The NFL announced that the schedule for the 2021 season will be released on May 12.
This is the first time teams will play three games in the preseason before a 17-game regular season. The action will be kicked off with Thursday Night Football on September 9 and will wrap up with Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on February 13, 2022.
The 17th game will be composed of teams from opposing conferences that finished in the same place within their division last season. AFC teams will benefit from the new change by adding an extra home game to their schedule for their NFC counterparts.
With the AFC West matched up against the NFC North, the Las Vegas Raiders are slated to take on the Chicago Bears at Allegiant Stadium. Like the Raiders, the Bears are coming off a subpar season that still somehow saw them finish second in their division at 8-8.
While fans will have to wait just a bit longer to see which week these two teams will square off, they can take solace in the fact that they will have an extra home game to attend after the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic effectively kept them out last season. Not to mention, Allegiant Stadium officials also announced that the new venue will be working at full capacity for the 2021 campaign.
Quarterback Derek Carr is admittedly looking forward to regaining a much-needed home-field advantage from fans this season. It is safe to say that they will need every advantage they can get in an improving division.
Las Vegas made headlines by ushering in some significant changes to their roster, particularly up front along the offensive line. Although they have not shied away from maintaining playoff expectations next season, they are considered huge underdogs to win the division after bettors gave them the third-best odds at 10-1 (-1000).
