Future Opponents

The National Football League realigned its divisional and conference structure in 2002 with the introduction of the Houston Texans as an expansion franchise, and with that adopted a scheduling format that determines the majority of each team's opponents.

The formula for each team's 16-game schedule includes: home and away games against its three division opponents (6 games), the four teams from another division within its conference on a rotating three-year cycle (4 games), the four teams from a division in the other conference on a rotating four-year cycle (4 games) and two games against conference opponents based on the prior year's standings (2 games).

The actual schedule should be released by the NFL in April.