The 2011 NFL regular season schedule will be here soon even if, as things stand now, there won't be any games. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said on a conference call with Cleveland Browns season ticket holders on Thursday that the regular season schedule should be released within the next 10 days.
There are very few things to look forward to given the state of the NFL with the lockout and all so things like the draft and, yes, the schedule release, are a pretty big deal to me. It's a football topic that doesn't involve lawyers so I, for one, am excited about it.
We already know the opponents for each team in 2011. The schedule release is simply the date and time of each game. The way the schedule breaks down is that each team will play the three other teams in their division twice, a rotating NFC and AFC division each year, as well as the teams who finished in the same spot in the divisional standings in their conference.
So take the Chiefs for example. They're in the AFC West so they'll play the Chargers, Broncos and Raiders twice which is six total games. This year they play the NFC North and AFC East, which is eight more games or a total of 14. They finished in first place in the AFC West so they will play the other first place teams in the AFC -- Steelers and Colts.