NFL approves 17-game schedule for 2021, Seahawks will play Steelers

As has been expected for some time now, NFL owners have approved a 17-game regular season schedule that will begin during the 2021 season, and for the Seahawks, that means they will face the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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The NFL has long had a 17-week, 16-game schedule along with a four-week preseason, but all that is set to change with the owners approving the new-look schedule. The new agreement also dictates that all 32 teams will play internationally at least once over the next eight seasons.

Beginning in 2021, the NFL is expanding to a 17-game regular season. pic.twitter.com/skNisJwPS2

— NFL (@NFL) March 30, 2021

In addition to there now being 18 weeks and 17 games during the regular season, there number of preseason games will fall to three from four. Instead of a fourth preseason game, teams will have a week off between their final preseason contest and Week 1 of the regular season. The start date of the regular season is not impacted by the changes.

There will still be one bye week for each team, and with the extra regular season game pushing everything back, the Super Bowl will take place on the second Sunday of February rather than the first. The Super Bowl last month was Sunday, Feb. 7, but it would have been on Feb. 14 had this new schedule been in place.

With the added game, instead of having an even eight-eight split for home and away games, teams will have either one more road or home game depending on the year. The Seahawks, for example, will now have nine road games and eight home games in 2021. But, because the Seahawks have more road games than home games, two of their three preseason games will be in Seattle as they will travel just once during the exhibition games.

Seahawks’ 2021 opponents are now known

We don’t have the exact order yet, but we do know who the Seahawks will be facing in the regular season next year.

As per usual, the Seahawks will play each NFC West team twice. Additionally, the Seahawks face all four teams from the NFC North and AFC South.

Since the Seahawks won the NFC West in 2020, they’ll face the three other NFC divisional champions as well as the Steelers, who were the AFC North champions. The Green Bay Packers would have been an opponent regardless as Seattle is facing all four of the NFC North’s teams, but the Seahawks also will play the New Orleans Saints and the Washington Football Team.

Here’s a full look at Seattle’s 17 games:

Home: Arizona, Los Angeles (Rams), San Francisco, Chicago, Detroit, Jacksonville, New Orleans and Tennessee.

Away: Arizona, Los Angeles (Rams), San Francisco, Green Bay, Houston, Indianapolis, Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Washington.

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