How NFL Determines Regular Season Matchups
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This article will discuss how the National Football League (NFL) schedules every team's 16 regular season games and how they determine which team will play against each other. Whether you are a casual fan, hardcore fan or beginner learning about the NFL, this article will give you an insight on the scheduling matchups for the season. These matchups are determined by the following four ways:
- Games in Own Division
- Games in Another Division Within Own Conference (Rotation)
- Games in Another Division Outside Own Conference (Rotation)
- Games in Standing Within Own Conference
These four types of matchups will be discussed in more detail further on in this article.
Once the schedule has been made, each team will be a ranked in terms of
Schedule of Strength which assesses how easy or hard a schedule a team plays. A ranking of #1 means it is a tough schedule in comparison to a ranking of #32 which means it is the easiest schedule. Click here to learn more about Schedule of
Strength.
The NFL has 2 conferences called the AFC (American Football Conference)
and the NFC (National Football Conference) and each conference has 4
divisions within the NFL. The table below shows a total of 32 NFL
football teams in both the AFC and NFC and will be used for illustration purposes.
AFC Conference
AFC West
| AFC North
| AFC East
| AFC South
|
|---|---|---|---|
San Diego Chargers
| Pittsburgh Steelers
| New England Patriots
| Indianapolis Colts
|
Denver Broncos
| Cincinnatti Bengals
| New York Jets
| Houston Texans
|
Oakland Raiders
| Baltimore Ravens
| Miami Dolphins
| Tennessee Titans
|
Kansas City Chiefs
| Cleveland Browns
| Buffalo Bills
| Jacksonville Jaguars
|
NFC Conference
NFC West
| NFC North
| NFC East
| NFC South
|
|---|---|---|---|
San Franciso 49ers
| Minnesota Vikings
| Dallas Cowboys
| New Orleans Saints
|
Arizona Cardinals
| Green Bay Packers
| New York Giants
| Carolina Panthers
|
St Louis Rams
| Detroit Lions
| Philadelphia Eagles
| Atlanta Falcons
|
Seattle Seahawks
| Chicago Bears
| Washington Redskins
| Tamba Bay Buccaneers
|
Other Related NFL Articles
- NFL Schedule 2010
The NFL has released the schedule for the NFL Season 2010. Listed at the bottom of the page is the full schedule of NFL games from Week 1 to Week 17 of the NFL regular season. - NFL Strength of Schedule 2010
The 2010 NFL season will start in September and the schedule has been released for each team's opponents. The NFL schedule has been released on April 20, 2010 and the season kicks off with the Minnesota... - Top10 NFL vs CFL Differences
The 10 Top Differences Between Amercian Football (NFL) vs Canadian Football (CFL).
Please refer to the table above to illustrate how the NFL sets up the matchups for the regular season.
1) Games in Own Division
A total of 6 games (one home and one away) will be played against 3 teams in their own division.
Example: Let's use the New Orleans Saints as an example. The Saints will play a home game against the Falcons, Panthers and Buccaneers and will play an away game against the Falcons, Panthers and Buccaneers.
2) Games in Another Division Within Own Conference (Rotation)
A total of 4 games (two home and two away) will be played against 4 teams within their own conference, but against another division.
Example: Since the New Orleans Saints are in the NFC Conference, the Saints will play the NFC East for the current season based on rotation as last season, the Saints played the NFC West and next year the Saints
will play the NFC North teams. This means that the Saints would play the Eagles, Cowboys, Giants, and Redskins once. The Saints would have 2 home games and 2 away games against the NFC East opponents.
3) Games in Another Division Outside Own Conference (Rotation)
A total of 4 games (two home and two away) will be played against 4 teams in a division outside their own
conference.
Example: Since the New Orleans Saints are in the NFC Conference, the
Saints will play against a division in the AFC based on rotation. Last year, the Saints played the AFC East, this year they will play the AFC West teams, the next year would be AFC North and the year after would be AFC South.
For the current season the Saints will play the AFC West teams consisting of the Chargers, Broncos, Chiefs, and Raiders. The Saints would have 2 home games and 2 away games against the AFC West opponents.
4) Games in Standing Matchups Within Conference
A total of 2 games (one home and one away) will be played against 2
teams in their own
conference, but outside of their division.
Example: Since the Saints finished 1st in their own division the NFC South, they will play a game against the other division's number one ranked teams. If the team finished 2nd in their own division, they will play the other division's 2nd ranked teams. The 3rd place teams will play 3rd place teams and the 4th place team will play the other 4th place teams outside their division, but within the same conference.
The Saints will play the 49ers and Vikings on their current schedule and the Saints would play 1 home game and 1 away game against these teams.
A grand total of 16 games has been shown for the Saints with eight home games and eight away games. See the table below which shows a sample schedule the Saints would play in a regular season.
New Orleans Saints Sample NFL Schedule
Game
| Opponent
| Division
| Home/Away
| Matchup Scenario
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
1
| Dallas Cowboys
| NFC East
| Home
| Conference Division Game
|
2
| Carolina Panthers
| NFC South
| Home
| Own Division Game
|
3
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers
| NFC South
| Away
| Own Division Game
|
4
| New York Giants
| NFC East
| Away
| Conference Division Game
|
5
| San Francisco 49ers
| NFC West
| Home
| Standings Game
|
6
| San Diego Chargers
| AFC West
| Home
| Out of Conference Division Game
|
7
| Atlanta Falcons
| NFC South
| Away
| Own Division Game
|
8
| Minnesota Vikings
| NFC North
| Away
| Standings Game
|
9
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers
| NFC South
| Home
| Own Division Game
|
10
| Denver Broncos
| AFC West
| Home
| Out of Conference Division Game
|
11
| Oakland Raiders
| AFC West
| Away
| Out of Conference Division Game
|
12
| Carolina Panthers
| NFC South
| Away
| Own Division Game
|
13
| Kansas City Chiefs
| AFC West
| Away
| Out of Conference Division Game
|
14
| Philadelphia Eagles
| NFC East
| Home
| Conference Division Game
|
15
| Washington Redskins
| NFC East
| Away
| Conference Division Game
|
16
| Atlanta Falcons
| NFC South
| Home
| Own Division Game
|
This is only a sample schedule and used for illustration purpose for a typical NFL regular season for the New Orleans Saints
Summary
Type of Matchup
| Number of Games
| Home and Away Games
|
|---|---|---|
Own Division Games
| 6
| 3 home, 3 away
|
Conference Division Games
| 4
| 2 home, 2 away
|
Ouf of Conference Division Games
| 4
| 2 home and 2 away
|
Standings Games
| 2
| 1 home and 1 away
|
Total Games
| 16
| 8 home and 8 away games
|
Conclusions
This has been the formula used by the NFL to schedule regular season games in the NFL. If the NFL decides to expand or decrease the number of teams or increase the regular season schedule to 18 games, then the scheduling formula needs readjustment. Hope you have enjoyed this article.
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