2011 NFL Schedule: Highlighting the Most Important Dates of the Season
The 2011 NFL Schedule was released yesterday to the excitement of most football fans around the world. We all anxiously and impatiently awaited to see the path our favorite team will travel on to the road to the Super Bowl.
My first instinct was to check out the Thanksgiving Day match ups as it is my favorite day of the year.
We all wanted to see who the defending Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers would open the season against.
We checked every Sunday and Monday Night game to see if our team would bless the nation under the lights on center stage.
Compiled are some of the most important dates of the season, from the ESPN and NBC primetime schedules to highlighting the top game each week and more!
Preseason Kickoff
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Preseason doesn't mean much, but we all look forward to it nonetheless. We can't get enough football and it's the time of the year we finally get to see old and new faces in our team colors.
Which team will kick off the NFL preseason at the Hall of Fame game?
On August 7, the Jay Cutler, Brian Urlacher and the Chicago Bears square off against Sam Bradford, James Laurinaitis and the St. Louis Rams.
These are two potential Division leading teams and they'll give us our first taste of football to wet our appetite.
Packers Host Saints in Best Week 1 Opening Kickoff Games
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The NFL Schedule has been announced and we are taking a look at the top Week 1 games, which will ultimately set the tone for another exciting season.
Week 1 Schedule:
New Orleans Saints at Green Bay Packers - Thursday Night Football
Atlanta Falcons at Chicago Bears - Sunday
Detroit Lions at Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Sunday
Buffalo Bills at Kansas City Chiefs - Sunday
Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans - Sunday
Philadelphia Eagles at St. Louis Rams - Sunday
Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens - Sunday
Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns - Sunday
Tennessee Titans at Jacksonville Jaguars - Sunday
Seattle Seahawks at San Francisco 49ers - Sunday
Carolina Panthers at Arizona Cardinals - Sunday
Minnesota Vikings at San Diego Chargers - Sunday
New York Giants at Washington Redskins - Sunday
Dallas Cowboys at New York Jets - Sunday Night Football
New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins - Monday Night Football
Oakland Raiders at Denver Broncos - Monday Night Football
Top 5 Most Exciting Week 1 Games:
New Orleans Saints at Green Bay Packers - Thursday Night Football
Expect an explosive game as the past two Super Bowl Champions square off in an even matchup. Anytime Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers are on the same field, expect fireworks!
Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans - Sunday
The Texans shocked the Colts Week 1 last year when Arian Foster gutted the Colts in arguably the best rushing performance of the season. The Colts rebounded and won the AFC South division at the end of the season, but the loser this time around won't be as lucky.
Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens - Sunday
These two teams met three teams last year and all three meetings were close, hard-hitting and hard-fought grudge matches. This may be the most intense rivalry in all of sports. As both teams look to get a head start on the other, expect another bruising gridiron battle.
Minnesota Vikings at San Diego Chargers - Sunday
Many will overlook this game, but this will be an explosive match. One of the best running backs in Adrian Peterson against one of the best quarterbacks in Philip Rivers. Both teams had down 2010 campaigns and are looking to rebound.
Dallas Cowboys at New York Jets - Sunday Night Football
It will be an emotional game for the city of New York as it will be the year-10 since the devastating terrorist attacks on September 11. Both teams are looking to make a Super Bowl push in 2011 and have the talent to do so. Expect one of the best games of the entire 2011 season.
When Does Your Favorite Team Have a Bye?
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The bye week of the NFL season is one of the most important weeks of the year. It is when the players get to rest their bruised and battered bodies as they enter the stretch run of the season.
It is the only time of the season when they get to step away from the game of football for a little bit of time to collect their thoughts and prepare their mind, body and soul for the grueling battles to come.
I've always been a believer that having the bye placed right in the middle of the season is the best way to go for a team. It's far more painful, I believe to have a Week 5 or Week 11 bye this year.
Here is the rundown of the bye weeks:
Week 5:
Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, St. Louis Rams, Miami Dolphins, Washington Redskins, Baltimore Ravens
Week 6:
Denver Broncos, Tennessee Titans, Kansas City Chiefs, Arizona Cardinals, San Diego Chargers, Seattle Seahawks
Week 7:
Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, New England Patriots, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers
Week 8:
Atlanta Falcons, Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, Oakland Raiders, New York Jets, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week 9:
Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings, Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars
Week 11:
Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans Saints, Pittsburgh Steelers
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Every Thursday and Saturday Game of the Season
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As the league continues to grow, we have been blessed in recent years with Thursday and Saturday football following my beloved Thanksgiving Day games.
At times, fans, players and management complain that it is unfair for teams to play on these unusual days because there is less preparation and rest time leading to game-time.
Here's every Thursday and Saturday game as the weather begins to chill late in the season.
Week 10:
Oakland Raiders at San Diego Chargers, Thursday November 10
Week 11:
New York Jets at Denver Broncos, Thursday November 17
Week 12:
Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions, Thanksgiving Thursday November 24
Miami Dolphins at Dallas Cowboys, Thanksgiving Thursday November 24
San Francisco 49ers at Baltimore Ravens, Thanksgiving Thursday November 24
Week 13:
Philadelphia Eagles at Seattle Seahawks, Thursday December 1
Week 14:
Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers, Thursday December 8
Week 15:
Jacksonville Jaguars at Atlanta Falcons, Thursday December 15
Dallas Cowboys at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Saturday December 17
Week 16:
Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts, Thursday December 22
Denver Broncos at Buffalo Bills - Saturday December 24
Arizona Cardinals at Cincinnati Bengals - Saturday December 24
Minnesota Vikings at Washington Redskins - Saturday December 24
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers - Saturday December 24
Cleveland Browns at Baltimore Ravens - Saturday December 24
Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee Titans - Saturday December 24
Oakland Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs - Saturday December 24
Miami Dolphins at New England Patriots - Saturday December 24
New York Giants at New York Jets - Saturday December 24
St. Louis Rams at Pittsburgh Steelers - Saturday December 24
San Diego Chargers at Detroit Lions - Saturday December 24
San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks - Saturday December 24
Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys - Saturday December 24
Top Five Thursday and Saturday Games:
Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions, Thanksgiving Thursday November 24
The perfect way to start Thanksgiving Day as both teams have explosive players on both sides of the ball in Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews and Calvin Johnson and Ndamukong Suh.
San Francisco 49ers at Baltimore Ravens, Thanksgiving Thursday November 24
Brotherly love on Thanksgiving Night as 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh will meet brother John Harbaugh. We'll get to see two of the top running backs in the league in Frank Gore and Ray Rice.
Dallas Cowboys at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Saturday December 17
We could see one team hurt mightily in the playoff race in this game. These are two evenly matched teams and will certainly put on an exciting show.
Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts, Thursday December 22
These two offensive juggernauts meet in Week 1 and will meet once again, possibly with the division on the line. Expect a lot of points as two of the top duos in the game square off in Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne and Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson.
New York Giants at New York Jets - Saturday December 24
The fight for New York waits until the day of Christmas Eve. Pride and bragging rights will be on the line as players stay close to home and can sleep in their own beds, have some home cooking and spend time with their families. If their preseason game was any indication last year, this should be the best game of the entire season!
Football on Christmas Eve, Only One Game on Christmas Sunday
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This year, Christmas happens to fall on a Sunday. This means our Christmas Sunday will only be filled with one game to be held on Sunday Night Football: Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers
We will have one game the previous Thursday night: Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts
The Monday Night Football game will be: Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints
Those are three fantastic games, but our full slate of games will take place on Saturday December 24. Every game will be held in the afternoon as the league allows players to spend time with their families on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Here is Your Full Week 16 Christmas Weekend Schedule
Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts - Thursday Night Football December 22
Denver Broncos at Buffalo Bills - Saturday December 24
Arizona Cardinals at Cincinnati Bengals - Saturday December 24
Minnesota Vikings at Washington Redskins - Saturday December 24
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers - Saturday December 24
Cleveland Browns at Baltimore Ravens - Saturday December 24
Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee Titans - Saturday December 24
Oakland Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs - Saturday December 24
Miami Dolphins at New England Patriots - Saturday December 24
New York Giants at New York Jets - Saturday December 24
St. Louis Rams at Pittsburgh Steelers - Saturday December 24
San Diego Chargers at Detroit Lions - Saturday December 24
San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks - Saturday December 24
Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys - Saturday December 24
Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers - Sunday Night Football December 25
Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints - Monday Night Football December 26
The highlight of our Christmas Eve Saturday Football is clearly the battle of New York between the Jets and Giants. Expect that to be one of the best games of the season as each team looks to capture newspaper headlines and claim New York football dominance.
NBC Sunday Night Football Schedule
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We all look forward to Sunday. We wait all week for the exciting action.
We set our cautiously set our fantasy lineups after reading every news tid-bit possible throughout the week.
We call, text, e-mail, carrier pigeon our friends to see which house, apartment, restaurant or bar we're watching all of the action.
We surf the web for live news updates throughout the game, we order Red Zone to watch all of the great Sunday action.
Yet still after a full day of football, we can't wait for that big primetime game on NBC to close the night. There's just something about football under the lights that gets every player and fan excited. There's nothing like it.
Let's see who will grace our TV sets every Sunday night to close out an action-packed day of football.
Week 1: Dallas Cowboys at New York Jets, September 11
Week 2: Philadelphia Eagles at Atlanta Falcons, September 18
Week 3: Pittsburgh Steelers at Indianapolis Colts, September 25
Week 4: New York Jets at Baltimore Ravens, October 2
Week 5: Green Bay Packers at Atlanta Falcons, October 9
Week 6: Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears, October 16
Week 7: Indianapolis Colts at New Orleans Saints, October 23
Week 8: Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles, October 30
Week 9: Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers, November 6
Week 10: New England Patriots at New York Jets, November 13
Week 11: Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants, November 20
Week 12: Pittsburgh Steelers at Kansas City Chiefs, November 27
Week 13: Indianapolis Colts at New England Patriots, December 4
Week 14: New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys, December 11
Week 15: Baltimore Ravens at San Diego Chargers, December 18
Week 16: Chicago Bears at Green Nay Packers, December 25
*Week 17: No Game Scheduled*
With no game scheduled for the last Sunday Night of the season, we should expect one of these five potential division or playoff deciding games to take center stage:
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons
Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers
New York Jets at Miami Dolphins
Indianapolis Colts at Jacksonville Jaguars
Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants
ESPN NFL Monday Night Football Schedule
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We love Sundays when we get to watch just about every team play. Yet Monday Night Football is special. Generally speaking, barring Opening Weekend or a Metrodome roof collapse, two teams have the night all to themselves.
Players take pride in having the honor to play on Monday Nights. Last year, we saw Michael Vick decimate the Washington Redskins. It seems something memorable always happens on MNF.
It's finally time to see which teams will take center stage on Monday Nights this season.
New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins, September 12
Oakland Raiders at Denver Broncos, September 12
St. Louis Rams at New York Giants, September 19
Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys, September 26
Indianapolis Colts at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, October 3
Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions, October 10
Miami Dolphins at New York Jets, October 17
Baltimore Ravens at Jacksonville Jaguars, October 24
San Diego Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs, October 31
Chicago Bears at Philadelphia Eagles, November 7
Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers, November 14
Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots, November 21
New York Giants at New Orleans Saints, November 28
San Diego Chargers at Jacksonville Jaguars, December 5
St. Louis Rams at Seattle Seahawks, December 12
Pittsburgh Steelers at San Francisco 49ers, December 19
Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints, December 26
The Thanksgiving Day Games to Fill Your Appetite
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2011 NFL Schedule Which Do We Want At Our Thanksgiving Day Table?
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, by far.
What is it all about? The three F's—Family, food and most importantly, football!
All I want to do on Thanksgiving is relax, eat and watch my football. It's tradition. Everybody knows not to bother me on Thanksgiving Day. I wake up, watch the parade, set my fantasy lineups and get ready to watch the Detroit Lions to really start my day.
Come dinner time, I'm starving—for food and the Dallas Cowboys! Don't even begin to mention the TV being turned off during dinner time. Not in my house. On Thanksgiving, the Cowboys are part of the family—even though I'm a diehard New York Giants fan!
Even better, the past few years let's me watch football when I eat dessert! Luckily for me, the Giants and Jets have blessed me on Thanksgiving the past two years, but it doesn't really matter to me which teams are on Thanksgiving night as long as I get to digest with more football!
My first instinct isn't even to see who the Giants have to get past to make it to the playoffs. Nope, it's which teams will be joining my family, Dallas and Detroit on Thanksgiving Day.
Who is "Megatron" Calvin Johnson going to demolish as I await my Thanksgiving feast?
Who will Tony Romo lose to as I stuff my face with my favorite meal?
Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions
Miami Dolphins at Dallas Cowboys
San Francisco 49ers at Baltimore Ravens
The ideal game to start the day, Detroit against the defending Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers. We all want to see Aaron Rodgers now more than ever. The Lions will be much improved and should rival the Packers for the division title, which means the game will have even more importance than just entertaining us in primetime.
The Lions and Packers have had fantastic games in recent years and this would be the perfect matchup to open my favorite day of the year.
The Cowboys take on the Dolphins and Brandon Marshall. This will be an exciting game as Marshall has torched the 'Boys before. Dez Bryant and Marshall on the same field!? Count me in!
Brotherly love on Thanksgiving Night as 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh will meet brother John Harbaugh. We'll get to see two of the top running backs in the league in Frank Gore and Ray Rice and they'll be pounded by two of the best defenders in the game in Patrick Willis and Ray Lewis.
I can't wait for Thanksgiving!
The Top Week-by-Week Games of the Season
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Week 1: New Orleans Saints at Green Bay Packers, Thursday September 8, 8:30 PM
Week 2: Atlanta Falcons at Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday September 18, 8:20 PM
Week 3: New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday September 25, 1:00 PM
Week 4: New York Jets at Baltimore Ravens, Sunday October 2, 8:20 PM
Week 5: New York Jets at New England Patriots, Sunday October 9, 4:15 PM
Week 6: Dallas Cowboys at New England Patriots, Sunday October 16, 4:15 PM
Week 7: Indianapolis Colts at New Orleans Saints, Sunday October 23, 8:20 PM
Week 8: New England Patriots at Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday October 30, 4:15 PM
Week 9: Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday November 6, 8:20 PM
Week 10: New England Patriots at New York Jets, Sunday November 13, 8:20 PM
Week 11: Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots, Monday November 21, 8:30 PM
Week 12: Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions, Thursday November 24, 12:30 PM
Week 13: Indianapolis Colts at New England Patriots, Sunday December 4, 8:20 PM
Week 14: Indianapolis Colts at Baltimore Ravens, Sunday December 11, 1:00 PM
Week 15: New York Jets at Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday December 18, 4:15 PM
Week 16: New York Giants at New York Jets, Saturday December 24, 1:00 PM
Week 17: Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants, Sunday January 1, 1:00 PM
When Is Super Bowl XLVI?
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Super Bowl XLVI is expected to take place at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, home of the Colts, on February 5 2012.
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