Mark your calendars: These 7 games are shaping up as the NFL's worst in 2026
The NFL revealed its 2026 regular-season schedule in full little more than a week ago. And while it's fun to circle what seem like the best matchups of the year, see who's playing on the holidays and get a sense of what the prime-time lineups will look like, it can also be fun to try and find a hate watch.
Granted this is the NFL, king of all North American sports. Fantasy, betting and, this year especially, the ramifications for the next draft - as it pertains to bad teams - mean almost no game is truly irrelevant. Yet we've certainly found a few that could get ugly ... and despite ruling out Week 18 games, many inherently worrisome given the potential weather issues and likelihood good players could be resting when that option is on the table amid unbalanced matchups.
So, without further ado - and at this premature date - these contests are shaping up as the seven worst of the 2026 season, listed chronologically:
Kansas City Chiefs at Las Vegas Raiders, Oct. 4The Chiefs' disastrous 2025 season concluded with a loss in Sin City - a game injured QB Patrick Mahomes didn't play in. However the three-time Super Bowl MVP is 6-0 in his career at Allegiant Stadium - including his performance in Super Bowl 58 - the Chiefs averaging 33 points in those defeats of the Raiders. And while the Silver and Black have added a lot of pieces, including No. 1 draft pick Fernando Mendoza, for their rebuild, a Week 4 game against a dynasty could get ugly ... as it often has against Mahomes and Co.
New York Jets at Chicago Bears, Oct. 4It's a matchup of head coaches, Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson, who previously served as coordinators together in Detroit. It's a matchup of disparate squads, Glenn's Jets the worst team in the league by the end of the 2025 season and Johnson's NFC North-winning Bears among its toughest. And given Johnson isn't one to take his foot off the accelerator, it wouldn't be a surprise if his current team makes his former colleague's outfit look pretty bad.
Arizona Cardinals at Los Angeles Rams, Oct. 18We're not purposefully picking on the Cards, but c'mon. They went 0-6 in their division last year - little surprise given the 2025 NFC West is the only division in league history with three teams that won at least 12 games, Arizona the lone exception. It seems quite likely the Cardinals take another divisional bagel in 2026, but their game at L.A. could be the ugliest. Since Sean McVay became their coach in 2017, the Rams are 16-3 against Arizona - including six wins at home by double digits.
Las Vegas Raiders at Denver Broncos, Nov. 22Flash back to last season's Thursday night game in Denver, when the Broncos outlasted the Raiders 10-7, then you have some sense of how ugly this was and could be again. However, this time around, the defending AFC West champion Broncos will be coming out of a bye week when they host the Raiders, who will be on the road for the third time in a four-week span ... and possibly with rookie QB Mendoza set to face one of the league's nastiest defenses at that point. Mismatch or not, could be quite ugly aesthetically.
These teams are projected to be two of the league's worst in 2026, so this game could be ugly on merit. And, when it takes place in Week 15, it might just feature a pair of rookie quarterbacks if the Jets are assessing Cade Klubnik by then and/or if Carson Beck has entered the Cards' lineup. Yet, unimportant as this matchup might be in terms of Super Bowl 61 implications, the draft ramifications could be massive - it might even be deemed the Arch Manning Bowl by the time it kicks off.
Miami Dolphins at Green Bay Packers, Dec. 20What projects as a bad team, one used to Florida's climate, heading to Wisconsin to face a perennial playoff team the day before winter officially starts - and with a quarterback, Malik Willis, the Pack know well? What could go wrong?
Los Angeles Chargers at Miami Dolphins, Dec. 27By the time this Week 16 game rolls around, the Bolts will likely be jockeying for playoff position ... while the Fins will be settling into draft position. The weather shouldn't be oppressive for the California-based Chargers, but they might be in a suppressive mood of their own. After all, former Miami coach Mike McDaniel, who was fired after last season, will be running the offense for the Chargers - and this game will take place three years after McDaniel's Dolphins hung 70 points on the Broncos, only the fourth time an NFL team had ever scored that many points in a single game. Think he'd have any problem doing it again? Against a Miami team that will likely be seriously overmatched? As the Bolts are trying to round into postseason form?
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Worst games on 2026 NFL schedule: Will you watch these contests?