2026 NFL The season begins Wednesday night for the second year in a row, starting with a Super Bowl rematch. T
The New England Patriots walk to Lumen Field in Seattle on September 9 to face the team that defeated them in February, before the sport heads to Australia for the Los Angeles Rams to take on the San Francisco 49ers.
Eighteen weeks of delicious work follow.
February 14, 2027 – Valentine’s Day – Wraps it up, with Super Bowl LXI at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, home of the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers.
There are nine international matches between them, including the first-ever AFL regular season matches in Melbourne, Paris and Rio de Janeiro.
It is, on paper, the most interesting season the NFL has put together in some time. 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 one bye week.
The playoffs begin the following weekend, with Wild Card games beginning on January 16, 2027.
The divisional round will be played on January 24-25, the conference championship games on February 1, and Super Bowl LXI on February 14.
The weekly schedule goes as follows:
First week: September 9-14
Week 2: September 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 Six: 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 Sixteen: December 24-29
Week 17: December 31 – January 5
Week 18: January 8 to 10, 2027 (all division matches, classifications have been completed)
All 32 NFL teams: Divisions and conferences for 2026
The league standings have not changed since 2025. There are thirty-two teams, and two conferences, divided into eight divisions of four.
East Asia: Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New York Jets
North Asia: Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers
South Asia: Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans
West Asia: 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 is overseas in 2026
The league’s international program reaches a new high this season with nine matches in seven countries, the most in a single season.
Paris and Melbourne are hosting AFL regular season matches for the first time, as is Rio de Janeiro.
The Jaguars play two games in London as part of their ongoing fixture at Wembley Stadium.
The Rams open their 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
Los Angeles Rams
Choosing a betting market, 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 upgrade their secondary, and watched 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 its own stadium. This story will follow this team throughout the season.
Baltimore Ravens
John Harbaugh is gone, fired after a decade in charge following a 2025 season that saw Lamar Jackson finish with a losing record as a starter for the first time in his career.
New 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 rather than asking the quarterback to carry everything.
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 that every team wants to beat.
The challenge, as always for the defending champion, is to maintain what made him elite when opponents have a full season of film and specific game plans targeting their most vulnerable areas.
Their schedule begins at home against New England in Week 1, hosts Kansas City in Week 7 and the Rams in Week 16. It’s not a nice title defense.
Kansas City Chiefs
Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid. It is the most reliable sentence in American sports. Kansas City wasn’t in the playoffs last season for the first time since 2020, and that absence only exacerbated the most experienced process of winning a championship in the modern NFL.
They’re in the conversation every year for one reason: Mahomes doesn’t have bad seasons, just less successful seasons. The AFC is deeper around them than it was during their period of dominance, but betting against them is never the sensible option.
Where to watch the 2026 NFL season in the UK
Sky Sports NFL It is the primary home for live coverage of the NFL under a three-year deal confirmed in August 2025 and running through the 2027 season.
Sky carries Thursday Night Football, Sunday Night Football, Monday Night Football, all three London games, every playoff game and the Super Bowl.
They also stream NFL RedZone and NFL Network. Sky Sports NFL is included within a standard Sky Sports subscription at around £40-46 per month, or available without a contract through a NOW Sports membership at £34.99 per month.
Channel 5 It provides free viewing for viewers who do not want to subscribe. Two live matches are broadcast every Sunday throughout the regular season, the first at 6pm on 5Action, and the second at 9.25pm on Channel 5’s main channel.
Channel 5 is also broadcasting all three London matches live. Their 2026 coverage has been renamed NFL On 5, hosted by Osi Umenyiora and Sam Quek.
NFL Game Pass International via DAZN It is the most comprehensive option for committed fans who want to watch every match.
DAZN carries the full NFL catalog live and on demand, including games not slated for Sky or Channel 5 broadcast.
UK kick-off times
Early window Sunday 1pm ET = 6pm UK.
Sunday afternoon window at 4.25pm ET = 9.25pm UK.
Sunday Night Football at 8.20pm ET = 1.20am UK time on Monday morning.
The London Games, which usually start at 2.30pm or 6.30pm UK time, are some of the easiest regular season games for UK fans to watch live.
Super Bowl LXI Predictions
It’s brave to call Super Bowl winners before the season starts, but the Los Angeles Rams are the favorites to win the Lombardi Trophy this season.
After announcing the return of Aaron Donald and pairing him with Myles Garrett, the West Coast team is in even hotter shape than it was last season, which almost led to a Super Bowl appearance anyway.
Matthew Stafford is the best player in the world, but he would really like to make money after missing out on the big prize last season.
It will be difficult to call their opponents, but right now, it would be a huge shock if the Rams don’t at least make the NFL Championship in February.
