The NFL has discussed adding a 17th game to the regular season for several years now, and it seems that 2021 may be the year that it finally happens.
According to Peter King of Football Morning in America, a 17-game schedule is “highly likely” in 2021, with the NFL and television coordinators operating under the assumption that it will happen. The collective bargaining agreement the players approved last year gave the league the option to expand to 17 games in 2021.
King says that if enacted, the 17th game will be a cross-conference matchup with the division the team faced two years before, in this case during the 2019 season. The opponent is the corresponding team in the other division’s standings from the previous season.
This format is slightly confusing, but since the Jaguars played the NFC South as its interconference division in 2019, they would face the team in that division that finished last during the 2020 season. This would mean the extra game would draw the Atlanta Falcons.
According to King’s report, the AFC would host all the interconference games in 2021, with that set to flip in 2022. This would mean the Jags would host the Falcons, who are an NFC rival of theirs, at TIAA Bank Field.
The Jags and the Falcons typically meet in the preseason, however, a two-game preseason is now in play with the regular season being altered. As for the regular season, the two teams have played each other seven times and the Falcons lead the series with a 4-3 record.
None of this is official yet, but it seems NFL squads could be playing an extra out-of-conference matchup each season from now on.