The release of the NFL schedule is an important time
in football, and one that team analysts, gamblers and longtime fans
eagerly await. The regular NFL season plays according to a 17-week
schedule. Each team has one week off and plays a total of 16 games. The
schedule will eventually include six games against a team's rivals
within the same division. Eventually, there will be interdivisional
games and inter-conference games. Every team will play the other three
teams in its division twice. The same team will then play the four
teams from another division at home once on a rotating cycle of three
years. Then each team will play the four teams from in other
conferences on a rotating cycle of four years. Then, the team plays
against the other team in the same conference that finished in the same
place in their respective divisions.
There are currently 32 teams
in the NFL, organized according to two conferences, the AFC and NFC,
and four divisions for each, by east, west, north and south. The AFC
East Division is made up of the New England Patriots, Miami Dolphins,
Buffalo Bills and New York Jets. The AFC North consists of the
Cincinnati Bengals, the Cleveland Browns, the Baltimore Ravens and the
Pittsburgh Steelers. The AFC South has the Indianapolis Colts, the
Jacksonville Jaguars, the Tennessee Titans and the Houston Texans. The
AFC West has the Oakland Raiders, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Denver
Broncos and the San Diego Chargers. Over on the NFC side, there's the
Philadelphia Eagles, the Dallas Cowboys, the New York Giants and the
Washington Redskins representing the NFC East. The NFC North has the
Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings.
The NFC South looks up to the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, New
Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Finally, there's the NFC West,
with the Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks and
St. Louis Rams.
The season starts on Thursday night for the first
full week of September (or else, the Thursday after Labor Day) and then
runs every week until late December or early January. After the season
concludes, six teams from each conference play in the Play Offs, which
are single-elimination tournament that end with the Super Bowl
Championship held in early February. There is also a preseason period
that runs from August to September and consists of four games.
When
the Super Bowl happens, it takes place in a neutral sports arena, and
the home team designation alternates between both conferences from year
to year. Why is the Super Bowl held on Sunday every year? Is it because
Sunday is officially a football-related holiday? No, it's actually
because the system is designed for American High school football games
to be played on Friday afternoon, American College football games on
Saturday and then the professional league NFL games on Sunday. However,
the typical NFL season is longer than the college football season,
which explains why NFL games are held on both days. American pro
football currently boasts the highest per-game attendance of any
professional sports league in the world, with an average of over 67,000
live spectators for every thrilling game.
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