NFL regular season

Currently, the thirteen different opponents each team faces over the 16-game regular season schedule are set using a pre-determined formula:[6]

• Each team plays twice against each of the other three teams in its division: once at home, and once on the road (six games).
• Each team plays once against each of the four teams from another division within its own conference, with the assigned division based on a three-year rotation: two at home, and two on the road (four games).
• Each team plays once against one team from each of the remaining two divisions within its conference, based on the final division standings from the prior season: one at home, one on the road (two games).
• Each team plays once against each of the four teams from a division in the other conference, with the assigned division based on a four-year rotation: two at home, and two on the road (four games).

Under this formula, all teams are guaranteed to play every other team in their own conference at least once every three years, and to play every team in the other conference exactly once every four years. The formula also guarantees a similar schedule for every team in a division each season, as all four teams will play fourteen out of their sixteen games against common opponents or each other.

The current schedule format mostly ensures every team will play in every other stadium at least once in an eight-year period, although there are exceptions, mostly due to the schedule adjustments involving the AFC West and NFC West prior to the 2010 season.

• The Seahawks each went 12 years between home games vs. the Browns, Steelers, Bills, Dolphins, Texans and Colts, and 12 years between road games vs. the Ravens, Bengals, Patriots, Jets, Jaguars and Titans. The reverse was true for the Cardinals.
• The Chiefs and Chargers each went 12 years between home games vs. the Eagles, Redskins, Bears and Lions, and 12 years between road games vs. the Cowboys, Giants, Packers and Vikings. The reverse was true for the Broncos and Raiders.
• Other matchups which did not occur for 12 years (2002 to 2014) were Cardinals at Broncos, Chargers at Cardinals, Chiefs at 49ers, 49ers at Raiders, Seahawks at Chargers, Broncos at Seahawks, Rams at Chiefs and Raiders at Rams.
  • The Lions and Chiefs will go 20 years between meetings at Arrowhead Stadium. Detroit last played in Kansas City in 2003; the 2011 game was switched to Ford Field due to the NFL scheduling adjustment for the AFC West, and the 2015 game scheduled for Arrowhead was moved to Wembley Stadium as part of the NFL London Series at the request of Chiefs owner Clark Hunt.

Non-divisional intraconference match-ups can occur over consecutive years if two teams happen to finish in the same place consistently. For example, even though the Colts and Patriots are in different divisions within the same conference, the two teams played each other every season between 2003 and 2012, largely because both teams often finished in first place in their divisions each previous season. Similarly, the Redskins and the Rams played each other each season from 2008 to 2012 because both teams often landed in fourth place in their divisions.

Outside intradivisional match-ups (each of which is played twice-yearly), the home team for each match-up is also determined by the league according to a set rotation designed to largely alternate home and away designations over successive years.[7] This rotation was slightly adjusted in 2010 for teams playing against the NFC West and AFC West, after several east-coast teams (such as the New England Patriots and New York Jets in 2008) all had to make four cross-country trips to play games in San Diego, San Francisco, Oakland, and Seattle in one season.[8]

Although this scheduling formula determines each of the thirty-two teams' respective opponents, the league usually does not release the final regular schedule with specific dates and times until the spring; the NFL needs several months to coordinate the entire season schedule to align with various secondary objectives — such as accommodating various scheduling conflicts, not forcing teams to play too many consecutive games at home or on the road, avoiding giving any one team significantly more rest time than their opponent, and maximizing potential TV ratings.[9][10] Since 2010, every regular season ends with only divisional match-ups in the final week, in an attempt to discourage playoff-bound teams from resting their starters and playing their reserves.[11][12]

Prior to 2002 (when the league expanded to 32 teams) the league used similar scheduling rubrics, though they were adjusted for the number of teams and divisions. From 1970 to 1994, and again from 1999 to 2001, the league did not have equal numbers of teams in every division, so not every team's opposition could be determined by the same means. While teams playing against their division rivals twice each has been a tradition since at least the AFL–NFL merger, not all teams would play the same amount of divisional games between the divisions due to the imbalances that had existed. The AFC Central in between 1999 and 2001, consisting of six teams resulting in part from the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy, forced teams to play ten intradivision games in a 16-game schedule. The only time since the merger that the league has been completely "balanced" has been from 1995 to 1998 (with six divisions of five teams each) and since 2002 (with eight divisions of four teams each). From 1978 up to 2002, most teams always played four of the teams from a division in the other conference on a rotating basis (with certain exceptions differing between time periods), while lacking a rotary schedule within its own conference; this meant that while a team would be more likely to play every team in the other conference on a regular basis, they could go far longer without playing every team in their own. For example, between 1970 (when the leagues merged) and 2002 (when the current schedule was introduced) the Denver Broncos and the Miami Dolphins played only 6 times, including a stretch where they met only once between 1976 and 1997.[13]

When the divisions were balanced between 1995 and 1998, each team would play a home and away series against their divisional rivals (8 games), two teams from each of the other divisions within the conference (two having finished the same place, and two others determined by where they placed in the standings), and four teams from a division in the other conference by the aforementioned rotary basis (where the team placed in the standings determines which team in the interconference division they will not play, and that team would have the "polar opposite" place (i.e.: 1st is the polar opposite of 5th) in their division). An example of which can be seen to the right.

The scheduling formula before 1995 was very similar, except in a modified format to fit not having fully balanced divisions. During these years, teams in five-team divisions who did not finish last would not normally face a 5th place team outside their division, whether or not those teams were intraconference. There was a special so-called "last place" or "fifth-place" schedule for teams who finished in last place in a five-team division. In addition to their division games, a team who finished in last place in the previous season would also primarily play the other teams who finished in last place in their respective divisions (the intraconference one would be played twice to fill a void otherwise taken by a third team that finished the same place), plus all the clubs in the four team division in their conference. An example of this is also shown to the right. The teams in a four-team division played only six divisional games, as opposed to the eight that teams in five-team divisions had played. This void would be filled by having to play against the 5th place teams in their conference in addition to their regular scheduling, hence tying to the "fifth-place" schedule.

There have been proposals to expand the regular season schedule to 17 or 18 games per team. Current Commissioner Roger Goodell has said he favors expanding it to 18 games.[14] However, a longer regular season proposal was defeated in the 2011 labor negotiations between the owners and the players association.[15][16] One of the proposals for the 17th and 18th games is to have every team play at least one game abroad every year.[17] Another idea that was put forth by Houston Texans owner Bob McNair before his death was to move the traditional regional rivalries that are currently played in the preseason (such as the Governor's Cups) into a permanent annual part of each NFL team's schedule.[18] The NFL Players' Association opposes extending the season, largely because of injury concerns, and extending the season would require that such an extension be included in the next collective bargaining agreement. The collective bargaining agreement signed in 2011 maintained the sixteen game regular season schedule. The NFL has reintroduced a proposal extending the season to 17 weeks, compensating with a second bye week, for the 2021 collective bargaining agreement negotiations. The 17th game would be played at a neutral site, which would allow teams to not sacrifice a home game to play in the International Series and make up to 16 games available to be played abroad or in non-NFL venues each year.[19]

From the beginnings of the NFL, some teams shared stadiums with Major League Baseball teams, with the MLB teams holding leases giving them priority. The NFL was required to schedule around September baseball games. In October, this frequently resulted in NFL teams having to reschedule on short notice if the MLB team in their city made the playoffs. On some occasions, the NFL game could be moved to Saturday or Monday. The NFL would often schedule October division games so that teams would be able to swap home game dates if it appeared that the MLB playoff schedule would make a stadium unavailable to the NFL. Perhaps the most extreme case was in 1973, when the New York Jets played at Shea Stadium and were forced to play their first six games on the road due to the Mets playing in the World Series.

As more MLB teams started to move into baseball-only stadiums by the 1990s and 2000s, this became less of a problem. There are no longer any stadiums shared by MLB and NFL teams, with the move of the Oakland Raiders to Las Vegas. Additionally, five NFL teams currently share a venue with a Major League Soccer team: the New England Patriots share Gillette Stadium with the New England Revolution, the Seattle Seahawks share CenturyLink Field with the Seattle Sounders FC, the Atlanta Falcons share Mercedes-Benz Stadium with Atlanta United FC, and the Chicago Bears share Soldier Field with the Chicago Fire FC. However, there are some NFL and MLB venues that share parking lots, and as such the NFL typically schedules teams to play on the road when their MLB counterpart is at home. The following teams play in close proximity to MLB stadiums:

• Baltimore Ravens
• Cincinnati Bengals
• Dallas Cowboys
• Detroit Lions
• Kansas City Chiefs
• Philadelphia Eagles
• Pittsburgh Steelers
• Seattle Seahawks

While both the NFL and MLB teams play in downtown stadiums in Cleveland, Denver and Minneapolis, the teams do not share the same parking lots as they play in different parts of the downtown area. As such, it is possible for the Browns, Broncos and Vikings to play home games on the same day the Indians, Rockies and Twins, respectively, play at home.

In 2013, the Super Bowl XLVII champion Baltimore Ravens were forced to open on the road due to this fact, as their MLB counterparts, the Baltimore Orioles, were scheduled at home on the same day as the Week 1 NFL Kickoff game and declined to either reschedule or relocate their game. (MLB typically releases the schedule for an upcoming season prior to the end of the previous season, forcing the NFL to accommodate the scheduling needs of teams who share parking lots or stadiums with MLB teams, while MLS typically releases their season schedule well ahead of the NFL's schedule release.) The Super Bowl XLVIII champion Seattle Seahawks averted this conflict for the 2014 season opener, as their MLB counterparts, the Seattle Mariners, played on the road; their respective venues also share the same parking lot. The Seattle Sounders FC also played on the road during the opening week of the 2014 NFL season, assuring no scheduling conflicts. The Buffalo Bills also hosted one game a year at the Rogers Centre, which is the home of the Toronto Blue Jays, but this was only an issue in the preseason, since all such regular season games were scheduled after the end of the MLB World Series.

NFL teams have also shared stadiums with NCAA college football teams and bowl games, either temporarily or permanently, but the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 prohibits the NFL from scheduling games on the same days as college football games.[4]

The 1982 and 1987 seasons were both shortened by labor disputes. The 1982 strike lasted 57 days. Weeks 3 through 10 were canceled, but an additional week was added to make a 9-game schedule. The 1982 playoff matchups were determined by conference standings only. The 1987 strike and subsequent lockout lasted 24 days but only one week of the schedule was lost. Weeks 4 through 6 were played with non-union replacement players. The rest of the season was played as originally scheduled, for a total of 15 games per team.

In the event that the 2011 NFL season had been disrupted because of a then-ongoing labor dispute, the NFL had arranged its schedule to facilitate easier cancellations and postponements. In addition to an emergency scenario of an eight-game schedule beginning in late November, the NFL also arranged its full-length schedule such that weeks 2 and 4 had no division games, week 17 had all division games, and all week 3 matchups could be moved into each team's respective bye week. The league also had a contingency plan to postpone Super Bowl XLVI one week, which (assuming a full playoff schedule) would allow a 13-game schedule with five division games for each team to be played beginning as late as October 16.

Several games have been postponed or relocated because of natural disasters. In 1989, Candlestick Park was damaged by the Loma Prieta earthquake. The San Francisco 49ers would play their game on October 22, 1989 against the New England Patriots at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto. A few days before the start of the 2005 NFL Season, the Louisiana Superdome was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina, and much of the city of New Orleans was destroyed. The New Orleans Saints' eight scheduled home games were moved to other locations, including Giants Stadium, the Alamodome in San Antonio, and Tiger Stadium on the campus of Louisiana State University. On September 14, 2008, the Houston Texans were scheduled to host the Baltimore Ravens. The game was postponed until November 9 because of Hurricane Ike (which caused some damage to Reliant Stadium) and several other changes had to be made to the schedule. The roof of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome collapsed on December 12, 2010 after a severe heavy snowstorm, resulting in the stadium being unusable for the remainder of the season. The last two of the Minnesota Vikings' home games had to be moved: one to Ford Field in Detroit (which also led to the game being postponed the following Monday night) and another to TCF Bank Stadium, the University of Minnesota's college football stadium.

The Miami Dolphins have been involved in a number of games that were moved to a different time and date. A few of those games would include 1992 against the New England Patriots (Hurricane Andrew), 2004 against the Tennessee Titans (Hurricane Ivan) and the Pittsburgh Steelers (Hurricane Jeanne), 2005 against the Kansas City Chiefs (Hurricane Wilma), 2017 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Hurricane Irma), and others.[29][30][31][32] In December 2010, a Minnesota Vikings–Philadelphia Eagles game originally scheduled for the afternoon of Sunday, December 26, a time at which it could have been successfully completed, had two weeks earlier been flexed by NBC to Sunday night and was postponed to Tuesday, December 28, due to a strong Nor'easter. In 2014, the Week 12 visit of the Jets to Buffalo was moved to Detroit (and from Sunday to Monday) due to severe snow in Western New York the previous week.

The American Football League, the precursor to today's American Football Conference, postponed Week 12 of the 1963 season because of the assassination of President Kennedy, on Friday, November 22. The AFL's games were made up by adding a 15th week to a 14-week schedule. The older and more established National Football League went ahead and played as scheduled on Sunday, November 24, 1963.

In 2001, Week 2 of the season was postponed because of the September 11 attacks. At the end of the originally planned 17-week schedule, Week 2 games were played on Sunday, January 6 and Monday, January 7, 2002. The post-season schedule was moved back a week, including Super Bowl XXXVI to preserve the bye week before the game; since 2003, the season ends on the first Sunday in February.