The NFL Schedule 2021 release is set for release later tonight, but the complete schedule for Week 1 has been revealed in advance of that announcement.
Wednesday morning on Good Morning America, the first Monday Night Football game of the 2021 season was revealed. The Las Vegas Raiders will host the Baltimore Ravens in that matchup on Monday, Sept. 13, and the game will be televised by ESPN at 8:15pm ET.
There will be only one Monday Night Football game this season in Week 1, as the NFL is moving ESPN’s doubleheader to a Saturday night toward the end of the season.
The remainder of the Week 1 schedule was also revealed on Wednesday morning. CBS announced their Week 1 slate on “CBS This Morning”, while FOX will revealed their schedule on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends,” local FOX stations, and FOX Sports 1.
Kickoff of the 2021 NFL regular-season is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 9 and will feature the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers hosting the Dallas Cowboys. Additionally, the Sunday Night Football contest will feature the Chicago Bears visiting the Los Angeles Rams.
Below is the complete schedule for Week 1 of the 2021 NFL season (all times Eastern):
Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021
Cowboys at Buccaneers – 8:20pm, NBC
Sunday, Sept. 12, 2021
Jaguars at Texans – 1pm, CBS
Steelers at Bills – 1pm, CBS
Jets at Panthers – 1pm, CBS
Cardinals at Titans – 1pm, CBS
Chargers at Washington FT – 1pm, CBS
Vikings at Bengals – 1pm, FOX
49ers at Lions – 1pm, FOX
Eagles at Falcons – 1pm, FOX
Seahawks at Colts – 1pm, FOX
Broncos at Giants – 4:25pm, FOX
Packers at Saints – 4:25pm, FOX
Browns at Chiefs – 4:25pm, CBS
Dolphins at Patriots – 4:25pm, CBS
Bears at Rams – 8:20pm, NBC
Monday, Sept. 13, 2021
Ravens at Raiders – 8:15pm, ESPN/ABC
The 2021 NFL schedule will feature a 17-game regular-season for the first time. Additionally, the preseason will be reduced from four to three games. The full slate will be released Wednesday night at 8:00pm ET.
The NFL Playoff Schedule is scheduled to begin on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022 with the Wild-Card Round. The Divisional Round will be played on the weekend of Jan. 22-23, followed by the AFC and NFC championship games on Sunday, Jan. 30.
Super Bowl LVI is slated for Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. The game will kickoff at 6:30pm ET and will be televised by NBC.
The 2021 NFL Preseason Schedule will also be released on Wednesday night. The schedule will begin with the NFL/Hall of Fame Game at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio, on Thursday, Aug. 5. This years game pits the Dallas Cowboys against the Pittsburgh Steelers and it will be televised by FOX at 8:00pm ET.
Below are links to the 2021 NFL schedules for all 32 teams. Opponents for each team have already been set.
AFC East
AFC North
- Baltimore Ravens Schedule
- Cincinnati Bengals Schedule
- Cleveland Browns Schedule
- Pittsburgh Steelers Schedule
AFC South
- Houston Texans Schedule
- Indianapolis Colts Schedule
- Jacksonville Jaguars Schedule
- Tennessee Titans Schedule
AFC West
- Denver Broncos Schedule
- Kansas City Chiefs Schedule
- Las Vegas Raiders Schedule
- Los Angeles Chargers Schedule
NFC East
- Dallas Cowboys Schedule
- New York Giants Schedule
- Philadelphia Eagles Schedule
- Washington Football Team Schedule
NFC North
NFC South
- Atlanta Falcons Schedule
- Carolina Panthers Schedule
- New Orleans Saints Schedule
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers Schedule
NFC West
- Arizona Cardinals Schedule
- Los Angeles Rams Schedule
- San Francisco 49ers Schedule
- Seattle Seahawks Schedule
Why do the Monday night matchups seem to always stink, or is it just me?
On the NFL release for Week 1 they have ESPN/ABC for the MBF opener so keep that in mind Kevin as well anyone else wanting to know
ABC should not have a straight simulcast of the ESPN broadcast.
A separate broadcast should be made for that network, being presented in a manner similar to a 1990s MNF broadcast on ABC, such as using themes used during most of the 1990s and a graphics package similar to the 1995-96 seasons but optimized for today’s day and age (including a constant bottom line showing details, such as the score, about the game). Ideally, I’d want NBC to loan Al Michaels to ABC to do play-by-play on what I am dubbing the “Throwback Cast”, joined by Kirk Herbstreit (replacing the late Frank Gifford, and also doing the intros once done by Gifford) and Dan Dierdorf on play-by-play.
The “Throwback Cast” would deemphasize the ESPN branding. This should be the standard presentation for ABC broadcasts of the NFL going forward. There is a need to appeal to those who watched Frank and Al and Dan in the 1990s.
correction – Dierdorf and Herbstreit would be doing color commentary