The 2021 NFL season is the inaugural year for the league’s 18-week, 17-game season.
This season was the first since 1978 where the number of games was changed. In 1978, the NFL moved from 14 games per season to 16. Now, it looks as though the 17-game season is here to stay for the next few years at least.
This weekend’s Week 17 matchups will not mark the end of the NFL season. Week 18 games will be played Saturday, Jan. 8, and Sunday, Jan. 9, to finish out the 2021 season.
MORE: NFL’s expanded schedule, explained
Here’s what you need to know about Week 18 in the NFL this year.
Back in March, the NFL owners agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that had been signed the previous year. With this new agreement, the NFL season expanded to 17 games from 16. The CBA runs through the 2030 season.
The preseason was changed from four games to three games this season, and teams still only received one bye during the regular season.
A lot of the symmetry established by the previous NFL schedule model disappeared this season. For instance, half the league had the advantage of having nine home games, while the other half had nine road games scheduled. Also, each team’s 17th game was determined by the divisional standings from the year before. For example, teams that finished first last year played each other this season.
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The Super Bowl is normally held on the first Sunday of February, but the 17th game this season was tacked onto the end of the schedule instead of the beginning, so the Super Bowl was pushed back a week.
The Super Bowl was originally scheduled for Feb. 6, 2022; it will now take place on Feb. 13, 2022.
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The Week 18 games will mostly take place on Sunday, Jan. 9, with two games on Saturday, Jan. 8. There will be no “Thursday Night Football” or “Monday Night Football.”
| Game | Time (ET) | TV channel |
| Chiefs at Broncos | 4:15 p.m. | ESPN/ABC |
| Cowboys at Eagles | 8:15 p.m. | ESPN/ABC |
| Game | Time (ET) | TV channel |
| Steelers at Ravens | 1 p.m. | TBD |
| Bengals at Browns | 1 p.m. | TBD |
| Packers at Lions | 1 p.m. | TBD |
| Titans at Texans | 1 p.m. | TBD |
| Colts at Jaguars | 1 p.m. | TBD |
| Bears at Vikings | 1 p.m. | TBD |
| WFT at Giants | 1 p.m. | TBD |
| Saints at Falcons | 4:25 p.m. | TBD |
| Panthers at Buccaneers | 4:25 p.m. | TBD |
| Patriots at Dolphins | 4:25 p.m. | TBD |
| Jets at Bills | 4:25 p.m. | TBD |
| 49ers at Rams | 4:25 p.m. | TBD |
| Seahawks at Cardinals | 4:25 p.m. | TBD |
| Chargers at Raiders | 8:20 p.m. | NBC |
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