CBS Singles Out Most Daunting Part Of Patriots' 2026 Schedule
CBS Sports highlighted where the tough stretch of the Patriots' 2026 schedule takes place.
CBS Singles Out Most Daunting Part Of Patriots' 2026 Schedule originally appeared on NESN . Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here . The NFL unveiled its 2026 schedule on Thursday night, and the Patriots didn't catch any breaks in their first four games.
New England will start the season by traveling to Seattle to face the Seahawks in Week 1. In Week 2, they'll host the Pittsburgh Steelers at home. The following week, it will travel to Jacksonville to take on the Jaguars, and in Week 4, it will head to Buffalo to play the Bills.
All four of those teams made the playoffs last season, and CBS Sports writer John Breech called it the worst part of the Patriots' schedule. "After getting the easiest schedule in the NFL last year, the league's schedule makers didn't do the Patriots any favors to start the season this year," Breech wrote on Friday. "The Patriots' first four opponents have a strength of schedule of .
721, which is the highest any team has faced in the first four weeks since 1986. And to make matters worse, three of those four games are on the road (at Seahawks, Steelers, at Jaguars, at Bills). " If the Patriots can finish those four games with a .