NFL schedule 2026 winners and losers: Texans set up nicely, 49ers’ tough travel

So much anticipation, so much buildup, so much angst. And then, after a mind-bending flurry, it was over.

And that was just my colonoscopy prep, which coincided Thursday with the NFL schedule release. Now, we’ll all await the results. Mine should be available long before September, but I’ll declare myself a winner for getting through it.

In that same spirit, let’s highlight some winners and losers from the schedule release.

Winners

Week 1 in primetime

The schedule makers weren’t messing around with the opening week of games under the lights. The Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots launch the season with a Wednesday night Super Bowl rematch before the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers duke it out Thursday in Australia. Add Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants on Sunday night and Kansas City Chiefs-Denver Broncos on “Monday Night Football,” and we have a doozy of a Week 1 lineup.

Prime viewing

The Rams have a league-high seven games in primetime, which is understandable with reigning MVP Matthew Stafford in the closing stretch of his career and coach Sean McVay still at the top of his game.

The Seahawks, Buffalo Bills, Chiefs, Cowboys and Green Bay Packers all have six primetime games, while the Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears and 49ers each have five.

On the flip side, the schedule makers have determined they do not wish to watch the New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, Tennessee Titans, Las Vegas Raiders and Arizona Cardinals — all of whom have zero primetime games. The Cleveland Browns and New Orleans Saints are on once each in primetime.

Teams on the rebound

Going by opponents’ combined winning percentage in 2025, eight of the nine easiest schedules belong to teams that missed the playoffs in 2025, so the Browns, Saints, Cincinnati Bengals, Atlanta Falcons, Indianapolis Colts, Detroit Lions, Titans and Baltimore Ravens have a chance to use their path to return to the postseason. And there was some good fortune for the Houston Texans, who snuck in there with the seventh-easiest schedule after getting to the playoffs for the third year in a row under coach DeMeco Ryans.

Charlotte-area rideshare drivers

No, they’re not going to Uber to games. But with a league-low 8,740 projected travel miles, according to Bookies.com, the Panthers could go that route if they chose.

Carolina, you may recall, lost its final two games last season but still climbed the standings to claim the NFC South in a three-way tiebreaker with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Falcons. Every advantage can make a difference in their ultra-competitive division.

LOSERS

49ers’ travel coordinators

The Niners are traveling a league-high 38,105 projected miles this season, according to Bookies.com. That’s 3,258 more miles than the second-place Rams and 9,635 more than the third-place Texans — or more than the Bears, Browns and Panthers are traveling combined all season. The 49ers travel 20,000 more miles than each of 14 other teams will.

Those numbers are grossly inflated by a 15,738-mile trek to Melbourne to play the “host” Rams; that trip alone is longer than 11 teams’ total travel all season. It also doesn’t help the cause that their fourth-longest trip is for a “home” game in Mexico City, as the Niners travel 3,854 miles for that excursion.

Tough slate and long trips

The Patriots, Los Angeles Chargers and Dolphins are the only three teams ranked in both the top-10 of projected travel miles and strength of schedule, which is determined by opponents’ winning percentage in 2025.

The Patriots travel the fifth-most miles (27,590) and play the sixth-toughest schedule (.531). The Chargers travel the seventh-most miles (24,816) and play the ninth-toughest schedule (.522). The Dolphins travel the sixth-most miles (27,568) and play the second-toughest schedule (.542).

The Dolphins are starting a rebuild with a historic amount of dead salary-cap space, so they were already looking at a challenging year. But the Patriots are coming off a Super Bowl appearance and the Chargers have been to the playoffs in both years of coach Jim Harbaugh’s tenure, so each team is a candidate for a backslide.

Three’s a crowd

The Chiefs, Jaguars and Browns are the only teams with dreaded three-game road trips.

Kansas City visits the Bills, Rams and Bengals in an intense gauntlet from Weeks 12 to 14.

The Jaguars travel to the Ravens, Titans and Giants from Weeks 9 to 11, and they also close the season with four of six on the road. And for a team playing two “home” games overseas in Weeks 5-6, that only leaves the Jags with six games at EverBank Stadium.

The Browns visit the Titans, Pittsburgh Steelers and Saints from Weeks 7 to 9. They also open with two consecutive road games and close the season with three of four on the road, so the Browns have some tough stretches.

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