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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Patriots announced their 2026 season schedule tonight. The defending AFC champions will play in six nationally televised games.

The 2026 season will kick off with a Super Bowl LX rematch between the Patriots and Seahawks in Seattle on Wednesday, Sept. 9. It will be the Patriots first-ever game played on a Wednesday. It is also the first Week 1 Super Bowl rematch since the 2016 season when Denver hosted Carolina in a rematch of Super Bowl 50.

The Patriots will play two games on Thursday Night Football, at Chicago on Oct. 22 and at home against Minnesota on Thursday Dec. 10. The Patriots will play in their sixth international game when they travel to Munich, Germany, to face Detroit with a 9:30 a.m. ET kickoff. The Patriots will travel to face the Los Angeles Chargers in a Sunday Night Football game on Nov. 29 and then travel to Kansas City to face the Chiefs on Monday Night Football on Dec. 21.

New England's season starts in prime time for the 12th time in team history and for the first time since the 2019 season when they opened at home against Pittsburgh in a Sunday Night Football game. The NFL has started the season one other time on a Wednesday night, which was in 2012 when the New York Giants hosted the Dallas Cowboys. That game was moved to Wednesday due to the Democratic National Convention. In addition to the 2012 game, there have been three other Wednesday games in modern times with two Christmas games on Wednesday in 2024, and then in 2020, a Week 12 game between Baltimore and Pittsburgh that was moved to Wednesday due to COVID.

The Patriots will play two Thursday games for the fourth time in team history and for the first time since the 2022 season when they played on Thanksgiving night in addition to a regular Thursday night game. The Patriots also played in two Thursday games in 2015 and 2017.

On the schedule are eight teams that played in the postseason last year (Buffalo, Chicago, Denver, Green Bay, Jacksonville, Los Angeles Chargers, Pittsburgh and Seattle), including five of the seven division champions - Chicago (NFC North), Denver (AFC West), Jacksonville (AFC South), Pittsburgh (AFC North) and Seattle (NFC West). In addition, the Patriots will play three of the four teams they faced in the 2025 postseason with games at Seattle and at the Los Angeles Chargers and a home game against Denver, a rematch of the AFC Championship Game.

The season opens with games against four 2025 playoff teams: Seattle, Pittsburgh, Jacksonville and Buffalo.

Week 1 against the Seahawks marks the first time the Patriots will open the season against Seattle and the seventh time opening the season against an NFC team. The Patriots will host Pittsburgh at Gillette Stadium for the second straight season on Sept. 20. The Patriots will then have back-to-back road games, at Jacksonville on Sept. 27 and will make their first ever visit to Buffalo's new stadium when they travel to face the Bills on Oct. 4 at Highmark Stadium.

After home games against Las Vegas on Oct. 11 and Oct. 18 against the New York Jets, the Patriots will travel to face Chicago on Thursday Night Football on Oct. 22. After a trip to Miami on Nov. 1 and a home game against Green Bay on Nov. 8, the Patriots will travel to Munich. It will be the Patriots' second game in Germany after hosting Indianapolis in Frankfurt, Germany, in 2023. The Patriots have played three games in London (2009, 2012 and 2024) and one game in Mexico City (2017).

The Patriots will have a Bye Week after the Germany game and then return to action on Sunday night at the Los Angeles Chargers on Nov. 29. The Patriots will return home to face Buffalo on Dec. 6 and then return to Thursday Night Football when they host Minnesota on Dec. 10. The Patriots will have their second straight prime time game when they travel to Kansas City for Monday Night Football on Dec. 21 and then have their last regular season road trip at the New York Jets on Dec. 27. The Patriots will close out the regular season with two straight home games when they host Denver and Miami. The dates and times of those games will be determined later in the season. The Patriots and Dolphins will meet in the regular season finale for the 19^th time in team history and for the second consecutive season.

In addition to playing each of the AFC East opponents twice, the Patriots will play one game against each of the AFC West and NFC North teams. As the first-place team in the AFC East in 2025, the Patriots will play the first-place team of the AFC North (Pittsburgh), AFC South (Jacksonville) and NFC West (Seattle).

PRESEASON NOTES

New England also announced its 2026 preseason pairings tonight with the Patriots opening at home for the sixth straight year when they host the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday, Aug. 13 at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots and Colts have met two previous times in the preseason with the last preseason contest coming in 1992. The Patriots will host the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2 of the preseason on Saturday, Aug. 22. The Patriots and Eagles will meet in a preseason contest for the 26^th time in team history, second only to the 32 preseason meetings between the Patriots and New York Giants. The Patriots last hosted the Eagles in a preseason game in Week 2 of the 2024 preseason. New England will finish the preseason at Cleveland on Saturday, August 29 in a nationally televised game on Prime Video. It is the third straight season the Patriots will close out the preseason with a Prime Video game. The Patriots and Browns last played in the preseason in Week 2 of the 1993 preseason in a game played in Toronto on August 14. The only time the Patriots played in Cleveland in the preseason was in 1978.

2026 PATRIOTS PRESEASON SCHEDULE

2026 PATRIOTS REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE

Beginning Week 5, all games are subject to flex scheduling.

* Indicates nationally televised games.

Played in Munich, Germany

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