{"id":884870,"date":"2026-05-07T12:51:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T12:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/884870\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T12:51:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T12:51:21","slug":"5-nfl-matchups-wed-like-to-see-on-christmas-day-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/884870\/","title":{"rendered":"5 NFL matchups we\u2019d like to see on Christmas Day 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2026 NFL schedule will be released this month. While the entire schedule release is fun to scour, a new tradition has emerged \u2014 Christmas Day games!<\/p>\n

Thank goodness, the NFL is led by greedy pigs. Owning Thanksgiving Day is no longer enough for the league. It wants all the holidays and it has happily stolen Christmas from the NBA.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019m all for it.<\/p>\n

There will be three NFL games on Christmas, a Friday. Here are five matchups we\u2019d love to see fill the day.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s to a Merry NFL Christmas:<\/p>\n

Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers<\/p>\n

Nothing like some legitimate hate to fuel the holidays. The arrival of Ben Johnson as the Bears head coach last year turned up the heat on the oldest rivalry in the league. Johnson starting talking about Packers coach Matt LaFleur shortly after getting the job and the the events of the season further fueled tension. The two teams played three one-score games last season including the playoffs, and the intensity was real. These two teams can\u2019t stand each other. Let\u2019s get this Christmas Day matchup in a game that should have big playoffs implications in what should be a weather game no matter where its played. I couldn\u2019t wait for this game to land under the tree.<\/p>\n

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This is another incredible divisional matchup between upper-level teams. Let\u2019s face it; these were the two best teams in the playoffs last year. Their NFC championship game was much more competitive than the game between the Seahawks and the New England Patriots<\/a> in the Super Bowl. They played three games that were decided by a total of seven points last season, which is absolutely wild. This would be another intense matchup that could decide the NFC West.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s another division game (we\u2019re not doing it on purpose). We\u2019re just looking for great matchups and this qualifies. There\u2019s Lamar Jackson<\/a> vs. Joe Burrow<\/a>. There\u2019s Trey Hendrickson<\/a> playing against his former team. There\u2019s potential for bad weather and there\u2019s a chance for serious playoffs implications. It checks all the Christmas Day boxes.<\/p>\n

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We finally have a non-division on our wish list and it would be a great nightcap on the West Coast. The country would get to see Jim Harbaugh\u2019s first game against his former team, the 49ers. Both teams should be in the thick of their conference\u2019s playoff hunts and it would be a fun matchup on a national stage.<\/p>\n

This may not promise to have major playoff implications, but it\u2019s an heated rivalry and these have played some entertaining games on both Christmas Day and on Black Friday in recent seasons. So, this matchup is worthy of getting consideration. Raiders\u2019 rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza should be well into his playing career with the current expectation that veteran Kirk Cousins<\/a> will start the season. Plus, Chiefs\u2019 quarterback Patrick Mahomes<\/a> should be closer to form again after he returns from an ACL tear. It would be a fun watch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 NFL schedule will be released this month. While the entire schedule release is fun to scour,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":884871,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2079],"tags":[117,1035,1036,391,15721,256,1475,7,345,1577,110,294,895,393,1014,262,58,2444,2611,249,871,6,499,424,252,261,16927,1503,94973],"class_list":{"0":"post-884870","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-rams","8":"tag-baltimore-ravens","9":"tag-ben-johnson","10":"tag-caleb-williams","11":"tag-chicago-bears","12":"tag-christmas-day","13":"tag-cincinnati-bengals","14":"tag-dj-moore","15":"tag-football","16":"tag-green-bay-packers","17":"tag-joe-burrow","18":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs","19":"tag-kirk-cousins","20":"tag-lamar-jackson","21":"tag-las-vegas-raiders","22":"tag-los-angeles","23":"tag-los-angeles-chargers","24":"tag-los-angeles-rams","25":"tag-losangeles","26":"tag-losangelesrams","27":"tag-new-england-patriots","28":"tag-nfc-championship-game","29":"tag-nfl","30":"tag-patrick-mahomes","31":"tag-rams","32":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","33":"tag-seattle-seahawks","34":"tag-thanksgiving-day","35":"tag-trey-hendrickson","36":"tag-wild-card-playoff-game"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=884870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/884871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=884870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=884870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=884870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}