The NFL announced that the 2026 regular-season schedule will be released on Thursday, May 14.
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With there likely to be some games, let's have some fun and produce a 2026 mock Washington Commanders schedule before the league might begin leaking games on Monday. You can't simply schedule games. There must be a rationale behind game days and times, along with which teams match a criteria.
Yet NFL schedule makers have their own minds and reasons for their decisions. I'll provide a few notes at the bottom on why a game may happen in a particular week. Of course, the odds of getting the games on the exact week are awfully slim, but it's fun looking ahead. So, here we go.
Commanders' 2026 mock schedule
- WEEK 1 September 13 at New York Giants 1:00 PM
- WEEK 2 September 21 vs Cincinnati Bengals 8:15 PM
- WEEK 3 September 27 at Tennessee Titans 1:00 PM
- WEEK 4 October 4 vs Houston Texans (in London, England) 9:30 AM
- WEEK 5 October 11 BYE WEEK
- WEEK 6 October 18 at Philadelphia Eagles 8:20 PM
- WEEK 7 October 25 vs Dallas Cowboys 4:25 PM
- WEEK 8 October 29 at Jacksonville Jaguars 8:15
- WEEK 9 November 8 vs Seattle Seahawks 4:25 PM
- WEEK 10 November 15 at Minnesota Vikings 1:00 PM
- WEEK 11 November 22 vs Los Angeles Rams 8:20 PM
- WEEK 12 November 29 vs New York Giants 1:00 PM
- WEEK 13 December 6 at Arizona Cardinals 4:05 PM
- WEEK 14 December 13 vs Atlanta Falcons 1:00 PM
- WEEK 15 December 20 at San Francisco 49ers 4:05 PM
- WEEK 16 December 27 vs. Philadelphia Eagles 4:25 PM
- WEEK 17 January 3 at Dallas Cowboys 8:20 PM
- WEEK 18 January 10 vs Indianapolis Colts 1:00 PM
Scheduling Rationale
- NFL likes divisional matchps in Week 1. In addition, Commanders have opened at home Eagles, Chargers, Jaguars, Cardinals (2020-2023), Giants, (2025). So Washington on the road to open 2026.
- Week 2: NFL markets the MNF matchup of former Heisman winners and LSU quarterbacks Jayden Daniels and Joe Burrow. The NFL also remembers the high-scoring, exciting MNF game these two played in 2024.
- Week 4: NFL likes an AFC - NFC match up internationally. Plus Jayden Daniels vs C.J. Stroud
- Week 5: BYE Week for the teams coming off their international game schedule.
- Week 6: NBC Sunday Night Football Prime Time NFC East Match up.
- Week 8: NFL likes a Thursday night game featuring Trevor Lawrence and Jayden Daniels
- Week 11: Gives the NFL a SNF Matthew Stafford and Jayden Daniels match up
- Week 16: NFL likes Eagles and Commanders late in the season
- Week 17: NFL always schedules Commanders and Cowboys late in season as well
- Final Note: Commanders 2026 schedule includes one MNF game, one Sunday morning international game, one Thursday night game, three Sunday night games, and three 4:25 PM games.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: 2026 NFL schedule release: Washington Commanders mock schedule