Atlanta Falcons Schedule 2026: Printable PDF, Times, TV Channels
The Atlanta Falcons Schedule 2026 opens on the road in Pittsburgh on Sunday, September 13, and it ends with three straight NFC South games. Atlanta plays 17 games across 18 weeks, with nine home dates, eight road trips and a bye in Week 11. One of those home games is not in Atlanta at all: the Falcons host the Cincinnati Bengals in Madrid, Spain on November 8.
This page lists every kickoff time in Eastern Time, the TV channel for each game, and the three preseason dates in August. Two games, Week 16 and Week 18, are still marked TBD because the league sets those dates later in the season.
Everything below is checked against atlantafalcons.com and NFL.com. You can also grab the free printable PDF and the wall calendar further down the page.
Atlanta Falcons Schedule 2026: Season Quick Facts
| Season opener | Sun, Sep 13 at Pittsburgh Steelers, 1:00 PM ET, FOX |
| Home opener | Sun, Sep 20 vs Carolina Panthers, 1:00 PM ET, FOX |
| Home / road split | 9 home, 8 road (8 dates at Mercedes-Benz Stadium) |
| Bye week | Week 11, weekend of Nov 22 |
| International game | Sun, Nov 8 vs Cincinnati Bengals, Madrid, Spain |
| Prime-time games | 3 (Weeks 3, 4 and 5, back to back to back) |
| Head coach | Kevin Stefanski (hired Jan 17, 2026) |
| Stadium | Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta |
| Season finale | Week 18 at Carolina Panthers, date TBD |
Atlanta Falcons Schedule 2026: Full Week by Week Guide
Atlanta’s slate front-loads the tough travel and saves the division for the finish. Weeks 16 and 18 carry no date yet, which is normal: the NFL fixes Week 16 no later than after Week 14, and Week 18 only after Week 17 is complete.
Week 17 and the Sunday afternoon games can also move under flexible scheduling, so check back closer to kickoff.
| WEEK | DATE | OPPONENT | TIME (ET) | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sun, Sep 13 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | 1:00 PM | FOX |
| 2 | Sun, Sep 20 | vs Carolina Panthers | 1:00 PM | FOX |
| 3 | Thu, Sep 24 | at Green Bay Packers | 8:15 PM | Prime Video |
| 4 | Mon, Oct 5 | at New Orleans Saints | 8:15 PM | ESPN |
| 5 | Sun, Oct 11 | vs Baltimore Ravens | 8:20 PM | NBC |
| 6 | Sun, Oct 18 | vs Chicago Bears | 1:00 PM | FOX |
| 7 | Sun, Oct 25 | vs San Francisco 49ers | 1:00 PM | FOX |
| 8 | Sun, Nov 1 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 1:00 PM | FOX |
| 9 | Sun, Nov 8 | vs Cincinnati Bengals (Madrid) | 9:30 AM | NFL Network |
| 10 | Sun, Nov 15 | vs Kansas City Chiefs | 1:00 PM | CBS |
| 11 | Weekend of Nov 22 | BYE WEEK | None | None |
| 12 | Sun, Nov 29 | at Minnesota Vikings | 1:00 PM | FOX |
| 13 | Sun, Dec 6 | vs Detroit Lions | 1:00 PM | CBS |
| 14 | Sun, Dec 13 | at Cleveland Browns | 1:00 PM | CBS |
| 15 | Sun, Dec 20 | at Washington Commanders | 1:00 PM | FOX |
| 16 | TBD | vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers | TBD | TBD |
| 17 | Sun, Jan 3 | vs New Orleans Saints | 1:00 PM | FOX |
| 18 | TBD | at Carolina Panthers | TBD | TBD |
Two patterns stand out. Atlanta draws the entire AFC North in 2026, facing the Steelers, Ravens, Bengals and Browns. And the last three weeks are all NFC South: Tampa Bay at home, New Orleans at home, then Carolina on the road. If the division race is tight in January, the Falcons will decide it themselves.
Falcons 2026 Preseason Schedule
Three exhibition games, one at home. All three air on FOX 5 Atlanta (WAGA) rather than a national network, and none appear on the NFL’s nationally televised preseason list.
| GAME | DATE | OPPONENT | TIME (ET) | TV | VENUE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fri, Aug 14 | vs Denver Broncos | 7:00 PM | FOX 5 Atlanta | Mercedes-Benz Stadium |
| 2 | Sat, Aug 22 | at Indianapolis Colts | 1:00 PM | FOX 5 Atlanta | Lucas Oil Stadium |
| 3 | Fri, Aug 28 | at Miami Dolphins | 7:00 PM | FOX 5 Atlanta | Hard Rock Stadium |
Falcons TV Schedule 2026: What Channel Is Each Game On
Six broadcasters carry Falcons football this season. FOX has the largest share, which follows from Atlanta being an NFC team playing mostly NFC opponents on Sunday afternoons.
| NETWORK | GAMES | WEEKS |
|---|---|---|
| FOX | 8 | 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 12, 15, 17 |
| CBS | 3 | 10, 13, 14 |
| NBC (Sunday Night Football) | 1 | 5 |
| ESPN (Monday Night Football) | 1 | 4 |
| Prime Video (Thursday Night Football) | 1 | 3 |
| NFL Network | 1 | 9 (Madrid) |
| To be announced | 2 | 16, 18 |
Inside the Atlanta market, FOX games run on WAGA (FOX 5 Atlanta) and CBS games on WUPA, channel 69, which took over as the city’s CBS home in August 2025. Outside Georgia, whether a FOX or CBS game reaches your local station depends on the regional broadcast map for that week.
Sunday Night Football, Monday Night Football and Thursday Night Football are national, so those three are available everywhere.
Falcons Kickoff Times by Time Zone
Atlanta sits in the Eastern time zone, so most of the schedule needs no conversion for local fans. Only four games fall outside Eastern Time: the trips to Green Bay, New Orleans and Minnesota, all Central, and the Madrid game, which starts at 9:30 AM ET because Spain is six hours ahead of Atlanta in November. That Madrid kickoff is the earliest of the year by a wide margin.
| EASTERN | CENTRAL | MOUNTAIN | PACIFIC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9:30 AM | 8:30 AM | 7:30 AM | 6:30 AM |
| 1:00 PM | 12:00 PM | 11:00 AM | 10:00 AM |
| 8:15 PM | 7:15 PM | 6:15 PM | 5:15 PM |
| 8:20 PM | 7:20 PM | 6:20 PM | 5:20 PM |
Daylight saving time ends on Sunday, November 1, 2026. That is the day of the Week 8 game at Tampa Bay, so every Falcons game from Week 8 onward is already on standard time.
Arizona does not observe daylight saving, so Phoenix viewers should follow the Pacific column through Week 7 and the Mountain column afterwards.
Printable Falcons Schedule 2026 (Free PDF Download)
One US Letter page with the full Atlanta Falcons Schedule 2026: preseason, all 18 weeks, kickoff times in Eastern, TV channels and the Week 11 bye. Home games are bold, and the Madrid date is flagged. It prints clean in black and white if you are short on colour ink.
Want every team on one page? Get the full 2026 NFL schedule with all 32 teams, week by week.
Falcons 2026 Wall Calendar Printable (PDF)
If you plan your weekends around game days, the calendar version suits you better. It spreads the season across six month grids, August 2026 through January 2027, with Mercedes-Benz Stadium dates filled in Falcons red and road trips outlined.
Pin it by the fridge and you can see at a glance that November is the heavy month, with Madrid, Kansas City at home and the bye all inside four weeks.
Week 9 in Madrid: A Home Game 4,000 Miles Away
The Falcons are the designated home team against the Bengals on Sunday, November 8 at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, the home of Real Madrid. It counts as one of Atlanta’s nine home games, which is why the club has eight dates at Mercedes-Benz Stadium rather than nine, and why season ticket memberships this year cover eight regular season home games.
Kickoff is 9:30 AM ET on NFL Network, 3:30 PM local time in Spain. For fans in Georgia that means an early alarm and breakfast in front of the television.
The trip also shapes the weeks around it: Atlanta plays at Tampa Bay the Sunday before, returns for a home game against Kansas City the following week, and then gets the Week 11 bye to reset.
A New Front Office and an Open Quarterback Job
Atlanta has not reached the postseason since the 2017 season, when it beat the Rams in the wild card round before losing in Philadelphia. That is eight straight years on the outside, and back to back 8-9 finishes in 2024 and 2025 triggered a full rebuild of the leadership group.
Kevin Stefanski was named the 20th head coach in franchise history on January 17, 2026. Ian Cunningham arrived from Chicago as general manager on January 29. Above both of them sits a familiar name: former quarterback Matt Ryan, hired on January 10 as the club’s President of Football.
Stefanski brought several Cleveland colleagues with him. Tommy Rees, his offensive coordinator with the Browns, runs the offense. Alex Van Pelt coaches quarterbacks and Bill Callahan takes over the offensive line. Jeff Ulbrich was retained as defensive coordinator after a first season in which the Falcons went from second to last in the league in sacks in 2024 to a franchise record 57 in 2025, breaking a mark that had stood since 1997.
The quarterback job is still open as of mid-August. Michael Penix Jr. tore his left ACL in November and remains limited to individual drills and 7-on-7 work, not yet cleared for full team periods, though he is targeting Week 1. Tua Tagovailoa, signed in March on a one-year deal, has been taking first-team reps in team drills, and Cooper Rush joined on July 29. Neither Stefanski nor the front office has named a starter.
Whoever wins the job inherits a strong supporting cast. Bijan Robinson signed a three-year extension on August 5 that runs through 2030, and Drake London and Kyle Pitts Sr. both return under new deals. The defense took a hit in camp: outside linebacker Jalon Walker, the 15th overall pick in 2025, tore his ACL on August 4 and will miss the entire season.
Mercedes-Benz Stadium
The Falcons have played downtown at Mercedes-Benz Stadium since it opened in August 2017. It seats roughly 71,000 for football and its eight-panel roof slides open like a camera aperture in about eight minutes, so no Atlanta home game is ever lost to weather. Whether the roof is open or closed is decided game by game.
The stadium is also known for Fan First Pricing, the concession menu that still lists two dollar hot dogs, pretzels and sodas in 2026 and that several other venues have since copied.
Getting there is easier by rail than by car: MARTA’s Vine City station and the SEC District station, renamed from GWCC/CNN Center at the start of 2026, both sit within a short walk of the gates. A clear bag policy applies at every event.
When Is the Falcons Bye Week in 2026?
The Falcons are off in Week 11, the weekend of November 22. It falls immediately after the home game against Kansas City and two weeks after the Madrid trip, which is useful timing for a squad coming off transatlantic travel. Atlanta then plays seven straight weeks to close the season, from Minnesota on November 29 through Week 18 at Carolina.
How to Get Atlanta Falcons Tickets
Single-game and season tickets are sold through the club at atlantafalcons.com/tickets, with Ticketmaster as the official primary and resale partner. Resale also runs through SeatGeek, StubHub and Vivid Seats. Prices move with demand, so the Chiefs, Ravens and Lions dates tend to sit at the top of the range while early-season afternoon games are usually the cheapest way in.
The Madrid game is the exception. It is not part of the season ticket package and is not sold through the Falcons box office. Tickets go through the NFL’s international channels on its Ticketmaster Spain portal, with a limit of six per account. The club also sells a Falcons Fan Travel package that bundles flights, hotel and game-day access for fans making the trip.
Atlanta Falcons Schedule 2026 FAQ
When do the Atlanta Falcons play their first game in 2026?
The Falcons open the regular season on Sunday, September 13, 2026 at the Pittsburgh Steelers, 1:00 PM ET on FOX. The home opener is the following Sunday, September 20, against the Carolina Panthers.
What channel are Atlanta Falcons games on in 2026?
FOX carries eight games, CBS three, and NBC, ESPN, Prime Video and NFL Network one each. Weeks 16 and 18 have no network assigned yet. In Atlanta, FOX games air on WAGA (FOX 5) and CBS games on WUPA, channel 69.
When is the Falcons bye week in 2026?
Week 11, the weekend of November 22, 2026. It comes one week after the home game against Kansas City and two weeks after the Madrid game.
Where do the Falcons play their international game in 2026?
Atlanta hosts the Cincinnati Bengals at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain on Sunday, November 8, 2026. Kickoff is 9:30 AM ET on NFL Network, 3:30 PM local time. It counts as a Falcons home game.
How many home games do the Falcons have in 2026?
Nine home games and eight road games. Eight of the home dates are at Mercedes-Benz Stadium; the ninth is the Madrid game against Cincinnati, which is not included in season ticket memberships.
Who is the Atlanta Falcons head coach in 2026?
Kevin Stefanski, hired on January 17, 2026 as the 20th head coach in franchise history. Tommy Rees is the offensive coordinator, Jeff Ulbrich was retained as defensive coordinator, and Matt Ryan is the club’s President of Football.
When did the Atlanta Falcons last make the playoffs?
The 2017 season, when they beat the Rams in the wild card round and lost to the Eagles in the divisional round. Atlanta has missed the postseason for eight straight years, finishing 8-9 in both 2024 and 2025.
Is there a printable Falcons 2026 schedule?
Yes. This page has two free PDFs: a one-page schedule sheet with every date, kickoff time and TV channel, and a six-month wall calendar covering August 2026 through January 2027. Both print on US Letter paper.
The Atlanta Falcons Schedule 2026 gives a rebuilt team a real chance to define itself early: three prime-time games in Weeks 3, 4 and 5, a trip to Madrid, and the whole AFC North on the docket.
Then it hands the season back to the division, with Tampa Bay, New Orleans and Carolina in the final three weeks, and an eight-year playoff drought riding on how they go.
Bookmark this page for kickoff times and TV channels, and print the free PDF above so the full slate stays in front of you.
Last updated: August 11, 2026
