While we wait for the full release of the 2026 NFL regular-season schedule — and comb through the details we do have such as the nine international games — we start to think about what teams have a tough road in the year ahead, and what teams will barely even go on the road.
NFL schedule 2026: This team will rack up the fewest miles this year
This NFL team will stay close to home during the 2026 regular season
Mark Schofield is a former college quarterback and attorney covering the NFL and F1.
The Carolina Panthers fall into the latter category.
Due to the NFL’s scheduling formula, the Panthers have just eight road games this year. Those include games against their NFC South division rivals, games against the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers (as the NFC South squares off with the AFC North in 2026), and a game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
When you add up all the road trips, the Panthers are traveling just 8,740 miles this year, the fewest in the league, according to this projection.
Not too far behind are the Cleveland Browns, who will rack up just 9,073 miles this year.
It probably comes as no surprise that the two teams that are traveling the most are the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams, who will meet in Week 1 in the NFL’s first regular-season game in Australia. The two NFC West rivals will square off at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on September 11 in Australia/September 10 here in the United States.
That is not the only international game on San Francisco’s slate, as the 49ers will travel to Mexico City to take on the Minnesota Vikings in Week 11.
As for the Panthers, this schedule could be a blessing. Last year the New England Patriots advanced to Super Bowl LX, and while the relative ease of their schedule was a talking point, another factor in their rise was how little New England traveled in 2025. Until the Patriots traveled to Denver to take on the Broncos in the AFC Championship Game, their longest trek in 2025 was to New Orleans to play the Saints, and they left the Eastern Time Zone just twice during the regular season: For that Saints game, and for a game against the Tennessee Titans.
Could the Panthers follow a similar path to a Super Bowl?
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