The full NFL schedule for the upcoming 2026 season was released last Thursday night and a few flaws are obvious to the average football fan. The Vikings open up the season at home vs. Green Bay and in week two travel to Chicago to face the Bears. There is no reason to schedule divisional games so early. It’s not that I fear the Packers or Bears, in fact, a few of my Packer friends I work with like Tommy Fuchs and Tom Szymanski had it too.
The league should feature as many NFC vs. AFC games early in the season as teams are figuring things out because those games don’t mean as much when it comes to tie-breaking scenarios. Leave the divisional games for later in the season. An example I give is if you had your first round of divisional games starting in mid-October—like three games in a row for Minnesota versus the Bears, Packers and Lions—and ending the final three weeks of the season with those same opponents I think it would make the league even better.
As fans, we must expect international games now because they obviously aren’t going away, but instead of nine, just have 16. If the league sticks with 17 games (which is fine with me), each team should have eight home games, eight road games, and one neutral site international game.
Also to lessen the cost burden for season ticket holders, the preseason should include one home game and one road game. Then, in August salute the NFL’s feeder system with a “Back to School” special featuring a neutral site game at a college campus. Imagine Detroit vs. Cleveland rotating at the University of Michigan and Ohio State, Seattle vs. Denver at the University of Utah, or the Chiefs and Vikings at Iowa or Iowa State. It would give students a fun event to attend and bring NFL football to areas that normally wouldn’t have a chance to see a professional games. Just some of the things the league could do for the fans to make the league even better, even though they are already the biggest sports entity in the western hemisphere.
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