🏈 NFL Schedule Winners & Losers: Burrow's Bengals Among Biggest Winners

As fans across the country scour their favorite teams' NFL schedule for the 2026-27 season, some will be pleasantly surprised by their 17-game draw, while others will swear the league is out to get them.

Following the NFL schedule release, we're breaking down the NFL schedule winners and losers, including the Arizona Cardinals and Cincinnati Bengals.

🚀 Winner: Arizona Cardinals

Why would a team that's arguably the worst in the NFL be a winner for having the No. 1 market-adjusted strength of schedule (+19.30), according to our NFL schedule rankings? That's because Arizona Cardinals fans should just want to lose, baby!

There's a potentially elite QB prospect leading the 2027 NFL Draft odds who happens to have a very famous last name, and Arizona was already in pole position to win the Arch Manning sweepstakes. Now, with a schedule that has an opponent winning percentage of .538, the Cardinals might struggle to pull off more than two victories in Matt LaFleur's first season as head coach.

That's a good thing for a team in desperate need of a franchise QB to build around.

🪦 Loser: Dallas Cowboys

After missing the NFL playoffs in his first season as Dallas Cowboys head coach, Brian Schottenheimer better hope that some of the team's offseason moves pan out quickly. Dallas has the fourth-toughest market-adjusted strength of schedule in the league (+7.49). Dallas opens the season with two division games before playing the Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans, Green Bay Packers, and Philadelphia Eagles, all away from home in the first seven weeks.

The Cowboys don't have their bye until Week 14, either, and play the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams on the road on each side of it. Dallas is going to need Dak Prescott and this offense to be among the best in the league to reach the playoffs with this schedule.

 🚀 Winner: Detroit Lions

After following up their 15-2 season in 2024 with a disappointing 9-8 season last year, while missing the postseason, the Detroit Lions are poised to bounce back in 2026. Dan Campbell's team has the easiest market-adjusted strength of schedule in the NFL (-18.40) and plays just one team that had a winning record last season (Buffalo Bills) before its Week 6 bye. That should give the Lions time for their secondary to get healthy and rookie right tackle Blake Miller to find his groove.

Even coming out of the bye isn't too bad for Jared Goff and Co., with their non-divisional games including the Miami Dolphins (away), Atlanta Falcons (away), Tennessee Titans (home), and New York Giants (home). On paper, this looks like a double-digit win schedule for Detroit. 

🪦 Loser: Jacksonville Jaguars

Not only was the Jacksonville Jaguars' offseason questionable, specifically their approach to the 2026 NFL Draft, but Liam Coen's team also draws a headache of a schedule. Jacksonville has the fifth-toughest market-adjusted strength of schedule (+7.08), which includes playing the Denver Broncos, New England Patriots, Cincinnati Bengals, Philadelphia Eagles, and Houston Texans before their Week 7 bye.

Two of those games are true road games (Broncos, Bengals), while the Eagles and Texans are back-to-back international games in London. Plus, they play the Baltimore Ravens, Chicago Bears, and Dallas Cowboys on the road in non-divisional games. Trevor Lawrence is going to need to take a huge leap to survive this slate and lead the Jaguars back to the playoffs.

🚀 Winner: Cincinnati Bengals

It's clear the Bengals are all in on winning now after trading the 10th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft for Pro Bowl defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, and their schedule certainly helps their cause. The Bengals' opponents had the third-lowest winning percentage in the league last season (.450), and Cincinnati comes in with the second-easiest market-adjusted strength of schedule (-16.98).

While Joe Burrow might take his lumps early as he returns from injury with three playoff teams in the Bengals' first five games, Cincinnati has it a lot easier after its Week 6 bye. Between Week 8 and Week 18, the Bengals play teams like the Tennessee Titans, Atlanta Falcons, Washington Commanders, New Orleans Saints, and their division rival, the Cleveland Browns, twice.

🪦 Loser: New York Jets

For the same reason the Cardinals are winners, the New York Jets are losers. But I guess that means Aaron Glenn might be a winner because New York might win enough games for Woody Johnson to keep him as head coach. Still, Jets fans won't want to win too many meaningless games and potentially miss on Manning, or Oregon's Dante Moore, or another QB prospect who might emerge as a top-five talent.

But with a solid offseason that infused veteran leadership with rookie talent on both sides of the ball, New York could be a lot more competitive this season. The Jets also have the eighth-easiest market-adjusted strength of schedule (-4.32), and play teams like the Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns, Las Vegas Raiders, Arizona Cardinals, as well as the Miami Dolphins twice. 

Winning more than four games would almost certainly kill New York's shot at bringing Manning to the Big Apple.