Jets and Raiders Among Five NFL Teams Snubbed From Prime Time Games for 2026
The full schedule for the 2026 NFL regular season has been released, and five teams were excluded from prime time contests.
Among the 2026 NFL schedule highlights? The New England Patriots will visit the Seattle Seahawks in a Super Bowl 60 rematch in the season opener on Wednesday, Sept. 9. The following day, the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams will clash in Melbourne, Australia, the first 2026 game of the NFL International Series.
Unfortunately for five NFL teams, the league decided that none of them were relevant enough to garner a prime time slot this year.
As noted by Pro Football Focus, the Tennessee Titans, Arizona Cardinals, New York Jets, Miami Dolphins and Las Vegas Raiders were all excluded from prime time games for the 2026 regular season.
The five teams with ZERO primetime games pic.twitter.com/NF3fIqzS5H
— PFF (@PFF) May 15, 2026
The Raiders, Jets, Cardinals and Titans were the NFL's four worst teams of 2025. The Dolphins finished 7-10, but they traded Jaylen Waddle and released Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill and Bradley Chubb.
With Miami in rebuilding mode, the NFL obviously decided that they weren't worthy of a prime time slot for 2026.
Los Angeles Rams Have the Most Prime Time Games for 2026
As noted by Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk, the Los Angeles Rams have seven prime time games in 2026. That is tied with the 2023 Buffalo Bills and 2025 Kansas City Chiefs for the most in NFL history.
The Rams' game against the 49ers in Melbourne will air on Netflix. Their Week 2 home game against the New York Giants will be a Monday nighter on ESPN, with a Sunday Night Football game against the Denver Broncos following in Week 3.
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 15, 2026, where it first appeared in the Sports section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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This story was originally published May 15, 2026 at 12:35 AM.