2021 NFL schedule release date, explainer and much more
The 2021 NFL schedule is being released this week, and here’s all you need to know about the slate and what to expect inside it.
It’s the final portion of the offseason. On Wednesday night, the league will unveil its 2021 NFL schedule, giving us all 272 regular-season games.
For the first time, we’ll have a 17-game docket for each fo the 32 teams. Yet this isn’t the first time we’ve had 18 weeks on the regular-season schedule. Oddly enough, it happened in 1993, when the league experimented with two byes. However, the idea only lasted for a single season before the NFL went back to the 17-week format it has used since 1978.
As for the 2021 NFL schedule release, you can catch all the action on NFL Network. The two-hour special will be at 8 p.m. ET.
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So what do we know about the schedule? Actually, plenty.
For starters, the season will begin on Thursday, Sept. 9. The world-champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers will play host at Raymond James Stadium, but we’re not sure who the opponent will be.
We also know what all of the games are. Yes, the matchups and the locations of each are already determined with six interdivisional matchups, along with each team playing an additional six games within its conference. After that, there are five out-of-conference tilts. Here’s how they break down:
The AFC East will play against the AFC and NFC South divisions, and The AFC North will square off with the AFC West and NFC North. The AFC South will face the AFC East and NFC West, while the AFC West takes on the AFC North and NFC East.
Read: 2021 NFL Season – 5 Teams To Watch
After that, if a team finished in first place in 2020, it plays against each of the other first-place teams in its conference. If a team finished in second place, it goes against the other second-place squads and so forth.
Finally, the 17th game sees some intriguing matchups. The formula has the AFC hosting all of the games, meaning AFC teams have nine home and eight road games, while the NFC has the inverse. Next year, they’ll rotate with the NFC having nine home dates.
For these games, they’re determined by finish within each team’s respective division in 2020. For the 17th game (which will be played throughout the season, not on Week 17 or 18 exclusively), the matchups are as follows:
AFC East vs. NFC East
AFC North vs. NFC West
AFC South vs. NFC South
AFC West vs. NFC North
On Wednesday night, the 2021 NFL schedule release will let us know when these games will be played, locked the season ahead.
