Washington Commanders 2026 schedule of opponents: Home, away matchups confirmed

Who does Washington play next season?

Summarized by AI ⓘ

What is the story about?

The NFL season is almost over and the playoff brackets will be set after the final game tonight. The Washington Commanders are 4-12 and play their final game against the Eagles in Philly. They have “earned” a top 7 pick in this year’s draft, and have a lot of work to do to get back to the success they had last season. We now know who the Commanders will be playing when the new season starts later this year.

NFL schedules are set from year to year due to a rotating schedule, and all the teams are known

except for three for years in advance.

The scheduling formula implemented in 2002 with realignment guarantees that all teams play each other on a regular, rotating basis.

Under the formula, every team plays 17 games as follows:

Home and away against its three division opponents (six games).

The four teams from another division within its conference on a rotating three-year cycle (four games).

The four teams from a division in the other conference on a rotating four-year cycle (four games).

Two intraconference games and one interconference game based on the prior year’s standings (3 games). These games match a first-place team against the first-place teams in the two same-conference divisions the team is not scheduled to play that season as well as one team from the other conference. The second-place, third-place, and fourth-place teams in a conference are matched in the same way each year.

Washington plays two other divisions next season, the NFC West and the AFC South. The Commanders finished 3rd in their division and will play the 3rd place finishers from the NFC South (Atlanta Falcons) and AFC North (Cincinnati Bengals) at home, and the NFC North (Minnesota Vikings) on the road in 2026. Washington, like all NFC teams, will play 8 road games and 9 home games next season.