NFL Schedule
All 32 NFL teams knew who their opponents were going to be, but did not know the sequence of the games until Thursday, May 14, as the 2026 NFL schedule was unveiled. Announcements about special games, including the 2026 NFL International Games, preceded the full schedule release and a bunch of leaks kept trickling in to fill in spots on the slate. Shout-out to the guys over at Progrid, especially @NerdingonNFL and @OzzyNFL on X, who did an outstanding job of putting the leaks into one place as they were being reported on social media.
Win totals, awards, and futures odds have been up for a while, but now that we have more context, we’ll see those markets molded into shape by sharp and opportunistic bettors looking to take advantage of the new information we have just learned. Also, every game of the NFL schedule has been lined by DraftKings already, so we can see how often a team is favored or an underdog and also get a feel for the market ratings of the teams in advance of training camp.
As with any sort of random draw – though we can debate how random this really is given what we know about how scripted the NFL is (!) – there are winners and losers.
Here are some of those teams in my opinion.
For the latest NFL odds, check out our NFL Betting Splits.
2026 NFL Schedule Winners
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
What’s ironic here is that the Buccaneers were a schedule winner for me last year and completely screwed it up by starting off 6-2 prior to the bye week and finishing the season on a 2-7 run. What made them so attractive is that they played one game outside the state of Florida in the final six weeks of the regular season. They went 2-4 in those games, going 2-2 at home and 0-2 on the road with trips to Charlotte and Miami.
We’ll see if they can make amends this year with what looks to be another promising schedule. They will have to play at Baltimore in Week 14, but otherwise, their December/January road games are indoors (Atlanta Week 16; New Orleans Week 18) and only play one outdoor road game after their Week 9 Sunday Night Football game at Soldier Field on November 8.
The Bucs also play three of their first four games at home and, while they do have a short-week trip to Jerry World in Week 5, they have an extremely light travel schedule for most of the season. Also, taking the bye week into account, the Bucs do not play consecutive road games at any point this season.
Jacksonville Jaguars
The other team from the Sunshine State also has a handful of perks with how their schedule shook out. Yes, they are the home team for both of their London games, so they’re only going to have six true home games, however, there are some situational advantages and other things that could work out in their favor. Starting with Cleveland doesn’t hurt either.
The Jaguars get a Denver road trip out of the way early and also knock out Cincinnati, Baltimore, Nashville, and the Meadowlands before the weather has a chance to get too bad. An early December roadie against Chicago could be dicey, but their final five games are either at home or indoors.
In terms of potential situation spots, Jacksonville plays Denver in Week 2 after the Broncos play the Chiefs on Monday Night Football. These are hardly foolproof, but here are the others. The game against the Patriots in Week 3 is a potential lookahead spot for New England, who plays Buffalo in Week 4. Similarly, the Bengals will be coming off of a road game against the Steelers when they host the Jags in Week 4. The Eagles head to London off of a game against the Rams, while the Texans go to London the following week off of a road game in Nashville against a division rival.
Even looking further down the schedule, the Jags catch Baltimore on a Thursday night after the Ravens visit the Bills. That may very well negate the travel spot and short week. After their Week 7 bye, three of Jacksonville’s remaining home games will be against a team playing on the road for a second straight week. All things considered, that’s pretty favorable.
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins have a great schedule for trying to land the No. 1 pick and get their next franchise QB. They open with a winnable road game in Las Vegas in Fernando Mendoza’s first start and then have to stay out west and play the 49ers. That Raiders game is particularly interesting with two new head coaches.
For a team that will have a lot of new pieces and parts, plus a new head coach, a Week 6 bye might not be awful, but there are late-season road trips to Buffalo, Denver, Green Bay, and Foxboro as their final four road games. Three of their final four home games are against cold-weather teams happy to escape Mother Nature – Jets, Bears, Bills.
Miami’s final six games – Broncos, Bears, Packers, Chargers, Bills, Patriots – feature three division champs from 2025 and three Wild Card teams. That type of gauntlet should give the Dolphins an inside track to being on the clock for the April draft when Week 18 is complete.
2026 NFL Schedule Losers
Pittsburgh Steelers
Poring over Pittsburgh’s 17-game schedule, it is hard to find spots where they are at an advantage over their opponent. The Week 1 game against the Falcons and first-year head coach Kevin Stefanski could be one, but the Steelers have a first-year HC of their own in Mike McCarthy, though this is hardly his first rodeo.
In Week 2, they’ll face a rested New England team off of playing Wednesday Night Football in a Super Bowl rematch. In Week 3, they probably have the edge over the Bengals, who are playing a second straight road game, but then they go to Cleveland for a Thursday Night game in Week 4. Their other game against Cleveland is potentially compromised, as they’ll host the Browns right after coming back from the league’s first game in Paris.
After the Week 9 bye, the Steelers play back-to-back road games at Cincinnati and at Philadelphia. They’ll host Denver on a short week for Black Friday. They go to Jacksonville for Monday Night Football in Week 14, leaving a short week for the Week 15 home game against the Ravens. Their second meeting with the Ravens is a second consecutive road game to round out the season.
Even though Pittsburgh only changes time zones twice – once in Paris and once in Nashville – the quirky nature of their schedule with six standalone games, including four in primetime, three sets of back-to-back road games is a tough road, especially with a QB on the wrong side of 40.
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys open up with the Giants and Commanders and then it all seems to go downhill from there. They’ll play in Rio de Janeiro in Week 3 against the Ravens and have another road game in Week 4, albeit just across the state in Houston, which leads into a short-week home game against the Buccaneers on TNF.
After that Week 5 matchup, three of the next four are on the road, including spotlight games against the Packers and Eagles. They’ll have another short-week game for Thanksgiving and then have to play at Seattle before their Week 14 bye. The Cowboys and Cardinals have the latest byes in Week 14. Coming out of the bye, it’s a trip out west to face the Rams before things finally settle down a little bit.
It’s a pretty arduous schedule over the first 13 weeks and some of the more winnable games have some landmines attached to them, like Arizona at home after a Monday Nighter against Philly and Tennessee at home sandwiched between the 49ers and Thanksgiving.
Buffalo Bills
The final two games – at Miami and home against the Jets – could be saving graces with what is otherwise a difficult schedule for the Bills. They had arguably the best schedule setup last season and are going to pay for it this season, as they play four sets of back-to-back road games and two of those are short weeks coming off of a road MNF game in the first one.
Buffalo also has to go to Denver on Christmas at the end of a three-game stretch that features Sunday Night Football in Green Bay, a Saturday game against the Bears, and then Friday, December 25. Albeit at home, Buffalo also has a short week with Kansas City coming to town on the night of Thanksgiving. At least they play the Dolphins the week prior, but the Chiefs play the Cardinals.
Right out of the chute, the Bills also draw a Thursday Night Football matchup in Week 2 with the Lions, who have to welcome the opportunity to knock out a cold-weather city in mid-September. None of Buffalo’s late-season home games are against teams unaccustomed to the cold. Taken in the context of 2026 schedules, this one is tough. Taken in the context of what the Bills had last season, this looks downright mean.
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