How Many Regular Season NFL Games Are There?
Contents
There are seventeen regular season NFL games. This number has been consistent since the NFL increased the regular season from sixteen games to seventeen games in 1978.
Introduction
The National Football League (NFL) is the professional American football league. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing its name to National Football League in 1922. The NFL consists of thirty-two teams, divided equally into two conferences — the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). Each conference has four divisions, and each division has four teams. There are a total of 256 games in a NFL regular season — 256 games that are played over a seventeen-week schedule.
The NFL Season
Pre-Season
The National Football League season generally runs from the first week of September through the end of December or early January. There are four preseason games and sixteen regular season games for each of the league’s thirty-two teams. The pre-season games are not counted in the standings, but they are used to determine which players will make the team’s final roster.
Regular Season
The regular season of the National Football League (NFL) is the period each year when professional American football teams play sixteen games (out of a total of eighteen), compared to playing four preseason exhibition games and four postseason exhibition games. It begins in early September, after the conclusion of the preseason, and concludes in late December or early January.
Post-Season
The post-season usually begins the first weekend in January (sometimes referred to as “wild card weekend”) and consists of six teams: four division winners and two “wild card” qualifiers. The top two seeds in each conference receive a bye in the first round. The first round of the playoffs, or “wild card weekend”, consists of four games: two games on Saturday and two games on Sunday. These four teams play each other in a pre-determined order that is based on their seed. The divisional playoffs are held the following weekend, consisting of the four remaining teams in each conference. Again, these teams play each other in a pre-determined order that is based on their seed. The conference championships are held the following weekend, consisting of the two remaining teams in each conference. The winner of each conference championship game earns a berth in the Super Bowl.
How Many Games are in the Regular Season?
There are 16 games in the regular season for every NFL team. This has been the case since 1978, when the league switched from a 14-game schedule. Previously, there had been 12 games in the regular season since 1960.
Conclusion
The National Football League (NFL) regular season typically runs from the week after Labor Day to the week after Christmas, totaling seventeen weeks. Games are generally played on Sundays, with a handful of games played on Mondays and Thursdays throughout the season. postseason play consists of the NFL playoffs, which culminate in the Super Bowl, the league’s championship game.
