The most popular sport in America is the NFL. The second most popular sport in America is the NFL offseason.
Only the NFL can have an entire weekend of analysis and breakdown over a grid depicting games that will be played four months from now by teams that aren’t even fully assembled yet and make predictions that will look patently absurd once the season starts and the injuries pile up. Even as the U.S. gets ready to host the largest sporting event on the planet, set to commence less than one month from today,
the majority of our attention is not on futbol, but the piece of paper that promises football.
What I personally find most insane about all of the NFL schedule hype is that we’ve all known for months who the Patriots will play and where. The only unknown was the when.
Even wilder, the main thing we’re all most curious about is which week the Patriots won’t be playing a game. But such is our mania.
Not one to ever buck a trend, I’ll be a good lemming and contribute to the insanity.
I’ve taken a look at the schedule, and here’s The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly for the 2026 slate.
The Good
Week 11 bye: New England has had a Week 14 bye the past two years, which is crazy late in the season. I’ve always said that Weeks 8-11 are the sweet spot for byes, so it’s good to be back in that window. I honestly thought that 2026 would see the Patriots catch a bye on the early side of the schedule — they’re due for it, they haven’t had a pre-Week 9 bye since 2020 — but I was happy to see them get their week off a few weeks earlier this year. Hopefully, Week 11 will represent a chance to rest and rehab before a final playoff push as the Patriots look to defend their AFC East crown.
Home stand to close out the season: If the Patriots do their job, there’s a chance that they won’t have to travel for the rest of the AFC playoffs after Week 16, which is a very short trip to The Meadowlands to play the Jets. That Denver game could have huge seeding implications, and it’s always nice hosting Miami late in the year when the weather is freezing. Two very winnable games, at home, when wins matter the most, help to compensate a bit for the early stretch of travel.
German away game: The Patriots will play a home game against the Packers in Week 9 before heading over to Germany for an away game against the Lions on November 15th. I always feel bad for the team losing a true home game due to the international slate, but them’s the breaks. The Lions will be the home team for that one, meaning, the Patriots don’t lose out on a home game. If you have to play overseas, better to do it as the visitors.
The Bad
Early-season road warriors: The Patriots play three of their first four games on the road, starting with a Wednesday Night game against the defending champs as the Seahawks raise their Super Bowl banner, and the odds of the entire city of Seattle collapsing due to a 200-decibel earthquake stand at even money. They then host the Steelers before going back on the road to Jacksonville and Buffalo respectively. That’s an absolutely brutal start to the year. I could see the Patriots going 1-3 during that stretch just as easily as I could see them going 3-1. September is always a weird part of the season as teams find their identity and settle into a groove, and the Pats are going to have to find theirs ASAP with this road stint.
Eight straight non-1 p.m. games: My own personal preference for the Sunday at 1 p.m. kickoff aside, it’s wild to me that the Patriots don’t play at 1 p.m. from October 11th until December 27th. The NFL season is militarily regimented, from practices to film session to mealtimes to travel, and having so much in flux in terms of kickoff times means that the team and coaching staff is going to need to be especially locked in. These guys are pros, they’ll handle it, but routines are important in the NFL. It’s going to be tough to find a rhythm with so many different kickof times.
The Ugly
Two TNF football games: I didn’t even know teams were allowed to play on Thursday Night Football twice in the same season. I figured the league forced each team to suck it up once a year for the sake of lining pockets over at 345 Park Avenue fan enjoyment, and that would be it. But the Patriots have to immediately turn it around in Weeks 7 and 14 as they travel to Chicago and host Minnesota. That sucks, man. I hate TNF. The players hate TNF. The coaches hate TNF. And now I have to watch the Patriots play in two of them. Piss all the way off with that.
Primetime away games: Other than when the Patriots host the Vikings on Thursday Night Football in Week 14, all primetime games are on the road. Not only that, but they’re Seattle. Chicago. Kansas freaking City, just before Christmas, as the playoff push is in high gear and every point matters. The Patriots will be traveling to Arrowhead Stadium to play a Chiefs team hell-bent on proving that 2025 was just an anomaly and they’re still the class of the AFC on Monday night. Can the Patriots hang? Absolutely. Would I rather these away games not have the added atmosphere and intensity that comes with the national broadcast? Yes to that as well. There’s also a chance that the league flexes the Week 17 game against Denver into primetime as well — but at last that one is at home.
