 at halftime and staved off a Patriots score until 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 defense shut down the San Francisco offense in back-to-back games. The Seahawks allowed just 3 points in the regular-season finale and then 6 points in the divisional round game two weeks later. The 49ers were limited by a plethora of injuries in those games but the Seahawks had an elite defense, regardless. These are two elite teams led by masterminds on opposite 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 last season’s wild-card round. And it ended just the way the 2025 Bears seemed to like it: an 18-point fourth-quarter comeback. Patriots at Chargers, Week 12: Los Angeles quarterback Justin Herbert fell to 0-3 in the playoffs after last season’s 16-3 wild-card loss to the Patriots. Bills at Broncos, Week 16: Bills fans are hoping to forget the 33-30 overtime loss in last season’s divisional round that ended with a controversial Broncos interception. Josh Allen cried at his postgame news conference, and head coach Sean McDermott was fired in the aftermath. Rams vs. Seahawks, Weeks 16 and 18: After two regular-season matchups for the NFC West rivals were decided by a total of 3 points, including a 38-37 overtime decision in Seattle that featured the 2-point conversion controversy, the Rams and Seahawks met in the NFC title game. That resulted in a 31-27 win for the Seahawks in a game that came down to the final drive. Broncos at Patriots, Week 17: In a Denver snowstorm, the Patriots punched their tickets to Super Bowl LX with a 10-7 win in last year’s AFC Championship. The conditions didn’t help either offense, but the Broncos surely missed quarterback Bo Nix, who broke his ankle the week prior and wasn’t able to play. Eagles at 49ers, Week 17: A Niners team that couldn’t avoid injury last season sent the reigning Super Bowl champions packing with a 23-19 win in the wild-card round. Even after tight end George Kittle tore his Achilles in the second quarter, San Francisco closed out the win with its defense and two fourth-quarter Christian McCaffrey touchdowns. Chiefs at Seahawks, Week 7: Kenneth Walker III was due for a big payday after hitting his stride during the Seahawks’ run to Super Bowl 60. His 161-yard performance in Seattle’s Super Bowl win earned him the MVP trophy; he’s the first running back to win it since Super Bowl 32. Fresh off his hottest season, the Chiefs snagged Walker in free agency and signed him to a contract worth up to $45 million, with $28.7 million guaranteed. Ravens vs. Bengals, Weeks 7 and 17: Given the way the saga played out the past couple of years between Trey Hendrickson and the Cincinnati Bengals, you can count on Hendrickson wanting to be at his best in these two divisional matchups. A second layer to this matchup is that Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said the Ravens were trying to land Maxx Crosby and Hendrickson simultaneously, though there are valid questions about if that would/could have happened. What did happen was that the Ravens reversed the Crosby trade and immediately signed Hendrickson afterwards. With the Las Vegas Raiders not on Baltimore’s schedule in 2026, prepare to hear some rehashing of the start of free agency this year when the Ravens and Bengals meet. Raiders at Jets, Week 8: There are a few different revenge layers to this one. First, Smith’s one season in Las Vegas was rough. He threw a league-high 17 interceptions and ranked 37th of 42 quarterbacks in EPA per dropback, though he didn’t have much help around him. He was traded to make way for No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza, which led to a reunion with the Jets, the team that drafted Smith in 2013. He spent four seasons with New York, but those weren’t very memorable either. Ten years since he last played for the Jets, can Smith change his legacy in New York? At the very least, it looks like he’ll have more support around him. Cowboys at Colts, Week 9: We’ve seen brothers square off throughout the years, whether it be a quarterback duel of Peyton Manning and Eli Manning, or the Kelce brothers with a Super Bowl on the line. But there’s something special when the brotherly matchup is a true brother-on-brother affair, which is what will be the case when rookie defensive back Caleb Downs and the Cowboys play against wide receiver Josh Downs and the Colts. Titans vs. Jaguars, Weeks 10 and 12: Whether it was a compliment, a jab, or something in between, Jags coach Liam Coen didn’t seem to like it when then-49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said Jacksonville had a “really advanced sign-stealing type system” last year. After the Jags beat the Niners the following week, Coen yelled toward Saleh to “keep my name out of your mouth.” We’ll see if the bad blood carries over now that Saleh is the head coach of the Titans. Steelers at Eagles, Week 11: One of the everlasting images from the 2026 NFL Draft will be USC wide receiver Makai Lemon on the phone with the Steelers, only for the Eagles to jump right ahead of the Steelers in a trade with the Dallas Cowboys to snatch Lemon. How that moment is viewed may largely be determined by how Lemon’s career unfolds, but you can bet the feelings will be raw between the state rivals when they meet in Lemon’s rookie year. 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 last two seasons and quarterback uncertainty continued to linger over the franchise. But it didn’t take Stefanski long to find a new landing spot with Atlanta. He’ll have a chance to make his old team miss him and face off against first-time NFL head coach Todd Monken in this matchup. Dolphins at Packers, Week 15: The individuals at the top of the chain of the three most important layers of a team — front office, coaching staff and players — are the general manager (besides the owner), the head coach and the quarterback. For the rebuilding Dolphins, all three of those individuals were in Green Bay last season in quarterback Malik Willis, coach Jeff Hafley and GM Jon-Eric Sullivan. Raiders’ Klint Kubiak vs. Dolphins: We don’t know yet if Week 1 will be the NFL debut of 2026 No. 1 pick, quarterback Fernando Mendoza. The Raiders have expressed a willingness to have the rookie start on the bench, if they believe it’s best for his development. They have a strong veteran option in Kirk Cousins to go with, if they choose to do so. Regardless, it will be the head coaching debut of Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak, who is fresh off of leading the Seahawks’ offense to a Super Bowl title. Ravens’ Jesse Minter at Colts: The last time the Ravens opened the season with somebody other than John Harbaugh as their head coach, George W. Bush was president of the United States. It’ll be a different look on the Baltimore sideline moving forward as Jesse Minter makes his head coaching debut. Giants’ John Harbaugh vs. Cowboys: Speaking of Harbaugh, he’ll begin his second head coaching job stint in the NFL, trying to return the Giants to postseason relevancy. The Giants haven’t been to a conference championship game since their last Super Bowl run in the 2011 season. Harbaugh brings his experience to a situation that already has a starting quarterback and had two top-10 picks in this year’s draft and he’ll debut against the rival Cowboys on “Sunday Night Football.” Browns’ Todd Monken at Jaguars: The Browns’ hiring of Monken, the former Ravens offensive coordinator, wasn’t splashy, but the situation in Cleveland was a tough sell. The offense needs a lot of work, and Monken, who has 11 years of NFL offensive coaching experience (though never as a head coach), is tasked with fixing it. Cleveland took a step in the right direction with an offense-heavy 2026 draft class, but now they’ll have to get the pieces to work together on the field. Cardinals’ Mike LaFleur at Chargers: Circumstances are far from ideal for LaFleur, who gets his first chance to be a head coach by taking over the worst team in the best division in football. On top of that, the Cardinals moved on from Murray and didn’t replace him with a viable franchise-caliber quarterback. Arizona is clearly in a long-term rebuild, so there isn’t pressure on LaFleur to win immediately, but his era of coaching is set to begin back in Los Angeles, where he was most recently the Rams’ offensive coordinator. Bills’ Joe Brady at Texans: Perhaps the most controversial coaching change of the offseason came in Buffalo, as the Bills moved on from Sean McDermott and elevated offensive coordinator Joe Brady to take over in his place. There will be immense pressure for Brady to win immediately as he takes over a franchise that has won at least one playoff game in each of the past six seasons. Titans’ Robert Saleh vs. Jets: It’s been a miserable past couple of seasons for the Titans, but they have a franchise quarterback in place in Cam Ward and got him a legitimate weapon in the draft in wide receiver Carnell Tate. Head coaching opportunities are not unlimited in the NFL. Saleh had his first shot with the Jets so the pressure is on for him to make the most out of this second chance and he gets to face his old team right off the bat. Dolphins’ Jeff Hafley at Raiders: The Dolphins were in need of a factory reset, and the 2026 season will give the franchise just that. They may be hampered by Tua Tagovailoa’s contract this season but they have a new general manager, head coach and starting quarterback. That should be a welcome sight for Dolphins fans after the last couple of years. Falcons’ Kevin Stefanski at Steelers: Cleveland hasn’t been the easiest place for a head coach to succeed, yet Stefanski won Coach of the Year twice with the Browns and broke a 17-year postseason drought. The Falcons have talent in place and the NFC South is a manageable division to win in, so it’ll be interesting to see how Stefanski fares in his second spot. Steelers’ Mike McCarthy vs. Falcons: There will be nobody happier or more emotional for Mike McCarthy’s debut as Steelers head coach than McCarthy himself. McCarthy is a Pittsburgh native and has always worn his roots on his sleeve. Beyond that, it’ll be a lot of conflicting emotions for the masses not seeing Mike Tomlin on the sidelines and seeing the coach who beat the Steelers in the Super Bowl in the 2010 season in Tomlin’s place. Chiefs vs. Broncos, Week 1: Even though Patrick Mahomes tore his ACL towards the end of the 2025 season, recovery from that injury has come a long way in recent years. There was always a good chance Mahomes would be ready for the team’s season opener, and the Chiefs provided an update recently saying Mahomes may be ready for training camp. If so, all eyes will be on the face of the league in Week 1. Ravens at Bills, Week 8: This matchup between Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson gave us an early contender for Game of the Year last year, when the Bills mounted a furious comeback to win 41-40 on a walk-off field goal in Week 1 on “Sunday Night Football.” Expectations will be high for this game. Chiefs at Bills, Week 12: Although the Bills and Chiefs didn’t finish in the same spot in their respective divisions in 2025, the AFC East is scheduled to play against the AFC West in 2026. That means another duel between arguably the two best quarterbacks in the NFL in Mahomes and Allen. The fact that it lands on Thanksgiving should only enhance the fireworks. The Chiefs played on Thanksgiving last year as well, and their holiday matchup against the Cowboys in 2025 became the most-watched regular-season game in NFL history. Chiefs at Bengals, Week 14: The last time Mahomes lost to an AFC team in the playoffs? That would be Joe Burrow and the Bengals in the 2021 season. Burrow has dealt with injuries throughout his career but remains one of the premier talents at the position when healthy. Ravens vs. Bengals, Weeks 7 and 17: Burrow and Jackson, both of whom had injury-riddled 2025 campaigns, offer contrasting styles of play but both are elite quarterbacks for their respective teams. As the cherry on top, these are division rivals, so we’ll get to see them face off twice in 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 in the NFL will have a new look to it. It’ll be interesting to see if the smashmouth, intense style of play will carry over to teams led by Minter and McCarthy, respectively. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms