How Many Games Does Each NFL Team Play?

The National Football League (NFL) regular season typically begins in September of each year and ends in December. Each team plays 16 games during the regular season.

Introduction

In a typical NFL season, each team plays 16 games. But that’s not always the case. There are a few things that can happen that would alter the number of games a team plays.

The most common thing that would cause a team to play more than 16 games is if they qualify for the playoffs. The playoffs are a single-elimination tournament that takes place after the regular season. The number of teams that make the playoffs varies from year to year, but it is usually between 12 and 14. If a team makes the playoffs, they will play at least one additional game, and potentially more if they keep winning.

Another way a team could play more than 16 games is if they are scheduled to play in what is known as a “Thursday Night Football” game. These are special regular season games that are broadcast on Thursdays instead of Sundays or Mondays. They are typically played by two teams that both have had a bye week (an week where they don’t play) earlier in the season. Because of this, Thursday Night Football games do not count towards a team’s regular season record; they are considered preseason games. However, Thursday Night Football games can occasionally be flexed into the Sunday night slot if both teams have had good records during the season and it is a matchup that the NFL thinks will be interesting for viewers.

It is also possible for a team to play fewer than 16 games in a season, although this is very rare. The only time this could happen is if a team has to cancel or postpone one of their scheduled games due to circumstances beyond their control, such as weather conditions or an outbreak of an infectious disease among players or staff.

How Many Games Does Each NFL Team Play?

There are a total of 256 games in an NFL season. Each team plays 16 regular season games. The NFL is split into two conferences, the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). Each conference has 16 teams. 8 teams from each conference make the playoffs. The playoffs are made up of the Wild Card round, the Divisional round, the Conference Championships, and the Super Bowl.

Regular Season

The regular season is a time when NFL teams play against each other to see who will make it to the playoffs. Each team plays 16 games during the regular season, which is divided into two halves. During the first half of the season, each team plays against all of the other teams in their conference. This is followed by a bye week, during which time no games are played. After the bye week, each team then plays against all of the teams in the other conference. The regular season typically lasts from September to December.

Preseason

The NFL preseason is the exhibition season of the National Football League (NFL), when teams prepare for the upcoming regular season.

In the preseason, NFL teams play four games. Two of these games are typically played at the team’s home stadium, while the other two are played at a neutral site or the home stadium of an intra-conference opponent.

The NFL preseason generally starts in early August and lasts until late August or early September. The specific dates and times of each team’s preseason games are determined by the NFL schedule makers, which is usually released in April or May.

Playoffs

In the NFL, the playoffs are a single-elimination tournament held after the end of the regular season to determine the league champion. The tournament brackets are made up of six teams from each conference: four division winners and two wild card teams. The four division winners are seeded 1–4 based on their record, with the top seed getting home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The wild card teams are seeded 5 and 6.

The first round of the playoffs is commonly referred to as the Wild Card round. In this round, the 5th and 6th seeds from each conference play each other, with the higher seed getting home-field advantage. The 5th seed is typically a team with a good record that just missed out on winning their division, while the 6th seed is usually a team with a mediocre record that scraped into the playoffs by virtue of winning a weak division or being one of the two best non-division-winning teams in their conference.

In the second round, also known as the Divisional round, the top two seeds from each conference receive a bye and do not play. The remaining four teams from each conference play each other, with again, the higher seeds receiving home-field advantage.

The Conference Championships are then held in both conferences, with Seeds 1 and 2 hosting Seed 4 and 3 respectively. In odd years (like 2013), when there is an odd number of teams in each conference due to realignment, one team from each conference will have a first-round bye while four wildcard teams play in the other playoff games.

Finally, in early February, Seed 1 from each conference hosts Seed 2 from the other conference in what is widely considered to be one of American sport’s biggest events: The Super Bowl.

Conclusion

Based on the information above, it appears that each NFL team plays a total of 16 games in a season. However, it is important to note that this may vary slightly from year to year, depending on the schedule.