In 2026 NFL The season begins on a Wednesday night for the second year in a row and begins with a Super Bowl rematch. T
The New England Patriots enter Seattle’s Lumen Field on September 9 to face the team that beat them in February, before the sport heads to Australia for the Los Angeles Rams against the San Francisco 49ers.
After that, eighteen weeks of delicious action.
On February 14, 2027, Valentine’s Day, it ends them, with Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, home of the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers.
Nine international games fall in between, including NFL regular season openers played in Melbourne, Paris and Rio de Janeiro.
On paper, it’s the most interesting season the NFL has put together in a while. 101GreatGoals has all the information you need before your next campaign.
When does the 2026 NFL season start?
The 2026 regular season runs from September 9, 2026 to January 10, 2027, with each of the 32 teams playing 17 games and receiving a bye week.
The playoffs begin the following weekend, with Wild Card games starting on January 16, 2027.
The divisional round follows Jan. 24-25, the Conference Championship Games on Feb. 1 and Super Bowl LXI on Feb. 14.
The weekly schedule is as follows:
Week 1: from September 9 to 14
Week 2: Sept. 17-22 (includes Bills first game 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: from October 29 to November 3
Week 9: from November 5 to 10
Week 10: November 12-17 (Patriots in Germany vs. Detroit Lions)
Week 11: November 19-24
Week 12: November 25 to December 1 (Thanksgiving on November 26)
Week 13: from 3 to 8 December
Week 14: from December 10 to 15
Week 15: December 17-22
Week 16: December 24-29
Week 17: from December 31 to January 5
Week 18: January 8-10, 2027 (all divisional fixtures, standings complete)
All 32 NFL Teams – Divisions and Conferences for 2026
The league lineup is unchanged from 2025. There are thirty-two teams, two conferences, divided into eight divisions of four.
AFC East: Buffalo Bills, 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 City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers
NFC East: Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Commanders
NFC North: Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Green 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 international schedule reaches a new scale this season with nine games in seven countries, the most in a single season.
Paris and Melbourne are hosting NFL regular season games for the first time, as is Rio de Janeiro.
The Jaguars play two games in London as part of their ongoing deal at Wembley Stadium.
The Rams open the season against the 49ers in Melbourne, and the Patriots visit Frankfurt in Week 10 to face the Lions in Germany.
Teams to watch in 2026
Branches of Los Angeles
The betting market’s choice, and it’s not hard to see why. The Rams enter the season having added defensive player of the year Myles Garrett in a trade, signed cornerback Trent McDuffie to improve their secondary and saw Aaron Donald come out of retirement to rejoin the franchise where he spent the best years of his career.
No team has ever played a Super Bowl in their own stadium. That story will follow this team all season long.
Baltimore Ravens
John Harbaugh is gone, fired after a decade at the helm following a 2025 season in which Lamar Jackson finished with a losing record as a starter for the first time in his career.
New head coach Jesse Minter, who transformed the Los Angeles Chargers’ defense from 29th to seventh in his first season there, arrives with a clear mandate: build the defense around Jackson instead of asking the quarterback to carry it all.
If Minter’s defense is as good in Baltimore as it was with the Chargers, the Ravens are the most dangerous team in the AFC.
Seattle Seahawks
Defending champions and the side every team wants to beat.
The challenge, as always for the defending champion, is maintaining what made them elite when opponents have an offseason full of film and specific game plans targeting their most vulnerable areas.
Their schedule opens at home against New England in Week 1, Kansas City in Week 7 and the Rams in Week 16. It’s not a smooth title defense.
Kansas City Chiefs
Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid. It’s the most reliable phrase in American sports. Kansas City missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 2020, and that absence has only sharpened what is already the most experienced championship-winning operation in the modern NFL.
They’re in the conversation every year for a reason: Mahomes doesn’t have bad seasons, just less successful ones. The AFC surrounding them is deeper than it was during their dominant run, but betting against them is never a wise choice.
Where to watch the 2026 NFL season in the UK
Sky Sports NFL is the primary home of NFL live coverage under a three-year deal confirmed in August 2025 and through the 2027 season.
Sky offers Thursday Night Football, Sunday Night Football, Monday Night Football, all three London games, all the playoffs and the Super Bowl.
They also broadcast NFL RedZone and NFL Network. Sky Sports NFL is included in the standard Sky Sports subscription for around £40-£46 per month, or is available contract-free via a NOW Sports subscription for £34.99 per month.
Channel 5 offers the free offer for viewers who don’t want a subscription. Two live games are broadcast every Sunday during the regular season, the first at 6pm on 5Action, the second at 9.25pm on Channel 5’s main channel.
Channel 5 is also broadcasting all three games in London live. Its coverage has been rebranded for 2026 as NFL On 5, hosted by Osi Umenyiora and Sam Quek.
NFL Game Pass International via DAZN is the most comprehensive option for committed fans who want to watch every game.
DAZN offers the full NFL catalog live and on demand, including games not selected for Sky or Channel 5 broadcast.
UK start times
The Sunday window at 1pm ET = 6pm UK.
The Sunday afternoon window at 4.25pm ET = 9.25pm UK.
Sunday Night Football at 8.20pm ET = 1.20am UK Monday morning.
Games in London, which usually kick off at 2.30pm or 6.30pm UK time, are the easiest regular season games to watch live for UK audiences.
Super Bowl LXI Prediction
It’s brave to call Super Bowl winners before the season starts, but the Los Angeles Rams are the clear favorites for the Lombardi Trophy this season.
After announcing the return of Aaron Donald and pairing him with Myles Garrett, the West Coast side is in even more formidable form than last season, which almost resulted in a Super Bowl appearance anyway.
Matthew Stafford is the reigning MVP, but he’ll really want to win after missing out on the big prize last season.
It will be harder to call their opponents, but as it stands, it would be a huge shock if the Rams didn’t at least participate in the NFL Showcase in February.
