NFL Schedule — 2026-27 Season

In a typical week, CBS and FOX carry the Sunday afternoon regional games (1:00 and 4:25 p.m. ET), NBC has Sunday Night Football at 8:20 p.m. ET, ESPN and ABC have Monday Night Football at 8:15 p.m. ET, and Prime Video has Thursday Night Football. Netflix has five games in 2026 — the Week 1 game from Melbourne, Thanksgiving Eve, two on Christmas Day and a Week 18 game — and FOX has the Christmas night game. Streaming equivalents: Paramount+ (CBS), FOX One (FOX), Peacock (NBC), the ESPN app (MNF), and NFL+ for local and primetime games on mobile.

The preseason opens with the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, in early August, followed by three preseason weeks. In 2026 the Hall of Fame Game was Aug. 6 (Cardinals vs. Panthers on NBC/Peacock), with preseason weeks running Aug. 13–15, Aug. 20–23 and Aug. 27–29. Most teams play three preseason games; the two Hall of Fame Game participants play four.

The 2026 regular season kicks off Wednesday, Sept. 9, with the Patriots at the Seahawks at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock — a rematch of Super Bowl LX. A second primetime opener follows Thursday, Sept. 10 (49ers vs. Rams from Melbourne, Australia, on Netflix), with the bulk of Week 1 on Sunday, Sept. 13.

Eighteen. Each team plays 17 games with one bye week. The 2026 regular season runs Sept. 9 through Jan. 10, 2027, followed by Wild Card weekend (Jan. 16–18), the Divisional round (Jan. 23–24), Conference Championships (Jan. 31) and Super Bowl LXI on Feb. 14, 2027 at SoFi Stadium.

Each team plays 17 regular-season games over 18 weeks, which comes to 272 regular-season games league-wide. Add three preseason games per team (four for the Hall of Fame Game participants) and 13 postseason games including the Super Bowl.

MNF airs on ESPN with a number of games simulcast on ABC, streaming on the ESPN app, and kickoff is usually 8:15 p.m. ET. ESPN2 carries the alternate ManningCast on select weeks. The 2026 MNF season opens Sept. 14 with the Broncos at the Chiefs on ESPN, ABC and ESPN2. ESPN also schedules several Monday doubleheaders during the year.

Thursday Night Football is exclusive to Prime Video (also available on NFL+), typically at 8:15 p.m. ET from Week 2 through Week 17. Prime Video also carries the Black Friday game (Broncos at Steelers, 3 p.m. ET on Nov. 27, 2026), plus Christmas Eve (Texans-Eagles) and New Year’s Eve (Bengals-Ravens). Week 1’s Thursday game is the Netflix international broadcast from Melbourne.

Sunday Night Football airs on NBC and streams on Peacock, kicking off at 8:20 p.m. ET. The 2026 opener is Cowboys at Giants on Sept. 13. NBC also has the Wednesday season opener and the Thanksgiving night game (Chiefs at Bills). Games from roughly Week 5 on are subject to flexible scheduling, so matchups can change with a few weeks’ notice.

Yes, both. Thanksgiving Day 2026 (Thursday, Nov. 26) has the traditional tripleheader: Bears at Lions, 1 p.m. ET on CBS; Eagles at Cowboys, 4:30 p.m. ET on FOX; Chiefs at Bills, 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC. It’s bracketed by a Thanksgiving Eve game (Packers at Rams on Netflix, Nov. 25) and Black Friday (Broncos at Steelers on Prime Video, Nov. 27). Christmas Day falls on a Friday in 2026 with three games: Packers at Bears, 1 p.m. ET on Netflix; Bills at Broncos, 4:30 p.m. ET on Netflix; and Rams at Seahawks, 8:15 p.m. ET on FOX.