2026 NFL Schedule Release: Fantasy Football Winners, Losers & Takeaways

The 2026 NFL schedule release is a required event in the fantasy football calendar. It’s an opportunity to analyze the matchups and get a glimpse of who will benefit and who will suffer based on early-season favorability and projected betting win totals.

2026 NFL Schedule Release: Every Team’s Schedule & Bye Week

While the strength of the schedule should not be the only factor considered, it can be a valuable tiebreaker when deciding between two players. Additionally, understanding bye weeks and fantasy playoff matchups can be the difference-maker in some formats, such as Underdog’s Best Ball Mania VII, where so much is decided during the fantasy football championship week: Week 17. Best ball bros know all about the Week 17 correlation.

In this article, we’ll examine some potential fantasy football winners and losers, as well as takeaways from the newly released schedule.

• 2026 NFL Schedule Grid
• 2026 NFL Schedule Bye Week Cheat Sheet

2026 NFL Schedule Release Takeaways

The NFL season kicks off Wednesday night with the Seattle Seahawks hosting the New England Patriots.

The NFL is opening on a Wednesday to accommodate the Los Angeles Rams, who will play the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday, Sept. 10, at 8:35 p.m. ET in Melbourne, Australia.

The NFL will play a record nine international games in 2026:

International Series Home Teams

• Rams
• Cowboys
• Commanders
• Jaguars (x2 home games in London)
• Saints
• Falcons
• Lions
• 49ers (2 international games)

Sunday Night Football will kick off in Week 1 with the Giants hosting the Dallas Cowboys. DEN and KC will square off on Monday Night Football.

Thursday Night Football will kick off in Week 2 with the Buffalo Bills unveiling their new stadium against the Detroit Lions.

And I don’t mean to get ahead of myself, but the 2026 Thanksgiving schedule is more jam-packed than the turkey. Christmas is not too shabby either. The NFL hates family time.

2026 NFL Schedule Release Winners

Detroit Lions

Nobody does a better job of breaking down the NFL’s strength of schedule than Warren Sharp. Everything in his SOS tool is based on Vegas forecasted win totals as opposed to just a team’s 2025 W-L record. This paints a more accurate picture of how teams have improved their rosters/coaching staff throughout the offseason.

For 2026, the Lions have the easiest schedule in the NFL. And as noted by Warren Sharp, the Lions have the easiest schedule to start the year through the first five weeks:

From Week 5 to Week 16, the Lions play just two outdoor games. One is in Miami in Week 9, and the other is a neutral game in Germany in Week 10 (Amon-Ra St. Brown homecoming).

Perks of finishing 9-8 and still finishing dead last in the NFC North.

Given the ease of their last-place schedule (and the fact that they are a massive positive-injury-regression team), we should expect the Lions to rebound after a down 2025 season. Keep in mind that last year their schedule was not favorable and may have contributed to some of their overall struggles. Detroit had the toughest schedule in 2025, according to Bookies.com, including six road outdoor games against 2024 teams with winning records. The SOS finished 7th per ESPN and 10th according to Warren Sharp.

The Lions were ALSO the most-injured defense last year (second-most-injured team overall) according to FTN’s adjusted game lost metric. They have been hit by injuries in the last TWO seasons.

If the defense is healthy and the offense remains a top-5 scoring unit… expect Dan Campbell’s guys to be back on top.

Detroit’s offensive ranks over the last five years in points: 25, 5, 5, 1, 4.

If they are seeing more positive game scripts in softer matchups, this should help improve their rushing attack. Gotta admit….the planets might be aligning for a Jahmyr Gibbs RB1 overall szn. No, David Montgomery, better schedule, improvements across the OL with Cade Mays, Blake Miller, and Juice Scruggs.

I know I struggled immensely ranking Detroit and Chicago in my initial NFC Power Rankings. Ultimately, the stark difference in strength of schedule led me to take the Lions slightly ahead of the Bears (who face the third-biggest jump in schedule difficulty compared to last year).

Feels weird to label the Lions as a “worst-to-first team,” but technically they qualify.

New Orleans Saints

The 2026 New Orleans Saints boast the second-easiest schedule in the NFL on forecasted Vegas win totals. And that means they have the chance to be one of the teams that go from worst to first in the division (an annual tradition).

In fact, since the 2002 realignment, only three times has at least one last-place team not finished 1st in the division the following year. As a result of no teams achieving the feat in 2024, we had two teams leap in 2025 (Bears/Patriots). Often, these massive jumps are accompanied by QB breakouts and positive injury luck. See Drake Maye and Caleb Williams. And they are also paired with division winners profiling as strong negative regression candidates.

Twenty-seven teams have achieved (worst to first) over the last 23 seasons. Since 2007, only one team has done it per season (other than last year).

The Saints swept last year’s division-winning Carolina Panthers. And unlike the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or the Panthers, NOLA won its last four of five games (a massive improvement in their offense/defense in the second half of the season).

Positive game scripts should create a favorable environment for this offense to be very fantasy-friendly. Their defense profiles very much as a pass-funnel unit based on their strengths/weaknesses. They were great versus the run in 2025. They have way more question marks in their secondary/pass-rush department.

However, they draw two tough matchups to start the year on the road: @ DET and @ BAL. Might be a buy-low team after a potential 0-2 start. From Weeks 3-5 they host the Raiders, Falcons and Vikings.

Tennessee Titans

In 2025, the Titans played one of the most difficult schedules. Per ESPN, it ranked 32nd. Cam Ward faced a Murder’s Row of defenses every week: Texans twice, Broncos, Rams, Chargers, Seattle, Jaguars twice, Browns, Chiefs, etc.

Fast forward to the 2026 season, and the Titans’ schedule has the second-biggest year-over-year improvement in ease (13th-ranked schedule).

Considering the roster improvements, the coaching staff upgrades, and second-year QB Cam Ward…Tennessee is one of my favorite worst-to-first bets to make on winning the division in 2026.

In Ward’s last 7 games: 11 total TDs (two rushing and nine passing) and just one interception. Played every single snap till Week 18.

With a competent HC and offensive play caller in Brian Daboll (who has helped young QBs develop, such as Daniel Jones, Josh Allen, and Jaxson Dart), every team will remember the week they play the Titans. The defense has been totally revamped under Robert Saleh.

And Week 1? Home versus the Jets. Saleh’s revenge game. Titans by a billion (current line TEN -2.5 per BettingPros).

Cincinnati Bengals

Their schedule is not just the 3rd-best, but also the 3rd-biggest YOY improvement. They had the 20th-ranked schedule last year. Who had the 3rd-biggest improvement in schedule last season? The eventual 2025 Super Bowl champions: Seattle Seahawks.

Cincinnati has averaged over 10.5 wins in Joe Burrow‘s three fully healthy seasons. Burrow has a 62% win rate over the last five seasons (46-28) – equivalent to 10.5 wins over a 17-game season.

Also, the sluggish start was not an issue in 2025. Started 2-0. Then Burrow went down. Things unraveled from there.

The Bengals QB is arguably the best in the league when healthy. Defense? Additions everywhere: Dexter Lawrence, Cashius Howell, Tacario Davis, Bryan Cook, Boye Mafe, Kyle Dugger, and Jonathan Allen.

Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota overcame a lot last season to eke out nine wins (cashed the over on 8.5 wins). They faced QB turmoil and the 27th-ranked schedule per Warren Sharp and the 30th-ranked schedule per ESPN.

Fast forward to 2026, and they now face the 8th-biggest improvement in schedule. With a better plan at QB, I expect the Vikings to rebound, even in a highly competitive NFC North. The defense also projects to suffer more injuries after being the 4th-healthiest unit last season, i.e., shootouts are coming.

Kyler Murray averages about 8 wins over his NFL career (2-3 last season before injury in 2025). Traditionally, a hot starter that tends to fizzle out. The team was winning the division in 2024 – before a complete crash-and-burn.

Murray also has not had the greatest defense. They seemed to always be plagued by injuries. Over the last 3 years, Arizona has ranked in the bottom 5 for defensive injuries.

Indianapolis Colts

The Colts have the biggest improvement in their schedule compared to 2025 (from 28th to 9th). Daniel Jones is expected to be ready for Week 1. However, Ravens/Chiefs/Texans isn’t super ideal to start the year.

Baltimore Ravens

Baltimore has the sixth-easiest schedule in 2026 (4th-easiest in Mike Clay’s 2026 NFL projections), with the 5th-biggest year-over-year improvement. Considering they also got completely gutted by injuries to their defense (3rd-most injured) and Lamar Jackson, the 2025 Ravens are the perfect example of why you should fade last year’s “healthiest” team.

FWIW, the Patriots were the healthiest team in 2025, followed by the Seahawks, Eagles, Chiefs, and Raiders (according to adjusted games lost).

Back to the Ravens. With new HC Jesse Minter leading a healthier Ravens defense against an easier schedule, I’d project Baltimore getting back to Super Bowl contention.

The cupcake schedule to open the year also benefits them greatly: Colts, Saints, Cowboys, Titans, Falcons and Browns. Draft that Ravens DST against the second-easiest schedule through the first six weeks of the year.

I love this offense to rebound as well.

The Ravens did not run a fast pace under former OC Todd Monken, with the 3rd-lowest pace of play in 2024 and 2025. Baltimore ranked 29th in plays per game in 2025.

The Bears? Where did the new OC, Declan Doyle, spend last season? First. Bears last year? 5th in seconds/play. Doyle also spent time with the Broncos and Sean Payton before landing with Ben Johnson last season.

Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs have the third-easiest schedule to start the year. Gives ample time for Patrick Mahomes to be brought up to speed (also have a bye in Week 5).

Los Angeles Chargers

Get ready for the shootouts. The schedule is going from the 13th to the 21st (29th in Clay’s projected SOS). The defense is primed for negative regression with the loss of DC Jesse Minter. The 2nd most-injured team in the AFC last year, making them a prime candidate for better luck to stay healthy (especially on offense).

But the schedule opens up with two layups. Cardinals/Raiders. Fire up that Chargers DST across all fantasy formats. After Week 2, it will get much tougher. And to add insult to injury, the Bolts also have the worst net rest differential, according to Arif Hasan on X.

Philadelphia Eagles

Trailing only the Chargers in net rest differential: the Philadelphia Eagles. At least their travel schedule is light after Week 5, when they only play one road game until Week 12.

Remaining Top 5 Easiest Schedules

4. Cleveland Browns – Much easier schedule than last season (second-most difficult preseason, 15th-toughest overall). Brutal stretch in September last season. This matters. Case in point: In 2022, the Browns had the third-hardest schedule. In 2023, it was the third-hardest schedule. In 2024, it was the second-hardest schedule. First time in a long time, the Browns might actually have some hope on paper. They will also travel the second-fewest miles (Bookies.com).

5. New York Jets – If it weren’t for the current coaching staff in place, I’d be more optimistic about the Jets. The last-place schedule is much easier than 2025, featuring two layups versus Miami. They HAVE to have better defensive turnover luck after generating zero interceptions in Aaron Glenn’s first year. The defense is revamped, featuring potential 8 new starters: T’Vondre Sweat, Will McDonald, David Bailey, Minkah Fitzpatrick, De’Angelo Ponds, and Demario Davis. The offensive personnel are solid from the OL to the skill positions. And I don’t think Geno Smith is completely cooked. He isn’t one of these older QBs coming off a torn Achilles. He was 7th in completion rate from a clean pocket in 2025. But after Brock Bowers/Raiders OL got hurt, he was screwed. However, the Jets’ opening schedule doesn’t inspire me with a ton of confidence that Glenn will last. 24th-ranked schedule from Weeks 1-4. Playing at the Titans in Week 1 is hardly a layup. From Week 5 onward: 5th-easiest schedule.

2026 NFL Schedule Release Losers

Arizona Cardinals

Who has the most difficult schedule in the NFL? Arguably, the team with one of the worst QB rooms: The Arizona Cardinals. “Benefits” of playing in a fully stacked NFC West.

But honestly, it might not be the worst thing in the world if it guarantees them a top pick in the 2027 draft that is rich in quarterback talent.

Carolina Panthers

Carolina might face harsh repercussions for winning the NFC South in 2025, i.e., a first-place team schedule. It’s the third-most difficult in the NFL despite playing in a weak division.

The Cardiac Cats do have some saving grace to their difficult schedule. They will accumulate the fewest travel miles. According to Bookies.com, the Carolina Panthers travel the fewest miles in the league (8,740) and make just six time zone changes. The Panthers don’t go west of Minneapolis or east of Philadelphia.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Something to note. Trevor Lawrence‘s second-half surge was not without some caveats. Last year, Warren Sharp noted it was the second-easiest from Weeks 12 onward.

This year looks eerily similar to its front-loaded difficulty (5th-most difficult through Weeks 1-6). Although it’s a lot of road games (7 of the last 10 games) in the second half.

Chicago Bears

Which team will go from being on the hunt to being the hunted? Seems pretty likely to be the Chicago Bears. Major difficulty spike in the schedule compared to last year (9th to 27th). The NFL is betting on Da Bears to make another leap – as they are loaded up with seven standalone games.

Impending regression with all the fourth-quarter comebacks and turnover luck from last season. They won the division last year, but we know a lot of what happened last year isn’t super sustainable. 29th in yards allowed and 31st in pass rush win rate. Also still a massive hole at pass rush/EDGE that they didn’t address in the NFL Draft. Note that the Bears will get back edge defender Dayo Odeyingbo (torn Achilles) and second-year defensive interior Shemar Turner (torn ACL) from season-ending injuries. Got depth at offensive tackle due to Ozzy Trapilo‘s injury, but still a step down. Center addressed through veteran and rookie acquisitions. Safety Dillon Thieneman fills a hole at safety, but he’s still a rookie taking on a MASSIVE role.

Warren Sharp noted that the Bears have had some of the worst penalty “luck” as well.

Even if the offense continues to grow, this defense might not be able to stop the opposing NFC powerhouses.

San Francisco 49ers

This team can’t catch a travel break. According to Bookies.com, the San Francisco 49ers will set an NFL record for miles traveled by a league franchise, and the league will break the mileage record it set last season. “Perks” of playing two international games.

But at least the schedule is favorable for a second straight season, with the sixth-easiest year-over-year improvement (22nd to 8th). Last year’s projected cupcake schedule was actually tougher when the season played out. Utterly impressive what SF accomplished in 2025.

If the defense can experience positive injury regression and the offense operates as status quo with whoever is left…no doubt the Niners will be in contention for a Super Bowl.

And even though they open versus the Rams, the next two matchups are layups versus the Dolphins/Cardinals. The Niners have the easiest schedule from Weeks 2-10.

Dallas Cowboys

Their schedule is hardly the cakewalk it was in 2025. Big D’s SOS goes from third to 29th (second-to-last decrease in SOS YOY). As a team that routinely ebbs and flows from year to year (just look at Dak Prescott‘s seasonal logs), I think Dallas might take a teeny-tiny small step back on offense.

New York Giants

The Giants got screwed last year by a brutal schedule, both overall and at the start of the year. Brian Daboll didn’t stand much of a chance.

2026 is more of the same. Per Warren Sharp, Big Blue will face the toughest road schedule in the NFL.

Their non-division road games: Rams, Texans, Colts, Seahawks, and the Lions. At least their opening schedule (first 6 weeks) is the 4th-easiest.

New England Patriots

No more cupcake schedule. At least nowhere near the historically easy path they had last season. Per Warren Sharp, the Patriots played just 4 games vs teams that made the playoffs.

And to add literal insult to injury, New England was the healthiest team in the NFL in 2026. Unfortunately, this is a recipe for a major step backward for the reigning AFC Champions. Not to mention, history has not been kind to Super Bowl losers the following year.

Week 1? New England must head to Seattle in a rematch of last year’s Super Bowl. Woof.

Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons usually have an easy schedule playing in the NFC South, but not in 2026. It’s the 5th-most difficult jump compared to last year, to 20th overall. I am firmly in the camp that this team will be in the 2027 QB market.

Denver Broncos

The Broncos had one of the softest schedules to start the 2025 season. 2026 is drastically different. In the first 6 weeks, it’s tough, according to Warren Sharp (although drawing the Chiefs twice early on could be an advantage if Patrick Mahomes is less than 100%). First 8 games: Chiefs, Jaguars, Rams, 49ers, Chargers, Seahawks, Cardinals, and Chiefs. Third-toughest schedule over that stretch. The second half is much easier (easiest from Week 10 onward).

Washington Commanders

Tough stretch to start the year for the Commanders. 8th-toughest schedule overall, with the first half of the season featuring Eagles x2, Seattle, SF, and the Rams. But it gets easier. Easiest schedule from Weeks 12-18.

Remaining Top 5 Toughest Schedules

28. Los Angeles Rams – They also had the 28th-ranked schedule in 2026. Getting to the Super Bowl will be no easy feat – especially with LA traveling the second-most miles in the NFL (Bookies.com). They are also playing 7 prime-time games. Weeks 16 and 18, they face Seattle.

31. Miami Dolphins – This team had the 5th-easiest schedule in 2025. No team faces a greater difficulty schedule spike than Miami in 2026. And it’s brutal down the stretch. Malik Willis is going to have to do an amazing job to hold the QB1 job in 2027. I don’t like his chances given his supporting cast.

2026 NFL Schedule Release: Bye Weeks

Bye weeks start in Week 5.

Week 11 (Byemageddon) features the most teams (6) with a bye week.

BYE WEEKS via Ari Meirov

• Week 5: Kansas City Chiefs, Carolina Panthers
• Week 6: Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings
• Week 7: Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Chargers, Washington Commanders
• Week 8: New York Giants, Houston Texans, New Orleans Saints, San Francisco 49ers
• Week 9: Pittsburgh Steelers, Tennessee Titans
• Week 10: Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos, Philadelphia Eagles, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Week 11: Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams, Atlanta Falcons, New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns, Green Bay Packers
• Week 12: No teams on bye
• Week 13: Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, Indianapolis Colts, Las Vegas Raiders
• Week 14: Dallas Cowboys, Arizona Cardinals

2026 NFL Schedule Release: Playoff Matchups to Target/Fade

Team Playoff Schedules to Target

• Miami Dolphins (2 home games)
• Arizona Cardinals (3 dome games)
• Dallas Cowboys (3 dome games)
• Kansas City Chiefs (2 home games and dome game)
• Detroit Lions (2 dome games)
• Minnesota Vikings (2 home games)
• SF 49ers
• Atlanta Falcons (2 home games)
• Los Angeles Chargers
• New Orleans Saints
• NY Giants (two dome games)
• WAS Commanders (one dome game and one in Florida)

KC, DET, and MIN are the cream of the crop — all three weeks are either dome or primetime showcase games against soft defenses. ARI and DAL are underrated targets because they both get three straight home dome games against bad opponents. BUF is interesting specifically in Week 17 — the trip to Miami in warm weather is a perfect closing spot.

The Dolphins will be an easy team to target late in the year because they face a gauntlet: Broncos, Bears, Packers, Chargers, Bills, and Patriots.

Team Playoff Schedules to Fade

• Green Bay Packers
• Philadelphia Eagles
• Houston Texans

GB has the sneakiest, worst late-season schedule in the league — Lambeau in December (4 of the last 5 were played on the Frozen Tundra), Christmas at Soldier Field, then Lambeau again in January.

The Eagles face a juggernaut of defenses in the fantasy postseason.

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