The 2026 NFL season begins on a Wednesday night time for the second consecutive yr, and it begins with a Tremendous Bowl rematch. T
The New England Patriots stroll into Lumen Area in Seattle on September 9 to face the staff that beat them in February, earlier than the game heads to Australia for the Los Angeles Rams vs San Francisco 49ers
Eighteen weeks of mouthwatering motion comply with that.
February 14, 2027 – Valentine’s Day – ends them, with Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, the house of the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers.
9 worldwide video games sit in between, together with the primary NFL regular-season matches ever performed in Melbourne, Paris and Rio de Janeiro.
It’s, on paper, probably the most fascinating season the NFL has put collectively in a while. 101GreatGoals has all the knowledge you want forward of the upcoming marketing campaign.
When does the 2026 NFL season begin?
The 2026 common season runs from September 9, 2026, to January 10, 2027, with every of the 32 groups enjoying 17 video games and receiving one bye week.
The playoffs start the next weekend, with Wild Card video games beginning January 16, 2027.
The Divisional Spherical follows on January 24-25, the Convention Championship Video games on February 1, and Tremendous Bowl LXI on February 14.
The week-by-week schedule runs as follows:
Week 1: September 9-14
Week 2: September 17-22 (contains Payments’ first sport at new Highmark Stadium)
Week 3: September 24-29
Week 4: October 1-6
Week 5: October 8-13
Week 6: October 15-20
Week 7: October 22-27
Week 8: October 29-November 3
Week 9: November 5-10
Week 10: November 12-17 (Patriots in Germany vs Detroit Lions)
Week 11: November 19-24
Week 12: November 25-December 1 (Thanksgiving on November 26)
Week 13: December 3-8
Week 14: December 10-15
Week 15: December 17-22
Week 16: December 24-29
Week 17: December 31-January 5
Week 18: January 8-10, 2027 (all-division matchups, seedings finalised)
All 32 NFL Groups: Divisions and conferences for 2026
The league’s alignment is unchanged from 2025. There are thirty-two groups, two conferences, break up into eight divisions of 4.
AFC East: Buffalo Payments, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New York Jets
AFC North: Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers
AFC South: Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans
AFC West: Denver Broncos, Kansas Metropolis Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers
NFC East: Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Commanders
NFC North: Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Inexperienced Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings
NFC South: Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
NFC West: Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks
The NFL overseas in 2026
The league’s worldwide programme reaches a brand new scale this season with 9 video games throughout seven international locations, probably the most in a single season.
Paris and Melbourne host NFL regular-season video games for the primary time, as does Rio de Janeiro.
The Jaguars play two video games in London as a part of their ongoing association at Wembley Stadium.
The Rams open their season in opposition to the 49ers in Melbourne, and the Patriots go to Frankfurt in Week 10 to face the Lions in Germany.
Groups to look at in 2026
Los Angeles Rams
The betting market’s alternative, and it isn’t onerous to see why. The Rams enter the season having added reigning Defensive Participant of the 12 months Myles Garrett in a commerce, signed cornerback Trent McDuffie to improve their secondary, and watched Aaron Donald come out of retirement to rejoin the franchise the place he spent the very best years of his profession.
No staff has ever performed a Tremendous Bowl at their very own stadium. That storyline goes to comply with this staff all season.
Baltimore Ravens
John Harbaugh is gone, fired after a decade in cost following a 2025 season that noticed Lamar Jackson end with a shedding document as a starter for the primary time in his profession.
New head coach Jesse Minter, who remodeled the Los Angeles Chargers’ defence from twenty ninth to seventh in his first season there, arrives with a transparent mandate: construct the defence round Jackson moderately than asking the quarterback to hold the whole lot.
If Minter’s defence is pretty much as good in Baltimore because it was with the Chargers, the Ravens are probably the most harmful staff within the AFC.
Seattle Seahawks
Defending champions and the aspect each staff needs to beat.
The problem, as at all times for the defending champion, is sustaining what made them elite when opponents have a full offseason of movie and particular sport plans concentrating on their most susceptible areas.
Their schedule opens at house in opposition to New England in Week 1, hosts Kansas Metropolis in Week 7 and the Rams in Week 16. It isn’t a delicate title defence.
Kansas Metropolis Chiefs
Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid. It’s the most dependable sentence in American sports activities. Kansas Metropolis weren’t within the playoffs final season for the primary time since 2020, and that absence has solely sharpened what’s already probably the most skilled championship-winning operation within the fashionable NFL.
They’re within the dialog yearly for one cause: Mahomes doesn’t have dangerous seasons, solely much less profitable ones. The AFC round them is deeper than it was throughout their dominant run, however betting in opposition to them isn’t the good choice.
The place to look at the 2026 NFL season within the UK
Sky Sports activities NFL is the principal house of reside NFL protection beneath a three-year deal confirmed in August 2025 and operating by the 2027 season.
Sky carries Thursday Night time Soccer, Sunday Night time Soccer, Monday Night time Soccer, all three London video games, each playoff sport and the Tremendous Bowl.
Additionally they broadcast NFL RedZone and NFL Community. Sky Sports activities NFL is included inside the usual Sky Sports activities subscription at round £40-£46 a month, or out there and not using a contract by a NOW Sports activities Membership at £34.99 a month.
Channel 5 gives the free-to-air providing for viewers who are not looking for a subscription. Two reside video games air each Sunday all through the common season, the primary at 6pm on 5Action, the second at 9.25pm on the principle Channel 5 channel.
Channel 5 additionally broadcasts all three London video games reside. Their protection has been rebranded for 2026 as NFL On 5, hosted by Osi Umenyiora and Sam Quek.
NFL Sport Move Worldwide through DAZN is probably the most complete choice for dedicated followers who need to watch each sport.
DAZN carries the total NFL catalogue reside and on-demand, together with video games not chosen for Sky or Channel 5 broadcast.
UK kick-off occasions
The Sunday 1pm ET early window = 6pm UK.
The Sunday 4.25pm ET afternoon window = 9.25pm UK.
Sunday Night time Soccer at 8.20pm ET = 1.20am UK Monday morning.
The London video games, usually kicking off at 2.30pm or 6.30pm UK time, are the best regular-season video games for UK audiences to look at reside.
Tremendous Bowl LXI prediction
It’s courageous to name the Tremendous Bowl winners earlier than the season has even began, however the Los Angeles Rams are the clear favourites for the Lombardi Trophy this season.
After asserting Aaron Donald’s return and pairing him with Myles Garrett, the West Coast aspect are in much more formidable form than they have been final season, which nearly resulted in a Tremendous Bowl look anyway.
Matthew Stafford is the reigning MVP, however he’ll actually need to earn if after lacking out on the grand prize final season.
Their opponents will probably be more durable to name, however because it stands, it will be an enormous shock if the Rams weren’t no less than taking part within the NFL showpiece in February.
