The 2026 NFL season might bring us the best slate of Thursday Night Football games we’ve ever seen.
And, as you might expect, the Chicago Bears are in a prime spot in this premium set of games.
As we have been discussing throughout the offseason, the Bears’ 2026 schedule is tough. That’s fine. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Besides, with a challenging schedule comes some notable perks, including more than a fair share of games in primetime. This year’s schedule includes seven standalone games. A pair of Monday Night Football games (which we discussed in this post, sharing the MNF schedule and an appearance on Thanksgiving against the Detroit Lions are among the schedule’s highlights.
Next up in this series exploring games in the NFL’s prime viewing windows is a look at what appears to be a loaded Thursday Night Football schedule on Amazon Prime.
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) passes against the New England Patriots during the first half at Soldier Field. Williams and the Bears will see the Patriots on Thursday Night Football in October. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images2026 NFL Schedule: Is This the Best Thursday Night Football Slate We’ve Ever Seen?
This is what the 2026 Thursday Night Football slate of games looks like for the NFL.
Sept. 17: Detroit Lions at Buffalo Bills Sept. 24: Atlanta Falcons at Green Bay Packers Oct. 1: Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns Oct. 8: Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Dallas Cowboys Oct. 15: Seattle Seahawks at Denver Broncos Oct. 22: New England Patriots at Chicago Bears Oct. 29: Carolina Panthers at Green Bay Packers Nov. 5: Jacksonville Jaguars at Baltimore Ravens Nov. 12: Washington Commanders at New York Giants Nov. 19: Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans You can check out the Thanksgiving Week slate here. Dec. 3: Kansas City Chiefs at Los Angeles Rams Dec. 10: Minnesota Vikings at New England Patriots Dec. 17: San Francisco 49ers at Los Angeles Chargers Dec. 24: Houston Texans at Philadelphia Eagles (Christmas Eve Football!) Dec. 31: Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals (New Year’s Eve Football!)All games are set for a 7:15 p.m. CT kickoff and will stream on Amazon Prime. But when the Bears and Patriots play, it will be shown locally on free over-the-air television. Check your local listings for the network. Or check back with us on game week because we’ll certainly have a post on it.
This might be the recency bias talking, but this truly looks like the best collection of games to grace the Thursday Night Football schedule. There are 15 games that include at least one 2025 postseason qualifier, including six games featuring two playoff teams from a season ago. That’s fun to think about this time of year, especially when you are thinking about how much you miss football while you watch your favorite baseball team fight a slump.
This is how I’d rank my five favorite Thursday Night Football matchups:
Patriots at Bears (Week 7) — A matchup between two first-round quarterbacks (Caleb Williams and Drake Maye) is juicy enough on its own. When you throw in that Ben Johnson and Mike Vrabel were the two top candidates for the Bears job when it opened up in 2025, it adds an extra layer of intrigue. Lions at Bills (Week 2) — Not only is this DJ Moore’s first home game with the Bills, it is also the team’s first regular-season game at its new stadium. This could be an all-timer with the legendary Al Michaels on the call for the TNF premiere. Kansas City Chiefs at Los Angeles Rams (Week 13) — Whenever these two square off, I think of the epic Monday Night Football game they had a few eyars ago. It would be nice to see these two squads recapture the magic of that night. I’ll take the OVER on 0.5 mentions of the No. 13 as Taylor Swift’s favorite number in conjunction with a Travis Kelce touchdown in this Week 13 matchup. 49ers at Los Angeles Chargers (Week 15) — Call it a hunch, but I have a feeling that Jim Harbaugh will want to stick it to his former employer in this one. This Thursday Night Football matchup is an easy one for me to tune in for the sake of shenanigans. Steelers at Browns (Week 4) — I’m begrudgingly putting this on the list because I want to see how many times Myles Garrett will plow Aaron Rodgers into the turf in what will be the long-time Bears tormentor’s last trip to Cleveland.The past is littered with snoozefest Thursday Night Football games. Maybe things will be different in 2026. We can only hope…
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