2017 NFL schedule release date

With the 2016 NFL regular season coming to a close, all eyes will turn to the playoffs with the 2017 slate on the horizon.

The 2016 NFL season is inching towards the playoffs, as the 12 teams to continue on have been set. With Super Bowl 51 only a month away, there is still plenty of business left for the teams who remain standing. The 2016 NFL regular season was filled with some incredible matchups, and the 2017 slate should be no different.

While the opponents for each team have been released, the actual schedule of games will not be released until April. The schedules for each team usually comes out around the third week of April, so expect an announcement to be made between April 18-20. While the order of the games is what counts, teams can at least begin preparing for their schedule of games which kick off in September.

Thursday Night Football was questioned often during the 2016 season, as many teams do not want to play on such a short week. In the past, teams only played on Thursday during Thanksgiving, but now each team gets to play at least once on Thursday. Far too often in 2016, the games were an absolute joke, and some believe the lack of viewership is due to the incredible saturation of games throughout the week.

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In 2016, the schedule makers definitely did their job, as a couple of the divisional races came down to the final week of the season. The last regular season game actually featured a winner-take-all game between the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions for the NFC North division title. The AFC West was also decided on the final day of the season, as was a couple of the seedings for the playoff. Hopefully the 2017 schedule will come down to the final weekend as well, with teams actually having a reason to play in Week 17.