Although the 2013 NFL schedule won’t be released for a few months, every NFL team knows who its 2013 opponents are.
That’s because the NFL uses this formula to determine each team’s opponents:
1. Six games consist of home and away against three division opponents.
2. Four games are played against teams from another division within the conference on a rotating three-year cycle.
3. Four games are played against teams from another division in the other conference on a rotating four-year cycle.
4. Two interconference games are based on the prior year’s standings. So that the first-place teams play each other, the second-place teams play each other, the third-place teams play each other and the last-place teams play each other.
Using that formula, we know every game that will be played in the 2013 NFL regular season, including what will surely be one of the marquee games of the season when Peyton Manning and the Broncos travel to New England. Here’s the full list of 2013 opponents for all 32 NFL teams.