The Washington Commanders' official schedule for the 2026 NFL season has been released, featuring four primetime games and a London matchup. They will kick off the season against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1.
Key points
Washington Commanders' 2026 schedule officially released
Team coming off a 5-12 season
Four primetime games scheduled
First game against Philadelphia Eagles
Includes a 'home' game in London
Washington CommandersPhiladelphia EaglesCincinnati Bengals
Jayden Daniels Commanders vs Bengals
Sep 23, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) runs with the ball against the Cincinnati Bengals in the first half at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images | Katie Stratman-Imagn Images
The Washington Commanders 2026-27 NFL season schedule has officially been released, so check your calendars, buy your tickets, book your travel, and get ready for the season to start…in September! There have been leaks over the last few days, but now we know the dates and times for most of the Commanders’ games. They are coming off a 5-12 season, but still got four primetime games and a “home” game in London. Jayden Daniels suffered multiple injuries, and will be looking to bring the team back to the 12-5 record from his rookie season. That all starts in Week 1 when they will go on the road to face last season’s NFC East champions, the Philadelphia Eagles. That game will set the tone for the rest of the year.
The annual NFL schedule reveal is probably the most anti-climactic event of the year. First of all, fans know 14 of the 17 games that every NFL team will play for years in advance.
Every NFL team plays 6 games per season against its division rivals (home & away)
Every team in a division plays every team in another division within its conference on a rotating 3-year schedule.
Every team in a division plays every team in another division in the opposing conference on a rotating 4-year schedule.
The other 3 games are determined at the end of the previous regular season. A team’s opponents in those three games will have finished in the same divisional ranking (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th place) — a game against an opponent from each of the remaining two in-conference divisions, and one against a non-conference division opponent (the “17th game” added in 2021), alternating home & away with the AFC home in odd years and the NFC home in even years, on a predetermined schedule of divisional pairings.
Even the home & away matchups are known long before the schedule release. This year, every AFC team plays 9 homes games, while every NFC team plays 8 home games. That’s one factor that could make this year’s schedule for NFC teams slightly harder than last year’s.
In the end, today is really only about dates, times and bye weeks.
When you throw in the leaks that started appearing on Twitter last week, there’s not really much mystery left by the time of the official release at 8pm tonight; still, the NFL manages to turn it into a 2-hour TV event.
No fan is ever satisfied with his or her favorite team’s schedule; there’s always something (often many things) to complain about. Some fans wonder why the announcement of the schedule release date is sometimes delayed until the last minute. Putting the schedule together is incredibly complex. If you want to get the flavor of the complexity, watch the embedded video above.
The factors are crazy — stadium availability, holidays, travel distance, international games, television contracts — it’s mind boggling.
TV contracts change regularly, changing the dynamics of the schedule, but there have been other changes as well, such as the “Black Friday” games that are now played on the day after Thanksgiving. Also, teams are allowed to play two Thursday games this year, and not every team is guaranteed a prime-time game.
