How does the NFL determine the Commanders' 2026 opponents?
· Yahoo Sports
The next NFL event is the release of the 2026 regular season schedules, so what will the Washington Commanders' schedule look like?
If you are not familiar with how the NFL constructs each team's regular-season schedule, we will explain the process. Once you see it in front of you, it will then become much more understandable.
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2026 will again be the season when NFC teams have nine home games on their schedules. The AFC teams hosted nine home games last season and will again in 2027. As for the Commanders? Well, only eight of their nine "home" games will be in their "home" stadium. The NFL has already announced that the Commanders will play one "home" international game in London.
NFC EAST GAMES
The Commanders will again play six inter-divisional rival games. They will host the Eagles, Cowboys and Giants, while also traveling to play each of those teams on the road.
NFC WEST GAMES
Each season, the Commanders play one NFC division other than their own NFC East rivals. This year, in 2026, they are slated to face the NFC West teams (Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Arizona Cardinals). Two contests will be at home (Seahawks, Rams), and two (49ers, Cardinals) will be on the road.
AFC SOUTH GAMES
The Commanders face an AFC division each season, and this year's rotation has them facing each team in the AFC South (Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Tennessee Titans). Two games will be at home (Colts and Texans), while the other two (Jaguars, Titans) will be on the road.
Three final games
Having accounted for 14 of their 17 games, all NFL teams then have three additional games included on their regular-season schedule. Two games will be against two other teams within the same conference and one from the other conference. These three final opponents are determined according to teams finishing in the same place in their respective divisions. Consequently, the Commanders, having finished third in the NFC East in 2025, will face the Vikings (away), Falcons (home), and Bengals (home), each one having finished in third place in their divisions last year.
BYE WEEK
So, each team will have 17 games, scheduled over 18 weeks, providing each team with one "bye week" during its regular season. During the 18-week season, the NFL has unfortunately spread out the bye weeks for all teams from Week 5 to Week 14. It's a way the NFL can have as many teams playing each week as possible. However, the downside remains one team with an entire week of rest while the other opponent does not.
FULL WEEKS of Games
In recent seasons, the NFL has typically scheduled a full slate of 16 games (all 32 teams) to be played during the first four weeks of the season, and then during the final four weeks.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: How does the NFL determine all 32 schedules?