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The NFL plans to expand its regular season schedule in 2021 by adding a 17th game to the schedule, which will do a lot to help alleviate pressure on teams running tight against the salary cap like the New Orleans Saints by bringing in new revenue. And now the MMQB’s Albert Breer reports some clarity on just where the league plans to find opponents for that extra week.
Breer passed along an outline of the one-game NFC-AFC crossover schedule, which will begin in the 2021 season. It has the NFC South facing their counterparts in the AFC South, with the top-seeded Saints matching up with whoever claims this year’s division title — it’s coming down to a Week 17 race between the Tennessee Titans and the Indianapolis Colts, both owning 10-5 records.
The Titans are traveling to face the reeling Houston Texans, while the Colts will host the Jacksonville Jaguars. It’s uncertain just yet where this 17th game between the Saints and the AFC South champions (whoever they are) will be played, whether at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans or in Tennessee’s Nissan Stadium or Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium.
And we also don’t know yet how the rotation will change in the future. Whatever the case, the NFL’s regular season schedule is soon increasing from the usual 256 games to 272. And the Saints will be preparing accordingly.
Re: 17-game slate, the inter-conference rotation for '21 …
Full crossover: NFC East/AFC West, NFC North/AFC North, NFC South/AFC East, NFC West, AFC South.
1-game crossover (1 v. 1, 2 v. 2, etc.): NFC East/AFC East, NFC North/AFC West, NFC South/AFC South, NFC West/AFC North.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) December 28, 2020
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