Every NFL Team's Best and Worst in the 2026 Season

One good thing and one bad thing every NFL team will face in 2026 season

There is both good and bad to every team's NFL schedule in 2026 and we broke it down

By John Breech

May 15, 2026 at 12:08 pm ET • 34 min read

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The NFL spends a lot of time every year putting the schedule together and although the league does its best to make sure every team is happy, the fact of the matter is that making everyone happy is impossible when you're putting together a schedule that consists of 272 games.

Just ask the NFL about that.

> Can confirm for the 107th consecutive year, not one team thanked the league office for delivering them the perfect schedule. — Brian McCarthy (@NFLprguy) May 15, 2026

With that in mind, we went through all 32 schedules to find one thing that should make each team happy about their schedule and one thing that each team probably isn't so happy about (You  can see each team's full schedule here ).

Here's one good thing and one bad thing from each team's schedule starting with the AFC East.

AFC East

Miami Dolphins

One good thing for the Dolphins.  The Dolphins will be facing three teams in their first six games that will have a new starting quarterback (Raiders in Week 1, Vikings in Week 4, Jets in Week 7). If Jeff Hafley can have his defense playing at a high level early in the season, the Dolphins could pick up a few victories in that opening span.

One bad thing for the Dolphins.  This team has been horrible when the weather drops below 40 -- they've lost 15 straight games in that situation -- so it's definitely not good news that starting on Nov. 22, they have to play their final four road games in cold-weather cities (at Bills, at Broncos, at Packers, at Patriots). The Dolphins will have a new coach and a new QB (Malik Willis), so maybe they can figure out how to win in cold weather, but if not, it's going to be a long December once again.

New York Jets

One good thing for the Jets.  The Jets really only have one breather on their schedule and it starts in Week 5 when they face the Browns, Dolphins and Raiders during a four-week stretch. To make things even better, all three of those games are at home. Those are all winnable games, but this is the Jets we're talking about, so who knows if they'll actually win them.

One bad thing for the Jets.  The Jets went just 1-7 on the road last season, so it's definitely not ideal that they have to open the season with three of their first four games away from MetLife Stadium (at Titans, Packers, at Lions, at Bears). And the only game in that stretch that's not on the road is a Week 2 game against the Packers. Three of those first four games are also against NFC North teams, which was arguably the best overall division in the NFL last year. The Jets also have a nightmare stretch to end the season with the Patriots, Vikings and Bills over the final three weeks. I think what I'm trying to say here is that the Jets probably aren't going to make the playoffs.

New England Patriots

One good thing for the Patriots.  The Patriots have a four-week stretch starting in Week 5 where they'll face the Raiders, Jets and Dolphins and that's about the only thing that's good about New England's schedule.

One bad thing for the Patriots.  After getting the easiest schedule in the NFL last year, the league's schedule makers didn't do the Patriots any  favors to start the season this year. The Patriots first four opponents have a strength of schedule of .721, which is the highest any team has faced in the first four weeks since 1986. And to make matters worse, three of those four games are on the road (at Seahawks, Steelers, at Jaguars, at Bills).

Buffalo Bills

One good thing for the Bills.  The Bills get to close the season with games against the Dolphins (Week 17) and Jets (Week 18). Those feel like two very winnable games and if the Bills are battling for a division title or a high playoff seed, then winning those two games could certainly help their cause.

One bad things for the Bills.  The Bills are going to be tested right out of the gate with five straight games against teams that finished over .500 last season (at Texans, Lions, Chargers, Patriots, at Rams). After playing on the road at Houston in Week 1, they have to turn around and play on Thursday night against the Lions in what will be their first game in their new stadium. That will start a stretch of three straight games at home, but that's actually a negative. If you're Buffalo, you want more homes games during the colder months and three straight home games in September doesn't help you with that.

The Bills also got pretty nasty stretch of games starting on Thanksgiving that looks like this: Chiefs, at Patriots, at Packers, Bears, at Broncos. The Bears game is on a Saturday, so they'll short rest going into that game. After playing Chicago, they have to play Denver on a Friday (Christmas), so once again, they won't get a full week of rest.

AFC North

Baltimore Ravens

One good thing for the Ravens:  The Ravens are going into the season with a new coach, but they'll have a chance to open the year with a hot start. In the first seven weeks, the Ravens will get to play seven straight games against teams that didn't make the playoffs last year (at Colts, Saints, vs. Cowboys in Rio, Titans, at Falcons, at Browns, Bengals). Even better for the Ravens is the fact that three of those teams will have a new coach (Falcons, Titans, Browns).

One bad thing for the Ravens.  The Ravens better take advantage of their first seven weeks, because they have a pretty rough stretch starting in Week 8 with the Bills. From that point on, they'll play five straight games against teams that made the playoffs last year, including two division winners (Jaguars and Panthers). Overall, this feels like a pretty favorable schedule for Baltimore.

Cincinnati Bengals

One good thing for the Bengals:  Starting in Week 5, the Bengals get to play four straight games against teams that will be going into the season with a new coach with a stretch that looks like this: at Dolphins, at Ravens, Titans, at Falcons (in Spain). The most difficult game in that span is probably Baltimore, but the Bengals will get a bye to prepare. Over the past five seasons, first-year coaches  have a winning percentage below .440  in the first 12 weeks of the season. Overall, the Bengals will play more than half  of their schedule against first-year coaches with nine total games.

One bad things for the Bengals:  The Bengals have a brutal early stretch that will see them play three straight games against teams that made the playoffs last year. That stretch will start in Week 2 with a game in Houston. After that, they'll face the Steelers on the road before getting the Jaguars at home. The Bengals have been known to struggle in the first few weeks of the season, so they'll need to flip the script if they want to have a big year.

Pittsburgh Steelers

One good thing for the Steelers:  The Steelers have one of the most manageable travel schedules in the NFL this year. Yes, they do go to Paris, but outside of that, they'll only play one other game outside of the Eastern Time Zone during the entire season and that won't come until Week 17. Assuming Aaron Rodgers is under center this year, cutting down on the travel miles can be a good thing for a 42-year-old QB who will be 43 before the season is over.

One bad thing for the Steelers:  If the Steelers want to make the playoffs, they're going to have navigate their way through a rough stretch starting in Week 11. The Steelers will start that stretch with a game against the Eagles and then they'll get just five days to prepare for their Black Friday game against the Broncos. After that, they'll play a Texans team in Week 13 that destroyed them in the playoffs. Finally, in Week 14, they'll travel to Jacksonville for a Monday night game. That's four straight games against teams that made the playoffs last year and all four are expected to be good this year.

Cleveland Browns

One good thing for the Browns.  The Browns have the easiest strength of schedule in the NFL this year, which is mostly notable, because the AFC team with the easiest strength of schedule has finished with a winning record in eight straight seasons.

One bad thing for the Browns.  The Browns have gone 3-14 on the road over the past two seasons, so road games are always tough for this team and the schedule certainly isn't doing them any favors. Not only do the Browns have three straight road games from Weeks 7 thru 9 (at Titans, at Steelers, at Saints), but they also close the season with three road games in the final four weeks (at Giants, at Ravens, Colts, at Bengals). They're going to have to figure out how to win on the road if they want to turn things around this year.

AFC South

Indianapolis Colts

One good thing for the Colts:  Starting in Week 9, the Colts get to play three of four games at home, and that's one of the few things to like about their schedule. The home games in that span will come against the Cowboys, Dolphins and Giants. The game against the Giants will give Daniel Jones a chance to face his old team for the first time. The Colts also got a Week 14 bye, which is tied for the latest of any team in the NFL).

One bad thing for the Colts: Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes. The Colts defense better be ready to roll in Week 1, because the NFL schedule makers decided to hit Indy with a gauntlet out of the gate. The Colts will be facing the Ravens in the opener followed by a game against the Chiefs. Oh, and then they have to play the Texans in Week 3. With Daniel Jones coming back from an Achilles injury, there's no guarantee he'll be ready in Week 1. WIth this schedule, the Colts could potentially get out to an 0-3 start.

Tennessee Titans

One good thing for the Titans.  There is nothing sexy about the Titans schedule, but if you asked an NFL coach, most of them would want the exact type of schedule that the Titans got: All of their games are on Sunday, 15 of them start at 1 p.m. and they got a bye in the middle of the season (Week 9). Robert Saleh also got a dream opener with a chance to get revenge on a Jets team that just fired him in 2024.

One bad thing for the Titans.  The Titans have lost four straight games to the Jaguars, so it's not ideal that the NFL decided to have them face Jacksonville twice in a three-week span. Coming out of their Week 9 bye, the Titans will face the Jaguars, the Cowboys and then the Jaguars again. The Titans went 0-6 in the AFC South last year and if Robert Saleh wants to turn things around, he can start by beating the Jags.

Houston Texans

One good thing for the Texans.  The Texans open the season with three of four games in Houston and it's a schedule that could set up well for them. At the beginning of the season, most NFL offenses are still looking to get into a groove, which is why a good defense can take you far through the first few weeks. With the Texans set to play the Bills, Bengals, Colts and Cowboys in the first four weeks, Houston's defense could help carry the team to a 4-0 start. The Bills have a new head coach, the Bengals tend to get off to slow starts, the Colts have a QB coming off an Achilles injury and the Cowboys will be coming back from Brazil, so the Texans might actually be well-suited to win three or four games in that span.

One bad things for the Texans.  When you're an indoor team, you definitely don't want to be playing outdoor games in the winter, but unfortunately for the Texans, the NFL didn't do them any favors when it comes to that fact. Not only do the Texans have to play four of their final six games on the road, but they'll all be played in cold-weather cities (Pittsburgh, Washington, Philadelphia and Green Bay). Over the past 10 seasons, dome teams have winning percentage of just .467 in outdoor road games that are played in

_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2026-nfl-schedule-breakdown-good-bad/)._