Vikings News: 17-game schedule for 2021 now official
By Adam Patrick
Some Minnesota Vikings news went down on Tuesday after the NFL owners agreed to have 17 games on every team’s 2021 regular-season schedule.
For fans of the Minnesota Vikings that are under the age of 40, the 16-game season is all anyone has ever known.
The NFL switched the amount of regular-season matchups from 14 to 16 in 1978 and it has remained the same ever since. But this came to an end on Tuesday after the league’s owners voted to add a 17th game to each team’s 2021 schedule while also approving the reduction of preseason contests from four to three.
Based on the criteria the NFL agreed to for deciding each organization’s 17th contest of the year, the Vikings now have a trip to the west coast to face the Los Angeles Chargers as a part of their 2021 schedule.
Vikings News: What do these schedule changes mean for Minnesota?
Technically, Minnesota will still be playing a total of at least 20 games each year. But now, the Vikings will be suiting up for 17 regular-season contests and three preseason matchups compared to the 16 regular-season games and four preseason contests that used to be the norm.
Fewer preseason games seems like a positive for Minnesota and every other team around the league. The Vikings can still use these matchups to figure out which players will make their final roster, but they should also be able to begin the regular season a little healthier by participating in one less exhibition game.
Speaking of health, this didn’t appear to be a priority though when the owners agreed to add another matchup to each team’s regular-season schedule. Even with another meaningful game added to everyone’s schedule, teams will still have just one bye week.
So within the past year, the NFL has expanded the playoffs and the regular season, but players still only get one week off during the season to recover from the most violent sport in the world.
This is a league that claims to prioritize player safety. But it’s pretty difficult to believe this is the case when the NFL continues to add more games to their season and fails to give their players additional time for their bodies to recover.