Much to television networks’ and streamers’ chagrin, the NFL’s prime-time schedule can’t be built out of Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs games alone.
Still, the league is entering its fourth year with no guarantee for every team to receive at least one prime-time game on its schedule, and the imbalance between the most formidable franchises and the lesser brands has only widened in that time. And with the 2026 schedule release still expected in the near future, the uneven landscape should remain in place as early verdicts are rendered for each franchise.
Having already highlighted the teams deserving of fewer prime-time games this year, here are five franchises that look ready for more turns in the national spotlight in 2026:
New England Patriots
With schedule-makers left to guess how New England’s Year 1 resurgence under Mike Vrabel might take form, the Patriots only received an initial allotment of three prime-time games last season − the same number given to the Las Vegas Raiders, New York Giants and Chicago Bears. Safe to say a boost is coming in 2026.
Even independent of the Vrabel controversy that has loomed over the franchise this offseason, the defending AFC champions should compel plenty of people to tune in whenever they play. NFL MVP runner-up Drake Maye is one of the league’s most prolific deep throwers, and there should be widespread interest in how the offense rebounds from its Super Bowl 60 unraveling. And if the long-awaited A.J. Brown trade materializes after June 1, the wide receiver’s acclimation into the league’s No. 2 scoring attack will be one of the most compelling early-season storylines.
