NFL Schedule 2025-26

How Does the NFL Schedule Work?

The NFL schedule determines who each team will face during the NFL regular season of each year. Across 18 weeks, there are 272 NFL games that need scheduling while taking into account the availability of stadiums, international games, travel circumstances, and bye weeks. It's a mammoth task that has to work between the two conferences, eight divisions, and all 32 teams.

There is also a particular formula that has to be followed when deciding which opponents each NFL team will face.

The first thing that needs to be done is decide on the list of opponents before they can be put together for the final schedule. The opponents that each team will face are decided by the following method:

• Six games against divisional teams.

• Four against teams coming from one division in the same conference on a yearly rotation.

• Four against teams from one division in the other conference – again on a yearly rotation.

• Two games are against either of the other divisions within the same conference. These are played against teams that finished in the same position in their division the previous season. For example, if a team finished first in their division, they would play two teams from two divisions within their conference who also finished first.

• The last remaining game is played against an opponent from a division that hasn’t already appeared from the previous points. This game is again scheduled against a team that finished in the same position within their division.

On top of this, there is a rotating system in place so every team has to play each other at least every four seasons. The NFL also deploys “flexible scheduling,” which allows for the best matchups to be placed in prime-time slots later in the season.

Teams know their opponents for the following season at the end of the existing season but don’t find out how they are scheduled until later in the year. The NFL tries to schedule their best matchups in prime-time slots – generally Thursday Night Football, Sunday Night Football, and Monday Night Football, although matchups are also scheduled for Thanksgiving and Christmas. From Week 15-18, there are Saturday games as well.

NFL schedule release day has become a huge day in the NFL calendar, with games being teased and leaked in advance and teams putting a ton of effort into their announcement videos (which often go viral).

How Many Weeks Is the Regular Season Schedule?

There are 18 weeks in the NFL regular season. The opponents are decided using a certain method while the schedule of those opponents is decided by a mixture of a computer and a scheduling committee.

There are six games that are the same every year for each NFL team – their divisional games – which are played against the three other teams in the team's own division both home and away.

When Do NFL Bye Weeks Start?

A bye week is a rest week for NFL teams, and they run from Week 5 to 14 during the NFL regular season. Every team gets one bye week per season, allowing a team time to rest and recuperate after the intensity of NFL games, affording players time to heal from injuries and giving coaches extra prep time to reevaluate game plans for the weeks ahead.

The number of teams on byes in any given week ranges from two to six. The 2025 bye weeks are:

Week 5: Atlanta Falcons, Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, and Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 6: Houston Texans and Minnesota Vikings

Week 7: Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills

Week 8: Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Rams, Las Vegas Raiders, and Seattle Seahawks

Week 9: Cleveland Browns, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 10: Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs, and Tennessee Titans

Week 11: Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints

Week 12: Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers, Miami Dolphins, and Washington Commanders

Week 14: Carolina Panthers, New England Patriots, New York Giants, and San Francisco 49ers

How Is the NFL Schedule Decided?

The NFL schedule is decided by a supercomputer that takes into account huge amounts of data, creating thousands of outcomes and possibilities. With advancements in computer technology, the jobs of NFL committee members have gotten a lot easier. The data and rules are inputted into the software quickly along with decisions that have already been made by the scheduling committee.

The NFL schedulers may have already decided on games they want to show in prime-time slots and on holidays, as well as who will play in that season's international games. The computer builds thousands of potential schedules, with the schedulers slowly narrowing down possibilities until they get to their final decision.

When making their calculations, the computer has to follow the strict protocol that has been set out, while also analyzing travel difficulties, potential international games, bye weeks, the availability of each NFL stadium, fan enjoyment, logistics, and many other intricate details.

The ultimate decision on the NFL schedule however, falls to six NFL executives:

Michael North - Vice President of Broadcasting

Howard Katz - Senior Vice President of Broadcasting

Blake Jones- Senior Director of Broadcasting

Charlotte Carey - Director of Broadcasting

Onnie Bose - Vice President of Broadcasting

Lucy Popko- Broadcasting Senior Coordinator

FAQ

When Does the NFL Season Begin

The 2025-26 NFL season will begin on Thursday, September 4, when the Philadelphia Eagles host the Dallas Cowboys in the traditional NFL Kickoff game.

As the defending Super Bowl champions, the Eagles have the honor of opening the season at home in Lincoln Financial Field. They do so against one of their oldest and bitterest rivals, as the Cowboys will look to cause an upset with Dak Prescott at quarterback, who is set to return to the field after an injury layoff.

That will be followed by a Friday Night Football game in Brazil, with the Los Angeles Chargers set to host an unnamed opponent at the Arena Corinthians in São Paulo. They will be hoping to follow in the Eagles' footsteps, who hosted that game in Brazil last year and finished the season holding the Lombardi Trophy aloft.

When Do the NFL Playoffs Start?

The 2025-2026 NFL Playoffs are due to start on January 10, 2026, beginning with the Wild Card Round and ending in the Super Bowl in February. Two games will start on the Saturday of Wild Card Weekend, with the remaining four games being played on Sunday and Monday.

The playoffs then continue until the Super Bowl in San Francisco.

How Many Weeks Are the Playoffs?

The NFL Playoffs are the NFL’s postseason event where 14 teams, seven from each conference, progress from the NFL regular season. The NFL Playoffs last for four weeks, with teams facing off in elimination games in four different rounds.

The NFL Playoffs start with the Wild Card Round, where the No. 1 seed in each conference gets a bye. The winning teams progress to the Divisional Round, before moving to the Conference Championships and if they are so lucky, the Super Bowl.

When Is the NFL Super Bowl?

The 2025-26 NFL season ends with the Super Bowl on February 1, 2026. The game is played between the winner of the American Football Conference and the winner of the National Football Conference.

Super Bowl LX will take place on February 1, 2026, in Santa Clara, California. The game will be played at Levi's Stadium, home to the San Francisco 49ers. It will be broadcast on NBC and Telemundo (Spanish) and streaming on Peacock and NFL+.

How Long Is the NFL Offseason?

The NFL offseason can last from 11-to-15 weeks depending on how far a team goes in the playoffs. Non-playoff teams get 15 weeks of rest; those that go deep into the playoffs get less. At the end of those rest weeks, training camps start, which typically last six weeks prior to the start of the NFL season.

The NFL offseason encompasses free agency, the NFL Combine, the NFL Draft, and the start of the new league year.