The Washington Football Team, fresh off their 2020 NFC East division championship, has a chance to convince the nation that last season was no fluke. The NFL unveiled the 2021 regular-season schedule, consisting of 17 regular-season games for the first time in league history.
Washington will play in three nationally televised games against the New York Giants (Thursday), Seattle Seahawks (Monday), and Dallas Cowboys (Sunday).
Coach Ron Rivera has worked hard to change the culture for Washington and bring a new attitude that distances itself from the past three decades of mediocrity under owner Dan Snyder.
Washington won last season despite four different starting quarterbacks. During offseason free-agency, the team brought in veteran signal-caller Ryan Fitzpatrick in hopes of stabilizing the position and giving the team a realistic chance to do something no other NFC East team has done in the previous 16 seasons. That feat is to win back-to-back division titles for the first time since the Philadelphia Eagles did it over the 2001-2004 seasons.
The marquee games on Washington’s schedule are games within the division and contest against Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay and matchups with the following playoff teams from last year; Green Bay, Kansas City, New Orleans, and Seattle.
Overall, Washington has the 15th most difficult schedule (.504) in the NFL, according to Vegas odds. Washington’s opponents in 2021 had a combined record of 136-134-2 last season. However, the schedule does have interesting scenarios, like Washington playing five divisional games to close the regular season and having drawn nine road games because of the NFL’s new 17-game format.
While speaking to reporters via a Zoom conference call after completing the second day of rookie minicamp, Rivera talked about the 2021 schedule.
“I think we got a fair shake for the most part. I appreciate opening up at home, I will tell you that much right now,” Rivera said. “Even though the second one is on Thursday night, it is still at home. The only real questions mark, I really honestly do have is, I am not a big fan of playing on Monday night and then having to travel to the West Coast. That one I was a little concerned with, but I get it. The big question is finishing with the five division games in a row, but I also get that the thought process is they think we are all going to be jumbled up at the end, and we will have a little round-robin tournament to get everybody excited as far as that’s concerned. Like they say, you write them as you draw them.”
Here is the full slate of the newly formed 17-game regular-season Washington faces with dates, time and tv channels expected to carry the games:
Preseason
- Thursday, Aug 12 – at New England Patriots – 7:30 pm on local/NFLN
- Friday, Aug 20 – Cincinnati Bengals – 8:00 pm on local/NFLN
- Saturday, Aug 28 – Baltimore Ravens – 4:00 pm on local/NFLN
Regular Season
- Sunday, Sep 12 – Los Angeles Chargers – 1:00 pm on CBS
- Thursday, Sep 16 – New York Giants – 8:20 pm on NFLN
- Sunday, Sep 26 – at Buffalo Bills – 1:00 pm on FOX
- Sunday, Oct 3 – at Atlanta Falcons – 1:00 pm on FOX
- Sunday, Oct 10 – New Orleans Saints – 1:00 pm on CBS
- Sunday, Oct 17 – Kansas City Chiefs – 1:00 pm on CBS
- Sunday, Oct 24 – at Green Bay Packers – 1:00 pm FOX
- Sunday, Oct 31 – at Denver Broncos – 4:25 pm FOX
- Sunday, Nov 7 – BYE
- Sunday, Nov 14 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 1:00 pm FOX
- Sunday, Nov 21 – at Carolina Panthers – 1:00 pm FOX
- Sunday, Nov 29 – Seattle Seahawks – 8:15 pm ESPN
- Sunday, Dec 5 – at Las Vegas Raiders – 4:05 pm FOX
- Sunday, Dec 12 – Dallas Cowboys – 1:00 pm FOX
- Saturday, Dec 18 – at Philadelphia Eagles – TBA or Sun, Dec 19
- Sunday, Dec 26 – at Dallas Cowboys – 8:20 pm NBC
- Sunday, Jan 2 – Philadelphia Eagles – 1:00 pm FOX
- Sunday, Jan 9 – at New York Giants – 1:00 pm FOX