2026 NFL Schedule Release: Who Has the Toughest, Easiest Road to the Playoffs?
The NFL will release the 2026 season schedule for all 32 teams on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, but some games have already been leaked.
Those games are listed below.
Week 1: San Francisco 49ers at the Los Angeles Rams in Melbourne, Australia
Week 1: Dallas Cowboys at the New York Giants on "Sunday Night Football"
Week 1: Denver Broncos at the Kansas City Chiefs on "Monday Night Football"
Week 2: Detroit Lions at the Buffalo Bills "Thursday Night Football"
Week 3: Baltimore Ravens at the Dallas Cowboys in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Week 9: Cincinnati Bengals at the Atlanta Falcons in Madrid, Spain
Week 12: Philadelphia Eagles at the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day
The schedule makers are still finalizing the dates and times for the rest of the season's games, but teams already know how difficult (or easy) their schedules will be next season.
ESPN's Adam Schefter posted the strength of schedule rankings for all 32 teams on X, and the Chicago Bears, Miami Dolphins, Arizona Cardinals, Green Bay Packers, and Kansas City Chiefs have the five toughest schedules next season.
Of those five teams, only the Bears and Packers made the playoffs last year. Their road back to the postseason is exponentially more difficult this year.
Conversely, the Cleveland Browns, New Orleans Saints, Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts, and Atlanta Falcons have the five easiest schedules.
All five of those teams missed the playoffs a season ago, and their chances of getting back to the postseason were helped by having to play less formidable opponents.
The strength of schedule for every team is listed below from toughest to easiest:
- Chicago Bears, .550
- Miami Dolphins, .542
- Arizona Cardinals, .538
- Green Bay Packers, .538
- Kansas City Chiefs, .536
- New England Patriots, .531
- Las Vegas Raiders, .529
- Buffalo Bills, .528
- Los Angeles Chargers, .522
- Carolina Panthers, .521
- Minnesota Vikings, .519
- New York Jets, .517
- Los Angeles Rams, .516
- Seattle Seahawks, .514
- Denver Broncos, .512
- Washington Commanders, .502
- New York Giants, .498
- San Francisco 49ers, .497
- Pittsburgh Steelers, .495
- Dallas Cowboys, .493
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers, .491
- Jacksonville Jaguars, .490
- Philadelphia Eagles, .481
- Baltimore Ravens, .479
- Tennessee Titans, .476
- Houston Texans, .474
- Detroit Lions, .467
- Atlanta Falcons, .465
- Indianapolis Colts, .465
- Cincinnati Bengals, .450
- New Orleans Saints, .434
- Cleveland Browns, .429
2026 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
This story was originally published May 12, 2026 at 3:15 PM.