2026 NFL schedule: Will the Commanders play in London?

By now, most of you have heard there were leaks on Monday about the upcoming NFL regular-season schedule.

It was confirmed Monday, though not officially, that the Commanders are indeed going to be playing in London, England, on October 4, 2026. No, this was not some guy on X (Twitter) attempting to get attention from NFL fans. No, this source turned out to be the official website of the London stadium hosting the NFL game on October 4. That's right, the website for the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, seeking to be organized, seeking to market their game well, seeking to plan well, apparently leaked what the NFL did not want them to broadcast, not yet.

The NFL has previously declared it will release its regular-season schedule on Thursday, May 14. Then they added that in addition, they will announce their international games on Wednesday, May 13. Since Week 1 Sunday is September 13, October 4 will be the Sunday of Week 4 games.

By the way, the website later removed the information. Which means they likely heard from the NFL and will be able to re-post the Commanders' game-day information once the NFL announces it.

Secondly, we learned the Commanders will not be opening up against either the Cowboys or the Giants. Why? Because the NFL announced the Cowboys will be traveling to the Big Apple to face the Giants on SNF. In 2025, the Commanders faced the Giants at Northwest Stadium to kick off the season in a 1:00 PM contest.

NBC SNF loves the Cowboys, and New York is a huge market; it's Sunday night, and it's an NFC East matchup. In fact, Dallas and the New York Giants have faced each other in Week 1 eight times in the last 15 seasons. So, NBC could not resist trying this again.

Finally, we also learned the Commanders will not be facing the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day in Arlington, Texas. The NFL announced that the Cowboys will instead host the NFC East rival, the Philadelphia Eagles. The Week 12 game is scheduled for November 26 at 4:30 PM.