Texas connects us to the NFL and Sunday Night Football on NBC and Peacock. The NFL released its highly anticipated schedule for the 2026 season, which includes a large slate of primetime games on Sunday nights and specific holidays. Opening the NBC broadcasts are the New England Patriots and S eattle Seahawks. The two will meet in a Super Bowl LX rematch on a special broadcast to kick off the season on Wednesday, Sept. 9. That will mean a rematch of Dallas-area high school football stars, Seattle receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Rockwall) and New England cornerback Christian Gonzalez (The Colony). Between classic rivalries and matchups between possible title contenders, here’s the full schedule: NFL on NBC and Peacock schedule 2026 Here are the games to know for this season (*subject to flex scheduling): Flexing becomes a possibility in Week 5. Before Week 11, however, the flex option would be used only in the event of a significant development, such as a season-ending injury to a franchise quarterback. In any event, the decision to flex or not to flex is made by the NFL. Kickoff: New England Patriots at Seattle Seahawks — Wednesday, Sept. 9 The teams that played the final game of last season will play the first of 2026, as New England and Seattle will square off in a Super Bowl rematch. Patriots quarterback Drake Maye should be highly motivated after he struggled mightily in the championship game. The Seahawks, meanwhile, could send an early message about avoiding a Super Bowl hangover. One more subplot looms: Will New England head coach Mike Vrabel be on the sidelines? Week 1: Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants — Sunday, Sept. 13 Dallas is due to make two more appearances on Sunday Night Football, as part of their six primetime games this season. For the Giants, it’s Week 1 and done. Week 2: Indianapolis Colts at Kansas City Chiefs — Sunday, Sept. 20 Texas native Patrick Mahomes is still recovering from a torn ACL suffered last season, but that did not stop the league from scheduling the Chiefs for 6 primetime games this season, including the Chiefs first two games. They open the season against the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football. If Mahomes is not ready to go, Flower Mound’s Garrett Nussmeier could be forced to fill in for the former Super Bowl-MVP, temporarily. Week 3: Los Angeles Rams at Denver Broncos — Sunday, Sept. 27 Highland Park’s Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams kick off the season in Australia, playing the San Francisco 49ers before returning stateside. The Denver Broncos are coming off an AFC championship game appearance before losing starting quarterback Bo Nix. Week 4: Detroit Lions at Carolina Panthers — Sunday, Oct. 4 Texas native Dan Campbell played at Texas AM and for the Cowboys. The Lions are trying to return to the playoffs after missing it for the first time since 2022. *Week 5: Baltimore Ravens at Atlanta Falcons — Sunday, Oct. 11 Bijan Robinson was a star running back at the University of Texas before taking his talents to the NFL. He’s lived up the hype and is expected to be a key contributor as the Falcons try to bounce back from a disappointing 2025 season that ended with the dismissal of their head coach. *Week 6: Dallas Cowboys at Green Bay Packers — Sunday, Oct. 18 Cowboys-Packers will be a rematch of last year’s Sunday Night Football game that served as the Micah Parsons-bowl. The game ended in a rare tie, 40-40, and Parsons is recovering from his own season-ending knee injury. The Packers ended up losing the playoffs while the Cowboys had one of the worst defenses in team history. *Week 7: Kansas City Chiefs at Seattle Seahawks — Sunday, Oct. 25 The Chiefs know what it’s like to host quality teams as the recent Super Bowl champion. Now they’ll be on the other side of it. The overall quality of this game will depend on Patrick Mahomes’ fitness. If he’s fully healthy, it’ll provide an intriguing snapshot of what Kansas City could achieve after a rare down year in the Mahomes-Andy Reid partnership run. Meanwhile, Sam Darnold will be hoping to land a win over a worthy opponent to further boost his rising credentials. *Week 8: Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Commanders — Sunday, Nov. 1 Two of the Cowboys’ division rivals will square of to start November. The Commanders will be coming off their bye week, the Eagles will be coming off a Monday Night Football matchup with Dallas. The Eagles are 7-2 in their last nine games at FedEx Field, including a 29-18 win last year in Week 16, and they’re 18-8 in Washington since 2000. This is an interesting all-time series. From 1934, when the Commanders were based in Boston, through 1992, Rich Kotite’s second season, the Eagles were just 44-67-6 vs. Washington and 20-35-3 on the road. Since then, they’re 43-24 vs. Washington and 22-11 on the road. The Eagles are 12-7 all-time in prime-time against Washington, 6-2 in the last eight meetings. *Week 9: Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Chicago Bears — Sunday, Nov. 8 Austin-area native Baker Mayfield will be featured on season 3 of Netflix’s series Quarterback. The Bucs missed the playoffs last season while the Bears had their best season in nearly a decade. *Week 10: Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals — Sunday, Nov. 15 The Steelers are playing their first season without former head coach Mike Tomlin for the first time in 20 years. Tomlin is now an analyst on NBC’s Football Night in America. Tomlin will cover three teams he’s very familiar with in his first season on-air: Baltimore, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh. Week 11: Minnesota Vikings at San Francisco 49ers in Mexico City — Sunday, Nov. 22 The 49ers play two international games during the 2026 NFL season. The 49ers play the Rams in Australia and then return to Mexico City to play the Vikings. That’s the NFL’s first game in Mexico since the 49ers’ last international game in 2022, when they beat the Arizona Cardinals. Week 12: Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills on Thanksgiving night — Thursday, Nov. 26 The NFL’s ultimate quarterback rivalry gets one of the best time slots of the year, as Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen will battle in prime time on Thanksgiving. The big question here, obviously, is how well recovered Mahomes will be after he tore an ACL last year. Allen and Buffalo won the most recent matchup, which the Bills hosted in November. Mahomes and Allen engaged in plenty of battles over the last few seasons, though the former has more wins when it matters most (4-0 in the playoffs). Week 12 may be a crucial point of the campaign for both teams, and there should be pressure on them both to show out for a win. With an overall 5-5 record between the two QBs, someone is about to get the edge…for now. The Bills’ new Highmark Stadium will be the venue. *Week 12: New England Patriots at Los Angeles Chargers — Sunday, Nov. 29 Temple, TX native and former TCU star Quentin Johnston is looking to continue his momentum after a career year for the Chargers. The Chargers have three primetime games this season. *Week 13: Houston Texans at Pittsburgh Steelers — Sunday, Dec. 6 The Houston Texans are looking to turn their three-straight playoff appearances into their first AFC Championship Game appearance in team history. They’ve won 32 games over the past three seasons. *Week 14: Buffalo Bills at Green Bay Packers — Sunday, Dec. 13 Former Dallas Cowboys star Micah Parsons will be almost a year removed from his torn ACL when the Bills come to Green Bay in December. The Bills, like the Texans, have become playoff regulars but are looking for their first Super Bowl appearance in more than 30 years. *Week 15: Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings — Sunday, Dec. 20 The two teams at the bottom of the NFC North last season will look to return to their 2024 form, when they finished with the two best records in the conference. *Week 16: Jacksonville Jaguars at Dallas Cowboys — Sunday, Dec. 27 The Cowboys final scheduled primetime game will be against the Jagaurs, who beat the Cowboys 40-34 in overtime in their matchup 4 years ago. Week 17: Saturday 4:30 p.m. ET broadcast — Jan. 2 Week 17: Saturday Peacock exclusive broadcast — Jan. 2 On Saturday, January 2, NBC will televise a 3:30 p.m. CT game, with a Peacock exclusive game at 7:00 p.m. CT. *Week 17: Philadelphia Eagles at San Francisco 49ers — Sunday, Jan. 3 The Eagles are off to Santa Clara for only third time after losing 26-21 in 2014 and winning 25-20 in 2020. The 49ers eliminated the Eagles last year in the wild-card round, winning 23-19 at the Linc after trailing by six going into the fourth quarter. Overall, the Eagles are 16-24-1 vs. the 49ers but with a better road record (9-9) than home record (7-15-1). They’re actually 5-1 in their last six games in the Bay Area going back to 2002. The Eagles were 3-13-1 in their first 17 games against the 49ers but 13-11 since. This will be the 15th Eagles-49ers game since 2003. No team outside the NFC East has faced the Eagles since 2003 more than the 49ers. The Eagles are 4-1 all-time in prime-time vs. the 49ers, most recently a 25-20 win in 2020 in Santa Clara. *Week 18: TBD – Sunday, Jan. 10 As always, the regular season concludes in Week 18, with a hand-picked game for Sunday Night Football that is determined by playoff implications. What time does Sunday Night Football start? Sunday Night Football broadcasts typically begin at 7:20 p.m. CT How to watch Sunday Night Football on TV, online Sunday Night Football is broadcast on NBC, with streaming available on Peacock. This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser. ...read more read less