There will be 272 games played during the 2025-26 NFL regular season. Sometimes, there will be as many as nine games being played at once!

Since most people don’t have nine television sets in their homes or access to the NFL Sunday Ticket package, they might need to take time to figure out which games are worth watching.

Thankfully, we have identified the most exciting matchup from each week of the regular season.

Week One: Ravens @ Bills

We get off to a fast start with an AFC Divisional Round rematch when the Baltimore Ravens travel to Buffalo to take on the Bills and reigning MVP Josh Allen. There is no shortage of storylines in this one. We get a head-to-head matchup of last year’s first- and second-place MVP finishers. The Ravens will be looking to get revenge for their two-point playoff loss to Buffalo. They won’t have to deal with the cold like they did in January, but Bills Mafia will still bring plenty of energy to the best game of Week One.

Week Two: Eagles @ Chiefs

A rematch of last season’s Super Bowl in Week Two? You can’t ask for anything else! Instead of the game being at a neutral site like Super Bowl LIX, this one will be played at Arrowhead Stadium, which will give the Chiefs a slight advantage. Regardless of location, this will still be a closely contested matchup so long as the best players are healthy after Week One’s action. I am sure KC will not suffer the same embarrassment they did in February.

Week Three: Lions @ Ravens

This is the Super Bowl matchup that could’ve been. The Ravens were first in yards per game while the Lions were second. Detroit was the number-one scoring offense last season, while Baltimore’s unit was third. We’ll also get to see how well Aidan Hutchinson is recovering by having him chase around Lamar Jackson for four quarters. There’s no shortage of offensive weapons in this one. And considering it’s a Monday Night Football game, every NFL fan with a pulse will be tuning in for this one!

Week Four: Ravens @ Chiefs

A rematch of the 2024 AFC Championship Game, except this time, it’s being played in Kansas City rather than Baltimore. We were a dropped two-point conversion away from this potentially being last year’s AFC Championship. If we’re lucky, this will be a preview of things to come in the 2026 NFL Playoffs. Expect this one to be close because the average margin of victory between these two in their last three matchups has been five points.

Week Five: Lions @ Bengals

This has the makings of an offensive masterclass. The Bengals were far and away the best passing team in the NFL last season, and they returned their three most important playmakers: Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins. Unfortunately for Cincinnati, their defense has many glaring weaknesses, and Trey Hendrickson’s future with the team remains murky. I’m sure he’ll be there when Week Five rolls around, but I am still confident the Lions’ offense will be able to put up plenty of yards and points.

Week Six: Lions @ Chiefs

Yet another Super Bowl matchup that we missed out on. It would’ve been hard to root for the Chiefs against a team that has never even been to the Big Game. The Chiefs used to be known for their offense, but their defense was their bread and butter last season. Meanwhile, they’ll face one of the best offenses in the NFL this season. A classic case of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. Detroit will have its hands full, though, defending Patrick Mahomes. It’ll be a fun game to watch.

Week Seven: Buccaneers @ Lions

This has the potential to be a playoff matchup. It already was a Divisional Round playoff game in 2024! It could’ve been a playoff game last year, too, if the Commanders hadn’t kicked a game-winning field goal in the Wild Card Round. Getting a chance to watch Vita Vea and Haason Reddick go up against the Lions’ fantastic offensive line will be must-see TV. It’ll also be awesome to watch these wide receiving corps play on artificial turf, where every player seems to run a little faster.

Week Eight: Packers @ Steelers

This was already scheduled to be the Sunday Night Football game, which means this was going to be a great matchup. Now that the Steelers’ starting quarterback is Aaron Rodgers, all of America is going to be tuning in to see what will happen. Will Aaron Rodgers get his revenge on the Packers for casting him away to the Jets? Or will Jordan Love win and overtake his mentor? We’ll find out the answer on October 26th.

Week Nine: Chiefs @ Bills

An AFC Championship Game rematch. More importantly, it’s the tenth all-time installment of Josh Allen vs. Patrick Mahomes. Unlike the playoffs, the Bills will be the home team this time around. It’ll be a crisp Autumn day on November 2nd, and the game will be played at 4:25 p.m. EDT, so there won’t be a whole lot of competition in terms of garnering viewers. On top of that, five of the last six matchups between these two teams have been decided by less than seven points. Expect another classic in Week Nine.

Week 10: Lions @ Commanders

Are you beginning to see the theme of revenge in this article? The Detroit Lions were embarrassed at home in the Division Round of the 2025 NFL Playoffs after they had the best regular season in franchise history. Week 10 will be a long time to wait, so the way these teams look from Week One until then could be incredibly different. But, as long as Jayden Daniels and Jared Goff are both healthy, this one will be exciting.

Week 11: Lions @ Eagles

If this had been the NFC Championship Game, I feel like it could’ve been the best game of the playoffs. Even though we were robbed of that matchup last season, we’re getting it this season in Philly. I expect a heavy dose of Jahmyr Gibbs and Saquon Barkley in this one. I am also excited to see how Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams match up with Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell.

Week 12: Steelers @ Bears

This slot could go to Buccaneers-Rams or Bills-Texans, but I’m going to give it to Steelers-Bears because of the Aaron Rodgers effect. Rodgers notoriously killed the Bears with a 25-5 record against them during his time with the Packers. However, the last time he played the Bears was in December 2022. When Week 12 rolls around, the rivalry between Rodgers and Chicago will be renewed, albeit on a different team. But you can expect Bears fans will want the win just as badly as they always do.

Week 13: Chiefs @ Cowboys

Thanksgiving is the second-biggest football-watching day of the year outside of the Super Bowl. This year, we get arguably the two most popular teams in the NFL facing each other. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are going against Micah Parsons and the Cowboys. It doesn’t get much better than that. I guarantee this will be the most-watched regular-season game of the year. If nothing, it’ll at least be in the top three.

Week 14: Bengals @ Bills

I clearly have very high expectations for the Cincinnati Bengals since I have them on the list twice. This will be one of their toughest out-of-division tests, especially considering they have to travel to Buffalo for the game. It’ll be a cold afternoon, since the game will be on December 7th, but I don’t expect that to stop the Bengals from throwing the ball all over the field. After all, Joe Burrow led the league in pass attempts last year by a wide margin. I expect that trend to continue into this season.

Week 15: Lions @ Rams

How can anybody turn down Matthew Stafford facing off against his old team at home? I have a strong feeling this will be watched by most people outside of Louisiana, the Carolinas, San Francisco, and Tennessee (this game is at the same time as Titans-49ers and Panthers-Saints). There will also be competition over on CBS with Broncos-Packers, but this will be the one to watch in Week 15. Another thing to watch out for in this game will be reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year Jared Verse going against Penei Sewell and Taylor Decker.

Week 16: Eagles @ Commanders

This is the only divisional game on the list outside of Week 18, where every team in the NFL is forced to face a divisional opponent. These two will obviously face each other twice, but I am much more excited for the game in Washington than the one in Philly. The Washington crowd will be out for blood after the beatdown the Commanders suffered at the hands of the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game last year. Though a time for the game has yet to be determined, it will be on a Saturday, which means it will probably be in primetime over Packers-Bears.

Week 17: Eagles @ Bills

Another Super Bowl matchup that we missed out on last year. How awesome would it have been to see the MVP going against the best team in the league?! Unfortunately, we didn’t get that in 2024-25, but at least we can see it in 2025-26, even if Josh Allen isn’t the MVP. And, this game will be in Buffalo, where it’s almost guaranteed to be bitterly cold when they meet on December 28th. I anticipate James Cook, Josh Allen, Saquon Barkley, and Jalen Hurts will rack up a ton of rushing yards in this one.

Week 18: Ravens @ Steelers

Week 18 is exclusively reserved for divisional games, and I believe this matchup will be for the AFC North Divisional crown. I expect the Steelers to be better than they were last year. Simultaneously, I think the Ravens will take a slight step back from the 2024-25 campaign. They’ll both make the playoffs, but only one of these teams will win the division. I believe this game will decide the winner.