NFL schedule winners and losers: Packers get soft beginning, Patriots face toughest start in 40 years

Here are a few initial winners and losers from the 2026 NFL schedule release

Garrett Podell

May 14, 2026

10:38 pm ET

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8 min read

The 2026 NFL schedule release is here, which means we all know the "when" component that completes our understanding of the upcoming season's full schedule.

Thanks to the league's Thursday night rollout of the entire 2026 schedule for the upcoming regular season, the countdown can officially begin between now and the start of the regular season when the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks host the New England Patriots in a Super Bowl rematch on Sept. 9. While some fans may downplay the significance of the NFL's schedule, when teams play each other can be a big deal.

Squads that have a laundry list of players working their way back from significant injuries would much rather have a softer early-season slate than a cushy downslope at the back half of the year. Teams that have a gauntlet of tougher opponents bunched together can also shape a team's season. The same goes for long, coast-to-coast road trips and other quirks, like when "Thursday Night Football" games occur, etc.

Now that the entire schedule is available for our purview, let's take an initial look at which teams won and lost the 2026 schedule release.

Winner: Micah Parsons and the Green Bay Packers

On Thursday, ESPN reported Green Bay Packers All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons may begin the 2026 on the Physically Unable to Perform list (PUP) as he continues his recovery from a torn ACL. That would mean he'll be sidelined for at least the first four games of the upcoming season.

The league's schedule makers gifted Green Bay a relatively soft schedule during the first month of the campaign in which they're projected to be without their best defensive players. The Packers first games will be against four squads that all missed the postseason a year ago. Three of the four also possess uninspiring quarterbacks, which is an ideal situation for a Parsons-less Packers defense.

Week 1 involves a road game at the Minnesota Vikings, a squad that will either start an injury-plagued Kyler Murray or the embattled J.J. McCarthy at quarterback. McCarthy ranked dead last in the league in completion percentage (57.6%), touchdown-to-interception ratio (11-12), and passer rating (72.6) in 2025. Then, Green Bay will head east to face the New York Jets, a squad who had the first defense in NFL history to not record an interception. New York's starting quarterback is projected to be Geno Smith, a player who became the sixth quarterback since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger to lead the league in both interceptions thrown (17) and sacks taken (55) in the same season in 2025 with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Week 3 will be Green Bay's first home game of the season, and it will take place in prime time against the Atlanta Falcons. Atlanta's starting quarterback will either be Michael Penix Jr. fresh off a torn ACL of his own or Tua Tagovailoa. Tagovailoa is fresh off the worst season of his career in 2025, having thrown a career-high 15 interceptions. Week 4 will feature another road game at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team last seen losing seven of their final nine games of the 2025 season en route to missing the playoffs for the first time since 2019. Quarterback Baker Mayfield had his worst season as a Buccaneer by every key passing metric, and Tampa Bay will be breaking in yet another new offensive coordinator in Zac Robinson. Also, 2026 will be Mayfield's first year with the Buccaneers without Mike Evans after the latter departed for the San Francisco 49ers.

That's a pretty favorable stretch for the Packers before Week 5 when they return home to Lambeau Field to host the archrival Chicago Bears with Parsons eligible to return to play. If Green Bay can go 3-1 or 4-0 in that opening quarter of the season, which certainly seems attainable, they'll be able to hit the ground running before reincorporating their best player back into the lineup. Parsons' return will also be incredibly timely with a stretch that involves the Packers facing the Bears at home, the Cowboys at home, the Lions on the road and then the AFC champion Patriots on the road.

Loser: New England Patriots

Despite winning the AFC in 2025, the NFL's schedule makers didn't do the Patriots any favors. In fact, New England's 2026 squad will become the first since the 2019 Miami Dolphins to open a season with three consecutive games against division winners from the previous season, per CBS Sports Research. That's more division winners from the prior season than their 2025 team faced all season with that bunch squaring off against just two: the NFC South champion Carolina Panthers and the AFC North champion Pittsburgh Steelers. New England split those two matchups, losing 21-14 against the Pittsburgh Steelers at home in Week 3 and winning 42-13 over the