What Eagles Fans Should Know About The Standalone Slate on 2026 NFL Schedule

The NFL has a lot of standalone games in 2026

Amber Searls-Imagn Images

Sundays are a thing of the past in the NFL.

The league built its reputation around Sundays, with the 1 p.m. ET and 4 p.m. ET slates being the backbone of the schedule. "Monday Night Football" has been around since 1970 and was the prime time feature, with "Sunday Night Football" coming in 1987 -- and later emerging as the premier event of the week (per the NFL's persistence).

"Thursday Night Football" became the norm in 2006, with weekly games on the calendar in recent years. The NFL has essentially tried to play on every day of the week since then.

For a team like the Eagles, playing on standalone slates is the norm. So is the price to be paid for being such a high ratings draw and making three Super Bowls in eight years.

The Eagles are a hot ticket for television -- and play plenty of primetime and standalone games as a result. They already have two of them on the 2026 schedule in the London game against the Jaguars (Week 5) and the Thanksgiving game against the Cowboys (Week 12).

Other primetime and standalone games are certain to come for the Eagles once the schedule is unveiled. What you should know about the NFL standalone games and when they are played -- along with how many primetime games the Eagles can get.

Maximum number of primetime games

The maximum number of primetime games in the 17-game schedule was believed to be six, but the Kansas City Chiefs played seven last season. This included their Christmas night game and their Week 1 game in Brazil (which was also played in primetime).

The Buffalo Bills played seven primetime games in 2023, so there's always the possibility the Eagles can play seven primetime games based on the schedule of opponents. The Eagles had five primetime games last season.

What constitutes as a primetime game? Any time that is played in a primetime slot, whether that's "Sunday Night Football," Monday Night Football," Thursday Night Football," a holiday night game or a Saturday night game.

Be on the lookout for the Eagles in any one of those slots. Good bet the Eagles play on Sunday, Monday, and Thursday night in 2026 -- so there's at least three primetime games.

What is a standalone game?

Standalone games are what they sound like. The game is the only one played in that time slot, hence the "standalone" title.

The Eagles already have two standalone games in 2026, Thanksgiving against the Cowboys and the London game against the Jaguars. Primetime games also count as standalone games, along with International Series games.

Here's a brief explainer of all the standalone games we know on the 2026 NFL schedule:

• Thursday Night Football

• Sunday Night Football

• Monday Night Football

• International Series Games

• NFL Kickoff Game (Week 1)

• Thanksgiving Day Games (Week 12)

• Thanksgiving Eve Game (Week 12)

• Black Friday Game (Week 12)

• Saturday in Week 15 (2 games)

• Christmas Eve

• Christmas Day (3 games)

• Saturday in Week 16

• Saturday in Week 17 (2 games)

• Saturday in Week 18 (3 games)

That's a lot of standalone inventory to go around, and the Eagles already have occupied two of them. There is no maximum number of standalone games a team can have, but the Kansas City Chiefs, Dalals Cowboys, and Washington Comamnders had eight last year -- which was the most.

The Eagles had seven standalone games in 2025. Expect around six-to-eight standalone games in 2026, and the Eagles already have two announced.

They'll still be on Sunday

The Eagles are going to have Sunday games on the slate, but how many will be at 1 p.m. and 4:25 p.m. ET? That's unknown until the full schedule comes out, but the Eagles had 10 in the 1 of 4:25 slot last year.

Two of those games were standalone games in the 4:25 p.m. slot, even though they didn't count as standalone games (Week 2 against the Chiefs and Week 17 against the Bills). The Eagles could also get those games in the national television windows.

The Eagles had six games in the 1 p.m. ET slot, but just one after November. Also something to keep an eye on for a team expected to be in Super Bowl contention.

There's going to be Sunday games, just not as many in the 1 p.m. ET slot like in years past. The NFL is committed to primetime and standalone windows -- which is where the ratings are.