Quick Hits

As they look to regain control of the NFC South, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers open their 2026 season with games against both Ohio teams: at the Cincinnati Bengals on September 13 followed by the home opener against the Cleveland Browns on September 20. The Buccaneers have an early three-game homestand, a middle-of-the-season bye week and a pair of visits from Los Angeles teams down the home stretch. Full schedule details, matchup highlights and ticket information are available below.

• Week 1 opponent: at Cincinnati Bengals (Sept. 13, 1 PM ET, FOX)
• Home opener: Cleveland Browns (Sept. 20, 1 PM ET, CBS)
  • Tickets for the home opener are now available.
• Primetime games:
  • at Dallas (Thurs., Oct. 8, 8:15 PM, Amazon)
  • at Chicago (Sun., Nov. 8, 8:20 PM, NBC)
  • Carolina (Mon., Nov. 30, 8:15 PM, ESPN)
• Bye week: Week 10 (Nov. 15)
• First divisional game: at Carolina (Week 7, Oct. 25)
• Toughest stretch: Weeks 11-14 (at Detroit, vs. Carolina on MNF, vs. L.A. Chargers, at Baltimore)

It's Bucs vs. the Buckeye State as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers begin their chase to reclaim their stranglehold on the NFC South and more in 2026. The Buccaneers' first two games of the 2026 regular season will be against the NFL's Ohio representatives, as Tampa Bay travels to Cincinnati in Week One and then returns home to face the Cleveland Browns in Week Two.

The clash against the Browns at Raymond James Stadium will begin a critical three-game homestand in the season's first month, as NFC North rivals Minnesota and Green Bay visit Tampa in Weeks Three and Four. That's followed by the Buccaneers' first of three prime-time games, a Thursday night affair at Dallas in Week Five. Tampa Bay will also play nationally-televised night games in Week Nine on Sunday Night Football in Chicago and in Week 12 at home against Carolina on Monday Night Football.

The Dallas game on October 8 begins a stretch in which the Buccaneers will only play at home twice in a seven-week span. That stretch includes a Week 10 bye – situated almost perfectly in the middle of the season with nine games played and eight to go – as well as trips to Carolina, Chicago and Detroit.

The Buccaneers will not play a game against a division opponent until Week Seven, when they travel to Carolina to take on the defending division champions on Sunday, October 25. The Panthers are the defending division champions after winning a three-way tiebreaker for the top spot over the Buccaneers and Atlanta Falcons. The Bucs, who won the NFC South four straight years before last season, will get both of their battles with the Panthers done before the final stretch; as noted above, the rematch in Tampa in Week 12 will be a prime-time clash. As is now common, the end of the schedule is loaded with intra-division matchups; both of the Bucs-Saints games are in the last four weeks, as is Tampa Bay's trip to Atlanta.

There are some late-season details on the Bucs' 2026 schedule that the NFL will fill in later in the year. The Week 16 game at Atlanta could be played on Saturday or Sunday, December 26-27; the Week 18 game at New Orleans could also be either a Saturday or Sunday game on the weekend of January 9-10. In addition, the time and the broadcast network for the Week 17 home game against the Rams have not yet been determined.

Buccaneers single game tickets are now on sale. If you want to capture the magic of the Bucs' 2026 season with a front row seat to the action, click on one of these links to purchase your single game tickets or season passes.

The NFL introduced an enhanced schedule in 2021 that covers 17 games per team over 18 weeks, this year concluding on January 10. The "17th Game" of the enhanced schedule is a fifth interconference matchup, with the Buccaneers drawing a visit from the Los Angeles Chargers because both teams finished in second place in their respective divisions in 2025. In 2026, all 17th games will be hosted by NFC teams, which is why the Bucs have nine regular-season games at Raymond James Stadium this year.

Below is the Buccaneers' 2026 game schedule, including the three-game preseason slate, followed by more notes (all times Eastern):

Preseason:

Regular Season:

• All times Eastern and subject to change.
• Sunday night games in Weeks 5-18 subject to change.
• Monday night games in Weeks 12-17 subject to change.
• Thursday night games in Weeks 13-17 subject to change.

Tickets for the 2026 Season

• Week 2 vs. Browns (Sept. 20, 1 PM ET, CBS) – Buy Tickets
• Week 3 vs. Vikings (Sept. 27, 4:05 PM ET, FOX) – Buy Tickets
• Week 4 vs. Packers (Oct. 4, 1 PM ET, FOX) – Buy Tickets
• Week 6 vs. Steelers (Oct. 18, 1 PM ET, CBS) – Buy Tickets
• Week 8 vs. Falcons (Nov. 1, 1 PM ET, FOX) – Buy Tickets
• Week 12 vs. Panthers (Nov. 30, 8:15 PM ET, ESPN) – Buy Tickets
• Week 13 vs. Chargers (Dec. 6, 1 PM ET, CBS) – Buy Tickets
• Week 15 vs. Saints (Dec. 20, 1 PM ET, FOX) – Buy Tickets
• Week 17 vs. Rams (Jan. 3, TBD, TBD) – Buy Tickets

Schedule Notes and Historical Context

• The Buccaneers don't appear to have too many cold-weather concerns in 2026. Half of their eight road games (at Dallas, Detroit, Atlanta and New Orleans) and their only outdoor road games after October are at Chicago on November 8 and at Baltimore on December 13.
• The Buccaneers will be trying to win their sixth straight season opener in Week One at Cincinnati. Only Tampa Bay and Philadelphia have won each of their last five season-openers, dating back to 2021.
• Tampa Bay has a three-game homestand against Cleveland, Minnesota and Green Bay in Weeks 2-4, but they do not have road games in two consecutive weeks at any point during the 2026 regular season. Their ninth and 10th outings of the year are at Chicago and Detroit, but those games are separated by a bye week. This will be the first time in 35 years – since the 1991 season – that the Bucs will go an entire regular season without playing at least two games on the road in consecutive weeks.
• The Buccaneers' Week 11 game in Detroit will mark their sixth game at Ford Field since 2019, playoffs included. The Bucs are 3-2 in the first five of those games. In that same span, Tampa Bay has not made more than three trips to any other opposing NFL venue outside of their NFC South foes.
• The Bucs and Lions also played in Tampa in 2023, so this year's meeting will be the seventh between those two teams in the last eight years. The Bucs will also be battling the Rams for the seventh time in that same span, although four of those were or will be in Tampa.
• Tampa Bay will begin its season on the road for the fourth time in the last five years, with the exception being a Week One home game against Washington in 2024.
• The Bucs will wrap up their regular season slate in New Orleans for the first time since 2013. They also play the Saints at home in Week 15. Conversely, the Bucs will not play Carolina in the months of December or January for the first time since 2020. Tampa Bay and Carolina have met in either the final week or the penultimate week of the season in each of the last five years.
• Tampa Bay's Week 12 prime-time game against Carolina will mark its first Monday Night Football game at home against an NFC South opponent since 2022, when they defeated the Saints, 17-16, in Week 13. The Bucs have played Carolina on MNF on three previous occasions, but they were all in Charlotte.
• The Bucs' season opener against the Bengals will be their first trip to Cincinnati since 2018. The Bucs are 5-3 all-time in games played in Cincy, their best road winning percentage (.625) against any opponent. Tampa Bay's last trip to Baltimore – where they will head in Week 14 of this season – was also in 2018; the Bucs are 1-2 all-time on the road against the Ravens.

Full 2026 Buccaneers Schedule

The full 2026 Buccaneers schedule—including all matchups, kickoff times, primetime games, and game-by-game breakdowns—is available in the official Schedule Release Hub.

👉 Explore the full schedule & matchups here.