The NFL is increasing the regular season to 17 games and reducing the preseason to three games.
Team owners on Tuesday approved the 17th game as expected, marking the first time in 43 years the regular season has been increased. It went from 14 to 16 games in 1978.
The Super Bowl now will move back a week to Feb. 13, which places it directly in the middle of the Winter Olympics in Beijing. Coincidentally, NBC has the broadcast rights to both.
Each extra NFL game will be an interconference matchup based on where teams finished in the previous season. AFC teams will be hosting the 17th game in 2021. Beyond next season, the league plans for some of the extra games to be at international sites.
The Arizona Cardinals will play the Browns in Cleveland in Week 18 (the 17th game of the season) to close out the regular season.
The Cardinals home and away schedule is now set.
Arizona will have home games against each divisional opponent, the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts and Carolina Panthers.
On the road, the Cards will face the Bears in Chicago, Lions in Detroit, Titans in Nashville, Jaguars in Jacksonville, Cowboys in Dallas for the second straight year and the Browns in Cleveland.
The extra game will feature another duel between former Oklahoma quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray.
In Murray's rookie season (Mayfield's second NFL season) in 2019, the two squared off in Glendale and the Cardinals came out with the win 38-24. The two Sooners exchanged jerseys after the game.
The 2021 NFL season kicks off on Thursday, Sept. 9. The regular season will end on Sunday, Jan. 9, 2022.
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