{"id":36376,"date":"2014-09-09T09:21:54","date_gmt":"2014-09-09T13:21:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/?p=36376"},"modified":"2014-09-09T20:08:23","modified_gmt":"2014-09-10T00:08:23","slug":"how-does-the-nfl-season-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/how-does-the-nfl-season-work.html","title":{"rendered":"How Does the NFL Season Work?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Finally, T.G.I.F.S.: Thank God It\u2019s Football Season! The long-awaited NFL season has kicked off, which basically means Sundays will be spent by millions upon millions of Americans either cheering like mad in a live crowd or parked on the couch watching some football.<\/p>\n

But maybe you’re new to the world of football, and want to learn the essentials about the game that excites so many Americans, and indeed, people around the world. If so, fear not! Read on for a breakdown of how the NFL season works, including the handy visual guide below, and while you’re at it don’t miss our introduction to why the NFL preseason doesn’t matter.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"How<\/a><\/p>\n

[sc:Football ]<\/span><\/p>\n

Complete Breakdown of How the NFL Football Season Works<\/h2>\n

League Structure<\/h3>\n

First things first: how is this league arranged?<\/p>\n

The NFL is composed of 32 teams equally divided into two conferences \u2013 the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC).<\/p>\n

[sc:NFL240banner ]The AFC and NFC were created after the NFL merged with the American Football League (AFL) in 1970. The AFL had 10 teams at that time, which combined with 16 NFL teams. In order to balance the league up, the 10 AFL teams along with the NFL’s Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Baltimore Colts formed the AFC, while the remaining 13 NFL teams became the NFC.<\/p>\n

The addition of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Seattle Seahawks, New Orleans Saints, Jacksonville Jaguars, Cincinnati Bengals and Houston Texans via expansion pushed to the league to the 32 teams we have today.<\/p>\n

Within those two conferences, the 16 teams are further subdivided into four divisions each \u2013 North, South, East, and West in each conference. As you may have guessed, the members of these four divisions are, for the most part, grouped according to their region in the geographic map of the United States.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an overall breakdown of all 32 teams by conference and division:<\/p>\n

AFC<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
North<\/th>\nSouth<\/th>\nEast<\/th>\nWest<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Baltimore Ravens<\/th>\nHouston Texans<\/th>\nBuffalo Bills<\/th>\nDenver Broncos<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Cincinnati Bengals<\/th>\nIndianapolis Colts<\/th>\nMiami Dolphins<\/th>\nKansas City Chiefs<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Cleveland Browns<\/th>\nJacksonville Jaguars<\/th>\nNew England Patriots<\/th>\nOakland Raiders<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Pittsburgh Steelers<\/th>\nTennessee Titans<\/th>\nNew York Jets<\/th>\nSan Diego Chargers<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

NFC<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
North<\/th>\nSouth<\/th>\nEast<\/th>\nWest<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Chicago Bears<\/th>\nAtlanta Falcons<\/th>\nDallas Cowboys<\/th>\nArizona Cardinals<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Detroit Lions<\/th>\nCarolina Panthers<\/th>\nNew York Giants<\/th>\nSan Francisco 49ers<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Green Bay Packers<\/th>\nNew Orleans Saints<\/th>\nPhiladelphia Eagles<\/th>\nSeattle Seahawks<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Minnesota Vikings<\/th>\nTampa Bay Buccaneers<\/th>\nWashington Redskins<\/th>\nSt. Louis Rams<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Schedule<\/h3>\n

All 32 teams play 16 regular season games each. A set formula to determine each team\u2019s schedule for a given year. This formula is as follows:<\/p>\n