2026 NFL Week 1 Preview and Predictions

New England Patriots @ Seattle Seahawks

The 2026 NFL Season is officially here as the season launches with a Super Bowl 60 rematch as the New England Patriots take on the Seattle Seahawks! The Seattle Seahawks enter the season as reigning Champions, and now their only aim is to go back-to-back! As for New England, they surprised a ton of people last year, but this year expectations are higher, which also means so is the pressure! In the end, I expect Seattle to start their Title defence with a W! I still think The Patriots will be good this season, but they’re not beating The Seahawks on opening night!

San Francisco 49ers @ Los Angeles Rams

NFL makes its first trip “Down Under” as NFC West Rivals the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams collide in Melbourne, Australia! Given all of the pre-season hype behind them, this season feels like Super Bowl or bust for the Los Angeles Rams! As for San Francisco, they overperformed last season given the amount of injuries they suffered, but they’re going to need to do so again given the two best teams in the entire league are in their same division! In the end, The Rams will win at the MCG! A loss against San Fran would be a diabolical start to LA’s season!

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Cincinnati Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals once again missed out on the Playoffs last season, and they simply cannot afford for that to happen for a 4th straight season! As for Tampa Bay, they got pipped to the NFC South Title last year: they mustn’t let that happen again! In the end, I will go with The Bengals to beat The Bucs! Whilst these are two evenly matched teams in a lot of ways, Cincy has home advantage!

New Orleans Saints @ Detroit Lions

After flopping to last place in their division last season, the Detroit Lions are hoping to take advantage of a much easier schedule in 2026! As for New Orleans, they once again finished bottom of the NFC South last year, but there’s perhaps a little bit of optimism that that streak will end come January! In the end, The Lions will win this game easily! Detroit might send out a statement here!

New York Jets @ Tennessee Titans

Two teams very much used to losing face off in Week 1 as the Tennessee Titans host the New York Jets! The Tennessee Titans were the worst team in the entire AFC last season, so it’s important for them to start the season with a W! As for New York, they also went 3-14 last season, so god help us! In the end, let’s pick The Titans to win their season opener! Both of these are not very good, but at least Tennessee fans will have something to cheer about early!

Baltimore Ravens @ Indianapolis Colts

The Indianapolis Colts completely collapsed in the later stage of the 2025 NFL Season, so it’s kind of unclear as to what they’re capable of! As for Baltimore, missing the Playoffs completely last year was unacceptable; they have to win the AFC North! In the end, I’m going to surprise a lot of people by choosing The Colts to win this game! I rate Baltimore, but I think Indy are being overlooked!

Atlanta Falcons @ Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers are finally without Mike Tomlin after 19 years; is this where their non-losing record streak ends? As for Atlanta, it’s been a bit of a crazy off-season for them, but one thing that is for certain is Tua Tagovailoa will start this Sunday! In the end, let’s go Falcons to win this game! This is a toss-up, so I’ve gone with the result that would create a bigger story (if it were to actually happen)!

Chicago Bears @ Carolina Panthers

Both the Chicago Bears and the Carolina Panthers enter Week 1 after surprising everyone to Division Titles in their previous campaigns! Despite only winning 8 of 17 games last season, the Carolina Panthers won the NFC South, highlighting a season of positive progress! As for Chicago, they won 11 games to win the NFC North, eventually coming up short to The Rams in the Divisional Round! In the end, I will pick The Bears to start the season 1-0! Whilst I actually expect both teams to struggle with regression in 2026, I still rate Chicago slightly higher!

Buffalo Bills @ Houston Texans

Probably the best game of the early slate takes place in Texas as the Houston Texans host the Buffalo Bills in a battle between two Super Bowl hopefuls! The Houston Texans won 9 straight to end the Regular Season last year, only for the offense to completely fall apart in the Divisional Round! As for Buffalo, they too went 12-5, and they also lost in the Divisional Round (albeit in a much tighter game against The Broncos)! In the end, let’s say that Houston win this game! This is another toss-up, but I think a loss for The Texans would definitely hurt more!

Cleveland Browns @ Jacksonville Jaguars

An 8-game winning streak guided the Jacksonville Jaguars to their first AFC South Title for 3 years, only to get eliminated by The Bills in their Playoff opener! As for Cleveland, 2 wins to end the season helped them to 5-12, but I wouldn’t expect them to get that this year given the fact that their Quarterback battle is between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders! In the end, this should be a relatively straightforward victory for The Jags! If it’s not, something has gone very wrong in Jacksonville because Cleveland suck!

Miami Dolphins @ Las Vegas Raiders

The Las Vegas Raiders were able to take the Number 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, and this year they’ll be hoping for more than just 3 wins! As for Miami, given their offseason, getting back to 7-10 will be a struggle! In the end, I expect Las Vegas to win this game! I don’t think I’ll predict The Raiders to win too many games this season, so enjoy it whilst you can!

Green Bay Packers @ Minnesota Vikings

Kyler Murray makes his Minnesota Vikings Regular Season debut as NFC North Rivals the Green Bay Packers make the trip to U.S. Bank Stadium! Despite having a positive record last year, going 9-8 wasn’t enough for the Minnesota Vikings to make the Playoffs, meaning they have to be aiming for more this time around! As for Green Bay, they just about scraped their way into the Playoffs last season, but they didn’t last very long as they completely fumbled it against the Chicago Bears! In the end, I’m going to pick The Packers to win this game! This is one of those picks where I’m not convinced at all, but I rate Jordan Love a lot more than I do Kyler Murray!

Washington Commanders @ Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles cruised to another NFC East Title in 2025, only to get humbled by an injury-depleted 49ers! As for Washington, after making the NFC Championship Game in 2025, they followed it up by going just 5-12! In the end, this will be a very straightforward victory for The Eagles! This has to be one of the most lopsided games of Week 1, right?!

Arizona Cardinals @ Los Angeles Chargers

The Los Angeles Chargers did their usual thing of being good in the Regular Season only to lose in the Playoffs last season, and that simply cannot keep happening! As for Arizona, they had the pleasure of being the worst team in the NFC last year, and it’s going to be difficult to change that given which division they’re in! In the end, I see a statement win incoming for The Chargers! Speaking of lopsided!

Dallas Cowboys @ New York Giants

The first Sunday Night Football of the season takes place at the home of the World Cup Final as the New York Giants face the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium! Whilst they may have only gone 4-13 last season, a 2-game winning streak to end the season at least fills the New York Giants with a tiny bit of optimism, particularly surrounding Jaxson Dart! As for Dallas, they missed the Playoffs once again last year; they can’t keep being rubbish! In the end, I’m going to say that The Giants win this game! I rate Dallas a lot higher than I do New York, but it’s the opening Sunday Night Football of the season, so chaos is surely afoot?!

Denver Broncos @ Kansas City Chiefs

The final game of Week 1 sees the Kansas City Chiefs look to find their winning ways again against a hungry (and also hurting) Denver Broncos! After years of brilliance, the Kansas City Chiefs completely fell apart last season, winning just 6 games as Patrick Mahomes suffered an Achilles injury! As for Denver, they were excellent last season, up until Bo Nix’s injury, which saw them fall short in the AFC Championship Game (at home, too)! In the end, I will back The Broncos to start their season with a W! Kansas City are a complete unknown heading into this season, whilst I rate Denver as the team to beat in the AFC!