It’s always fascinated me how everything about the NFL calendar is so regimented and planned out. Yet, the schedule release date is “sometime in May” and they let us know a week ahead of time. Nevertheless, we now have the 2026 regular season schedule, which means it’s time to evaluate how it impacts fantasy football. We’re going division by division and breaking down the good, the bad, and everything in between. This article covers the AFC East.
Fantasy Football Spin On The NFL Schedule
As an obvious caveat, it’s hard enough predicting how players will perform over the course of the season. Trying to factor each team’s schedule into fantasy drafts is just another layer of uncertainty.
Much like everything in fantasy football, we have to try. Schedule matters. First and foremost, we want to draft good players. Second, we want good players on good offenses. Third, we want good players on good offenses with fantasy friendly opponents.
Let’s go team by team and highlight the most notable aspects of the schedule.
Impact On The New England Patriots
It could be a rough start to the season with matchups against the Seahawks and Steelers in the first two weeks. Of course, that shouldn’t deter anyone from drafting Patriots.
Fortunately, things clear up rather quickly, as every subsequent game until the bye has the potential to either be a shootout or be a game where New England is able to score a lot of points.
MORE: Simulate the season with our FREE NFL Playoff Predictor and Season Simulator
The fantasy football playoffs are a mixed bag. A Week 15 matchup against the Chiefs could go either way, but there is shootout potential in that game.
In Week 16, the Patriots get the Jets. As a reminder, Drake Maye carried fantasy managers to championships last season with his five-touchdown performance against the Jets in Week 17. Unfortunately, that’s unlikely to be the case this season, as New England gets what should be a tough Broncos defense in Week 17.
Impact On The Buffalo Bills
Bye: Week 7
It will not be a fun opener for the Bills, as they have to battle the Texans. They were responsible for Josh Allen’s worst performance of the season last year, keeping him out of the end zone entirely and forcing two turnovers.
The good news is that’s the only game Buffalo should have trouble scoring points in for quite a while. Their next seven games all come against opponents who are capable of pushing them to score. That stretch ends when they face the Jets and Dolphins, two teams they should have no issue moving the ball against.
The playoff schedule is a very interesting one. Weeks 15 and 17 against the Bears and Dolphins look great. However, sandwiched in between them is a Week 16 game against the Broncos, which could doom fantasy managers if it ends up being low scoring.
Impact On New York Jets
Bye: Week 13
It’s tough to evaluate the Jets, as they project to be one of the lowest-scoring teams in the league, regardless of opponent. For example, Week 1 against the Titans doesn’t look all that imposing, but that could easily be an ugly 16-13 type game.
What fantasy managers are really looking at is the playoff schedule. That final week of the regular season will be tough against Denver, but Weeks 15-17 could be intriguing.
The Jets get the Cardinals, Patriots, and Vikings. All three of those games have the potential to be high-scoring, especially if the Jets figure things out as the season goes along. Of course, there’s also the potential for them to be playing out another lost season with Cade Klubnik getting an audition, but that would be a problem irrespective of the schedule.
Impact On The Miami Dolphins
Bye: Week 6
The Dolphins have a similar evaluation issue as the Jets. This entire offense is basically Malik Willis and De’Von Achane. They are going to struggle to move the ball regardless of opponent. The Dolphins are the plus matchup for the other team. Thus, even games that look favorable on paper could end up being quite the opposite.
Looking to Weeks 15-17, Miami closes the season against the Packers, Chargers, and Bills. While those last two games are at home, that is a really tough schedule. We’ll have the Willis revenge game narrative against Green Bay, but those are three games in which Miami’s already limited offense could really get shut down.
The only fantasy relevant Dolphins are Willis and Achane. Given Willis’ price, the schedule is no reason to fade him, but perhaps Achane should get dinged a little due to the difficult close to the season.
