4 worst-case schedule scenarios for LA Rams in upcoming 2024 NFL season

Is the annual NFL schedule simply the luck of the draw? Or is there something more sinister and deliberate about the way the LA Rams, and all 32 NFL teams for that matter, must scamper back and forth across the county to compete and entertain to satisfy the marketing whims of television producers hoping to cash in on the most dramatic and entertaining contests on a weekly basis?

Are there overriding rules about when an NFL team can be scheduled to play? Yes, there are. The most common scheduling question from fans concerns the number of Prime Time NFL games that one team can be scheduled to compete in during one season. The maximum prime-time games an NFL team is allowed to play in a season is six. So what is a Prime Time NFL game? Prime-time games are those stand-alone games such as Thursday Night Football, Sunday Night Football, and Monday Night Football. Are there other limits as two how often a team can be scheduled for these games during the season?

Actually, yes.

Per NFL rules, teams only play in two 'Thursday Night Football games' during the NFL season. The reason for limiting TNF appearances is the understanding that teams forced to travel on short weeks are disadvantaged.

Exactly how are NFL schedules created?

As in every aspect of the NFL, there are a series of rules and regulations that govern how the annual schedule is created. Here are the basic rules of how NFL team schedules are created:

• Six games against divisional opponents — two games per team, one at home and one on the road.
• Four games against teams from a division within its conference — two games at home and two on the road.
• Four games against teams from a division in the other conference— two games at home and two on the road.
• Two games against teams from the two remaining divisions in its own conference — one game at home and one on the road. Matchups are based on division ranking from the previous season.
• The 17th game is an additional game against a non-conference opponent from a division that the team is not scheduled to play. Matchups are based on division ranking from the previous season.

As you can see from the above rules, there are many hoops to jump through in creating a new NFL schedule. Once the games are established, then the intricate work begins whereby specific games are moved from their default Sunday afternoon time slot to Prime Time slots to give television programming the most entertaining and competitive contests to broadcast to national viewers.