When Do NFL Teams Travel to Away Games?
Wondering when your favorite NFL team will be traveling for their away games? Check out our handy guide to find out!
Introduction
In the National Football League, each team plays 16 regular season games, 8 at their home stadium and 8 at opponents’ stadiums. The specific game dates and times are set by the NFL schedule makers, who attempt to create a balanced and fun schedule for all 32 teams. Certain weeks will see more away games than home games for some teams, while other weeks will have the reverse. There are also a few marquee matchups each season that are designated as “away” games for one team but “home” games for fans of both teams.
NFL Teams’ Travel Schedules
NFL teams typically travel the day before an away game. This gives them time to settle in and get a good night’s sleep before the game. The team will usually fly out in the morning and return that same night. This can be a long day for the players, so they try to get as much rest as possible on the flight.
Preseason
During the preseason, teams are more likely to travel within their own divisions in order to generate more interest from fans. For example, the New England Patriots might travel to play the New York Jets in order to drum up rivalry-related excitement heading into the regular season. The NFL tries to space out these types of rival games so that they occur early and late in the preseason schedule.
Regular Season
During the regular 17-week season, each team plays 16 games and has one bye. In a typical year, each team plays all four of its NFC division opponents twice (one game at home, and one game on the road), all four of a single conference’s AFC division opponents once (two games at home, and two games on the road), and all four NFC teams in the other conference once (also two games at home, and two on the road).
This format was introduced in 2002 as part of the NFL’s realignment plan. Under this plan, each team plays every other team in their own conference twice—once at their home stadium, and once at that team’s stadium—and they play nonconference opponents once each. Before 2002, almost half of a team’s 16 regular season games were intraconference matchups. Outside of intraconference play, a total of 24 out-of-conference games are played annually: 12 non-divisional intraconference rivalries (comprising 6 games), and 4 cross-conference meetings that pit a team from one division against a team from another division in the other conference (1 game).
Postseason
In the NFL, the team that has the better record usually gets to play at home in the postseason. The league tries to rotate home-field advantage in the conference championships, so it’s possible for a team with a worse record to host a game if it has a better conference record than the team with a better overall record.
The NFL schedule is made up of 16 regular season games, 4 preseason games, and 4 postseason games (2 wild card playoff games, 2 divisional playoff games, and 1 conference championship game in each conference). The Super Bowl is the final game of the NFL season and is played between the champions of the AFC and NFC.
Conclusion
In conclusion, NFL teams typically travel to away games on Fridays, although some teams may travel on Thursdays or Saturdays depending on the game schedule. The majority of teams will fly to their destination city, although some teams may take a bus or train if the distance is not too far.
