We crossed another milestone on the march back to football this fall with NFL teams announcing their full schedules on Thursday night. We’ll all be locked into our favorite teams and watching the national games, but some really fascinating storylines will come out of this 2026 slate, stories the league absolutely did not intentionally generate for our amusement.
If you’re looking to set up a calendar of some must-watch games when the season rolls around, we’ve got you covered.
Sept. 13, 1 p.m ET — Week 1: Chicago Bears vs. Carolina Panthers
This is a game with both a fascinating narrative and really interesting implications for the rest of the season. The top-down view is that this represents a battle between two quarterbacks involved in a pseudo-trade for each other. Carolina traded up in 2023 to take Bryce Young with the No. 1 overall pick in 2023, and the result of that was Chicago getting the No. 1 overall pick in 2024, which they used to take Caleb Williams.
We were deprived of seeing the head-to-head in 2024 as the game came when Andy Dalton was starting for the Panthers and before Young’s ascension. Now we get to see it.
Far more importantly, this is a game between the winners of the NFC North and NFC South, respectively, and it comes to kick off the season. It represents a great litmus test to see where these organizations are at, with Chicago trading away D.J. Moore, losing some free agents, but bolstering their secondary even more. Meanwhile the Panthers are boasting a fully-revamped defense around huge free agent signings in Jaelan Phillips and Devin Lloyd.
This is one of those games either team would probably be okay losing, but look back on Week 1 in January and it could come back to haunt them.
Oct. 18, 8:30 a.m. ET — Week 6: Houston Texans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (in London)
In recent years we’ve exported the worst football the NFL has to offer to England, in what I can presume is residual revenge for taxation without representation. That changes in 2026, because London is actually getting a banger a third of the way into the season.
The AFC South is one of the most competitive divisions in football, and at the top of the heap are the Texans and Jags. Not only does that make this game good enough in its own right, but this is also a matchup that features one of the NFL’s best young offensive minds in Jacksonville coach Liam Coen, against one of the scariest defenses in the league, courtesy of DeMeco Ryans.
It’s not often that we can recommend getting up early to catch the international game, but this is a case where it’s worth watching football early in the morning.
Dec. 25, 1 p.m. ET — Week 16: Green Bay Packers vs. Chicago Bears (Christmas Day)
The fact that the NFL is making the Bears play divisional games on both Thanksgiving and Christmas is proof that the league just hates families in Chicago.
Anyway, this game will rock. The NFC North is shaping up to be a three-way race between the Bears, Lions, and Packers — making this late December game likely critical for the playoff picture. Ben Johnson had Chicago take massive strides in his first year as head coach, which makes this be the year the team should take another step forward. Meanwhile the Packers are just looking to solidify this era as a success, and that means making it deeper into the playoffs.
Also, we’re going to get to watch Micah Parsons try and track down Caleb Williams, and that’s just fun.
Sept. 21, 9:15 p.m. — Week 2: New York Giants vs. Los Angeles Rams (Monday Night Football)
The Rams are going to be one of the best teams in the NFC, we already know that. The Giants should be pulling themselves out of the doldrums to become a real threat in the NFC East. There is no better way to judge the improvement of the Giants than this game, set to take place in Week 2.
It is decidedly too early to think of the Harbaugh-led Giants as a serious threat, but the pass rush they’re bringing to the table is prolific, and it will be fun to see how much havoc they can cause against Matthew Stafford. This will go a lot of the way to telling us whether or not the Giants are for real, and it happens on national TV.
Fernando Mendoza’s debut game … which could be around Week 8 vs. Jets
Any time you have a No. 1 overall pick making his debut it’s a big deal, but as it stands all signs are pointing to that not happening in Week 1. Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak has said he doesn’t want to start Mendoza too early, and the team has a temporary starter in Kirk Cousins who is past his prime, but can run the offense until the team deems Mendoza ready.
It’s going to be fascinating to see how the reigning Heisman QB fairs against NFL offenses and if he shows signs of being the franchise QB. The best possible start point is around the midpoint season against a rebuilding Jets team that can help the rookie build some confidence.
Sept. 10, 8:35 p.m. ET — Week 1: San Francisco 49ers vs. Los Angeles Rams (in Australia)
I cannot believe we’re exporting not one, but multiple amazing NFL games overseas. The first regular season game being played in Australia is going to be a sight to behold, and this game has so much intrigue being a critical NFC West matchup.
We’ve established the Rams are going to be a factor in the NFC this year, but the 49ers should rebound in a major way being healthy. With each team trying to find a way to catch up to the Super Bowl winning Seahawks it puts a ton on the line to set the tone in a unique environment.
Nov. 26, 8:15 p.m. ET — Week 12: Kansas City Chiefs vs. Buffalo Bills
There are few better rivalries in the NFL than Chiefs vs. Bills and by the time Week 12 rolls around we’re guaranteed that Kansas City will be at full strength with Patrick Mahomes back, and Buffalo trying to show the world they’re not ready to play second fiddle to the Patriots in the AFC East.
Any time we get Pat Mahomes vs. Josh Allen it’s a treat, and being able to take that in during a Thanksgiving food coma will be a great way to cap off the evening.
