The National Football League released its 2025-26 schedule on May 14, 2025. The schedule included a lot of marquee matchups between league powerhouses, but also some intriguing games to fill out the league’s schedule for the season.
When the schedule releases, many fans’ minds tend to look towards those marquee matchups, or to look at their team’s schedule alone, but taking a look at the bigger picture and seeing some of the more intriguing games of the season helps the casual NFL fan enjoy football for the season.
These are 10 games that feature some kind of intrigue, going in chronological order.
1. Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions (Week 2)
The Bears hired former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to their vacant head coaching position in the offseason. Chicago looks to revitalize their team this season, specifically hiring Johnson to unlock 2024 No. 1 overall pick quarterback Caleb Williams’s potential under center.
In the 2024-25 season, Johnson’s offense was ranked No. 2 in the league in yards, passing and receiving, and No. 6 in rushing, and Johnson’s quarterback Jared Goff put up nearly 4,500 yards during the season. The Bears hope that Johnson can tap some of that production for their offense, and find that star potential in Williams.
In Week 2, Johnson will return to Detroit for his second divisional matchup of his head coaching career, his first coming in Week 1 against the Minnesota Vikings. He’ll look to shock a strong team in the Lions, while the Lions look to keep pace with the top teams in the NFC.
2. Minnesota Vikings at Pittsburgh Steelers (Week 4)
The Vikings have been in flux at the quarterback position for a while now. Kirk Cousins was their fix for a spell, his style of play easily catering to head coach Kevin O’Connell’s system and producing numbers with elite weapons peppered around him. This season, health permitting, will be second-year quarterback JJ McCarthy’s first view of an NFL field, and he’s expected to pick up right where Darnold and Cousins left off for the Vikings.
The Steelers are in quarterback limbo, and have been since franchise legend Ben Roethlisberger retired after the 2021-22 season. Pittsburgh watched as four different quarterbacks started for the team in the time since. The Steelers posted a 10-7 record last season under two different starters, but are left looking for one for this season.
Enter Aaron Rodgers, a quarterback the Steelers have courted for most of the offseason and is heavily rumored to go to Pittsburgh, but has yet to sign with the team.
This matchup will likely be of two quarterbacks trying to make early impressions with their new teams, and still jockey for some early-season position in divisions packed with good teams, the AFC and NFC North.
3. Atlanta Falcons at San Francisco 49ers (Week 7, Sunday Night Football)
This is a matchup between two teams that fell short of expectations in the 2024-25 season. The Falcons lost multiple games and underwent a quarterback change down the stretch, while the 49ers were ravaged with injuries to key players on their team. Both teams have a new look entering the season, with significant changes made to their teams in the offseason.
The Falcons added three new pass rushers since the end of their 8-9 campaign, veteran Leonard Floyd in free agency as well as rookies Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. through the draft. This addressed Atlanta’s biggest need, as the team ranked second to last in the NFL in sacks with 31 on the season.
San Francisco will be a completely retooled team in the new season, losing many of its veterans on both offense and defense in free agency. They’ll keep some identity after holding on to some key pieces, but won’t have the same identity without those players around.
Will both teams’ offseason additions push them towards further success? This game is a test to see, and expect a gritty defensive battle.
4. Washington Commanders at Kansas City Chiefs (Week 8, Monday Night Football)
This game is one between two of the NFL’s juggernauts, a game that’s intriguing not for any off-field storyline, but just to see how many points will be scored.
Both teams field a promising and fun offensive front, the Commanders’ led by sophomore quarterback Jayden Daniels. Washington added a few pieces in the offseason to aid in their continued push for glory, namely former 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel to add to Daniels’s arsenal.
The Chiefs are coming off a rough Super Bowl loss, and rebuilt their offensive line in the offseason to keep pass rushers away from their franchise quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs still boast some offensive weapons in their own right, with wide receiver Rashee Rice returning from injury to pair with 2024 first-round pick Xavier Worthy.
This game will prove as a test to see if the Commanders can hang with the top teams in the NFL.
5. Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens (Week 13, Thursday Night Football)
Good football on Thanksgiving, nothing goes better together.
Another divisional matchup, this time in the AFC North, where the Ravens and Bengals will likely play for a crucial division tiebreaker, one that can decide playoff seeding later down the line.
The Bengals hope to return to their former glory this season, racking up wins under their explosive offense led by quarterback Joe Burrow. The team’s defense held them back last season, ranking bottom 10 in most defensive categories, while the offense ranked top five in most offensive categories.
The Ravens hope to take the one step needed to reach the Super Bowl this season, as they fell in the Divisional Round of the playoffs last season. They hope to bolster their strengths with offseason additions, and carry on with their quest for a Lombardi trophy.
This matchup will be another high-scoring one, with Burrow and Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson making plays to entertain audiences on Thanksgiving night.
6. Los Angeles Chargers at Dallas Cowboys (Week 16)
Both the Chargers and the Cowboys find themselves in odd positions entering the 2025-26 season.
Los Angeles has a lot of the pieces that they need to contend, and under head coach Jim Harbaugh have seen what success looks like, everywhere but the playoffs. If they can get on a winning streak at the right time, no team will want to face the Chargers in the postseason. This game against an always-tough Dallas team will be a hazard to that hypothetical hot streak.
The Cowboys have stars all over the field, just for them to get bounced in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs. Maybe a head coaching change will help, but Dallas needs a win against a contending team to gain confidence moving either into the postseason or next season, and the Chargers are a prime candidate for that.
As both teams look to gain momentum, it’ll be a clash of high-powered offenses in Dallas late in the season. The team that comes out will likely carry a hot streak moving forward, so all eyes will be on this game to see who emerges the victor.
7. Rivalry Week (Week 18)
Cheating a little bit here, but the last week of the NFL season always consists of exclusively divisional matchups.
This season, many old rivalries flare up in the last week of the season, in games that could flip division standings on their head, depending on the course of the rest of the season.
Rivalry games are matchups that define divisions, conferences, and the sport overall. Any time the Ravens and Steelers play each other, fans expect an unpredictable, low-scoring affair. When the Seahawks and 49ers play, the expectation is for both teams to talk some trash and not have the cleanest game, but the game to be entertaining nonetheless.
These matchups help write the history of football, and having them all on the last week of the regular season makes them so interesting and pivotal for how the rest of the season will shake out.
