NFL Season Kickoff 2021

With the NFL pre-season exhibition games wrapping up, the much anticipated regular season of professional football is set to begin on Thursday, Sept. 9th with Tom Brady and the Super Bowl LV Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers take on the Dallas Cowboys from Tampa, airing at 8:20 pm ET on NBC. In what could be the longest season in NFL history, with the regular season expansion to 17 games this year, and the elimination of 1 pre-season game. The 102nd NFL season is ramping up with player COVID vaccination rates potentially becoming a decisive factor in how well your team fairs this year. The NFL COVID protocols for the 2021-22 season could impact whether unvaccinated players miss games and if there is a large outbreak the League has indicated it will force teams to forfeit and be credited with a loss for impacted games.

There are many reasons for fans to be optimistic this year, with reported vaccine rates as high as 90% among NFL players and each team expecting to allow 100% capacity crowds in their stadiums. The NFL is working to avoid a season with the outbreaks and disruptions that marked last year’s schedule with the adjusted COVID-19 protocols it promises not to extend the 2021-22 season. Please refer to the chart below, for information regarding all the NFL action for weeks 1 and 2, including date, time and network broadcasting each game.