NFL 2023 Schedule Fun Facts! The NFL’s 104th season is scheduled to begin on Thursday, Sept. 7 with the regular season running through Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024.
The defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs will host the NFL Kickoff game for the Thursday opener on Sept. 7 at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium incredibly against Craig Shemon's Detroit Lions!
Since 2004, 18 defending Super Bowl champions have played in the first game to open the season, and those teams have gone 14-4 in those games.
However, the 2021 Super Bowl champion Rams lost their opener last season against the Bills, 31-10.
This season’s schedule will feature 14 playoff rematches from last season, the most in a season in NFL history. That includes a rematch of the Super Bowl (Chiefs-Eagles), both Conference Championships (Bengals-Chiefs & 49ers-Eagles) and all 4 Divisional Round games (Bengals-Bills, Jaguars-Chiefs, Cowboys-49ers & GiantsEagles).
This will be the third straight season that each team will play 17 games (over 18 weeks), after the NFL had played a 16-game regular season schedule from 1978-2020 (excluding the 1982 and 1987 strike-shortened seasons).
Here are the key dates for the 2023 season:
Thursday, August 3: Hall of Fame Game (Browns vs Jets)
Thursday, September 7: NFL season opener (Lions-Chiefs)
Sunday, January 7, 2024: Final day of regular season
Sunday, February 11, 2024: Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada
Allegiant Stadium opened in 2020 and this will mark the first time that Las Vegas and the state of Nevada will host a Super Bowl.
One of those playoffs rematches I spoke of earlier is a Super Bowl rematch between the Eagles and Chiefs, which will mark the 9th time in NFL history that Super Bowl participants meet in the season immediately following their Super Bowl matchup, and the first time since 2017 (Falcons at Patriots).
Below is a list of Reunion Games I think are very interesting:
Tyreek Hill – Dolphins at Chiefs – Week 9 in Germany
Tyreek Hill returns to Kansas City and faces the Chiefs for the first time since they traded him to the Dolphins in March of 2022. Hill ranks 5th in Chiefs history in receiving yards and won Super Bowl LIV with Kansas City.
Davante Adams – Packers at Raiders – Week 5 on Monday Night Football on ESPN
Davante Adams faces the Packers for the first time since Green Bay traded him to the Raiders in March of 2022. Adams had 73 receiving touchdowns with the Packers, 2nd-most in franchise history trailing only Don Hutson (99).
Davante Adams & Aaron Rodgers – Jets at Raiders – Week 10
Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams play against each other for the first time since they were both traded from Green Bay (Adams to Raiders | Rodgers to Jets). From 2018-21, Rodgers and Adams had the most completion (425), yards (5,257) and touchdowns (47) by any QB-receiver duo in the NFL.
Adam Thielen – Vikings at Panthers – Week 4
Thielen signed a 3-year deal with the Panthers this offseason after spending the first 9 seasons of his career with the Vikings. Thielen, a Minnesota native who was undrafted out of Minnesota State, ranks 3rd in Vikings history in receiving touchdowns (55) trailing only Hall-of-Famers Cris Carter (110) and Randy Moss (92).
Head Coach Frank Reich – Colts at Panthers – Week 9
Frank Reich faces the Colts for the first time since Indianapolis fired him as their head coach in November of 2022. In 4+ seasons as the Colts head coach, Reich went 40-33-1 in the regular season and reached the playoffs twice (1-2 playoff record).
Head Coach Brian Daboll – Giants at Bills – Week 6
Daboll was the Bills offensive coordinator from 2018-21, the first 4 seasons of Josh Allen’s career. Now, Daboll faces the Bills for the first time since he left to become the Giants head coach following the 2021 season.
Head Coach Jonathan Gannon – Cardinals at Eagles – Week 17
Gannon, who was hired as the Cardinals head coach 2 days after the Super Bowl, was the Eagles defensive coordinator for the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Last season, that unit ranked 2nd in the NFL in defensive efficiency en route to a Super Bowl appearance.
Offensive Coordinator Nathaniel Hackett – Broncos vs Jets – Week 5
Last season, his first as the Broncos head coach, Hackett was fired following the team’s 4-11 start and became the 5th head coach since the 1970 merger to not finish his first season as an NFL head coach. Hackett is now the Jets offensive coordinator.
Offensive Coordinator Kellen Moore – Cowboys at Chargers – Week 6 on Monday Night Football on ESPN
Moore was the Cowboys offensive coordinator from 2019-22, but parted ways with Dallas following last season. Moore is now the Chargers offensive coordinator, while Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy will call plays for the Dallas offense. McCarthy had some interesting comments about the change, saying quote: “Kellen wants to light the scoreboard up, but I want to run the damn ball so I can rest my defense. I think when you’re a coordinator, you’re in charge of the offense. Being a head coach and being a playcaller, you’re a little more in tune with everything.”
