Congratulations, folks, on surviving nearly three weeks without any major news cycle takeover by the National Football League. The 2026 NFL Schedule Release is about to solve that fandom crisis. You’ve had three weeks to mull over your team’s march to the Super Bowl after reloading through the 2026 NFL Draft.

Now, we are mere hours from putting actual dates to the matchups that will matter most to your team getting to SoFi Stadium in February 2027. A couple of matchups have already come out, like the first Sunday Night Football matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants.

Expect more strategic ‘leaks’ likely ahead of the Thursday night reveal of the full 2026-27 NFL schedule. So, what are the games we are most excited to watch this season? We have some thoughts.

Opening Night, September 9: Chicago Bears at Seattle Seahawks

When we asked our newsletter readers which team they would like to see play the ‘Hawks, the New England Patriots were the winner here, with nearly 30 percent of the vote. But the Chicago Bears were right behind, and my educated guess is that NBC executives are weary of another snoozefest between the Pats and Seattle, so they will opt to grab Middle America right out of the gate by featuring the upstart Bears.

I’m also betting that the league has no interest in putting the Vrabelini drama in the spotlight in Week 1.

September 10: San Francisco 49ers vs. Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne, Australia

Head coaches like structure in their workweeks. They like to create order immediately to start the season. That’s why 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has been so vocal in his disdain for this epic road trip to start the season.

Never mind the 32-hour round-trip in the air to get there and back. The game will be played at 10:35 a.m. local time to accommodate a primetime slot in the U.S. That’s two huge components that will make it impossible to establish any sense of preparation normalcy. And did we mention that it’s a huge divisional matchup to start the season?

It’s big business for the league itself, and for the fan, to get this kind of matchup in Opening Week is pure bliss. The teams played one of the 2025 season’s most thrilling games, a 26-23 overtime win for the 49ers in Santa Clara Week 5.

Now, with both teams guaranteed to be playing at as close to full health as they will be all season, expect fireworks early and often.

September 27: Baltimore Ravens vs. Dallas Cowboys in Rio

Two of the league’s premier quarterbacks, Lamar Jackson and Dak Prescott, will lead their teams into a key non-conference showdown in Brazil. A lot of early-season questions will be on display.

How is Baltimore responding to new head coach Jesse Minter? What kind of early-season impact are first-round picks Caleb Downs and Malachi Lawrence making with the Cowboys defense? This will be a pivotal early test to see which of the underperforming stars has their crew ready to dominate in 2026.

October 25: The New Orleans Saints play in Paris

It’s laissez les bons temps rouler meets the Eiffel Tower as the Saints invade Paris for a Week 7 showdown. New Orleans is viewed by many (including me) as a sleeper playoff pick for 2026, especially with the way that head coach Kellen Moore and QB Tyler Shough had the team playing down the stretch in 2025 – a 4-3 finish after a 2-10 start.

As for their opponent, we’d love to see the Cincinnati Bengals in a showdown of two underperforming 2025 teams on the rise. But the Interwebs are speculating that it’s more likely to be the Cleveland Browns.If it’s Deshaun Watson leading them, that’s a big nothing burger. Now, if it’s Shadeur Sanders, color me intrigued.

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From here, we know which divisions are playing each other and the bulk of each team’s opponents.

We just don’t know the week they will play. But let’s put out a wish list.

Black Friday: Buffalo Bills at Green Bay Packers

Let’s be real. The Bills versus the Packers isn’t going to be a September or October matchup. We all want to see two cold-weather, blue-collar teams play in a winter whiteout.

Weather prognosticators say that Thanksgiving weekend and the post-Christmas weekend (Dec. 27) are the two most likely weekends for a major snow event in Green Bay. So, we’ll opt for the perfect elixir for a tryptophan hangover here.

Christmas Day: Kansas City Chiefs at Cincinnati Bengals

QB Patrick Mahomes should be well on his way to 100 percent health with the Chiefs in the middle of a revenge season to show they are still top-tier Super Bowl threats. Meanwhile, we predict Joe Burrow will have the Bengals atop the AFC North come this matchup.

What better Christmas present than a potential AFC Championship preview?

Thanksgiving Night: Houston Texans at Pittsburgh Steelers

Texans versus Steelers: How could the NFL or NBC possibly pass up a chance to feature QB Aaron Rodgers one more time in what will likely be the latter part of his farewell tour around the league?

The bigger question is what kind of playoff shape will these two middling 2025 teams be come Turkey Day? There are so many questions surrounding both franchises. I’m not a psychic, but I do feel a down year coming for both teams. This would be the first time since 2015 that Rodgers has played on Thanksgiving.

Week 8 Monday Night Football: Kansas City Chiefs at Seattle Seahawks

Despite being the Super Bowl champs, the Seahawks are not seen as a huge national draw. But throw the Chiefs in this slot, and you have Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and every ESPN executive salivating, counting down the days until what could be their biggest rating of the year.

By rule, the Chiefs (and every other franchise) can only play a maximum of six prime-time games per season. The reality is, there are 12 different matchups I could sell putting on my TV exec hat. But this one, this is the Daddy Mack for me.

Week 10 Thursday Night Football: New England Patriots at Chicago Bears

The Pats are a true conundrum for schedule makers and TV executives. Will they be the post-surprise-year bust that the Washington Commanders were in 2025? Or will they continue to ascend, galvanizing behind head coach Mike Vrabel in an us-against-the-world return to the playoffs?

Will the Pats land A.J. Brown? That’s another factor that makes this an even stronger sell for Amazon. If I had to bet on one non-conference matchup that lands on Al Michaels’ mic, this would be the matchup. Two premier young QBs are too much to pass up for TNF.

Week 17 Sunday Night Football: Dallas Cowboys at Los Angeles Rams

Picking just 10 games here was brutal. I truly don’t remember a schedule that I have been more excited to see in the past 15 years than 2026, with so many intriguing storylines setting up a monster season.

The Chiefs at Seahawks would have likely been the Opening Night matchup if Mahomes were guaranteed to be healthy. Any of the Bears-Packers or Ravens-Steelers matchups will be must-see TV. The Chiefs at Bills would be top of this list in any other year (and who knows, maybe they end up playing Thanksgiving Week).

49ers at Cowboys, Giants at Seahawks, Saints at Ravens … the list goes on and on with intriguing matchups. But pin me down to just 10 matchups, and this is the game I expect in this slot. I know Fernando Mendoza and the Las Vegas Raiders will likely get an early-season Thursday Night Football slot, likely against either the Cardinals with Carson Beck or the Titans and Cam Ward — a matchup of the last two No. 1 picks.

Both these franchises will also likely cap out at their six prime-time showings, so this wish gets tricky. Because what if both teams end up in a rigorous division battle that makes Week 18 a win-or-go-home matchup for either team and, therefore, a game NBC will be dying to have as the last regular-season game of the year?

I am truly hoping that this is the year that Dallas overcomes decades of mediocrity and returns to be a true, legitimate Super Bowl contender, one that warrants every last minute that First Take will spend on them, regardless of their record. Again, putting on my schedule maker hat here, I’m making a big bet that these two teams live up to the hype and make this matchup a ratings blockbuster.

BONUS PICK: (OK, I lied. I can’t be contained to just 10 games.)

Because we’re reportedly getting a new Thanksgiving Eve game this year, and Netflix is paying a premium to air it. So, it will have to be a doozy of a matchup.

The most likely contender here, given Jerry Jones’ cozy relationship with Dadum and Co., would have been the 49ers at the Cowboys. But with Cowboys-Eagles announced for Thanksgiving afternoon, I’m going to go with the Bengals at Washington Commanders. Two young studs the streamer can promote relentlessly.