<P> The National Football League ( NFL ) regular season begins the weekend after Labor Day in early September and ends in December or early January . It consists of 256 games , where each team ( 32 total ) plays 16 games during a 17 - week period . Since 2012 , the NFL schedule generally has games in one of five time slots during the week . The first game of the week is played on Thursday night , kicking off at 8 : 25 PM ( ET ) . The majority of games are played on Sunday , most kicking off at 1 : 00 PM ( ET ) , some late afternoon games starting at 4 : 05 or 4 : 25 PM ( ET ) . Additionally , one Sunday night game is played every week at 8 : 30 PM ( ET ) . One Monday night game then starts at 8 : 30 PM ( ET ) every week with the exception of the first week of the regular season , in which two Monday night games are played back - to - back ( the second game always occurring on the West coast ) , as well as the last week of the season , in which no Monday night game is held . In addition to these regularly scheduled games , there are occasionally games at other times , such as a Saturday afternoon or evening , or the annual Thanksgiving Day games in which three games are played . During the final week of the regular season , all games are held on Sunday . </P>
<P> The National Football League ( NFL ) regular season begins the weekend after Labor Day in early September and ends in December or early January . It consists of 256 games , where each team ( 32 total ) plays 16 games during a 17 - week period . Since 2012 , the NFL schedule generally has games in one of five time slots during the week . The first game of the week is played on Thursday night , kicking off at 8 : 25 PM ( ET ) . The majority of games are played on Sunday , most kicking off at 1 : 00 PM ( ET ) , some late afternoon games starting at 4 : 05 or 4 : 25 PM ( ET ) . Additionally , one Sunday night game is played every week at 8 : 30 PM ( ET ) . One Monday night game then starts at 8 : 30 PM ( ET ) every week with the exception of the first week of the regular season , in which two Monday night games are played back - to - back ( the second game always occurring on the West coast ) , as well as the last week of the season , in which no Monday night game is held . In addition to these regularly scheduled games , there are occasionally games at other times , such as a Saturday afternoon or evening , or the annual Thanksgiving Day games in which three games are played . During the final week of the regular season , all games are held on Sunday . </P>
how many games do they play in nfl
how many games do they play in nfl
256 games , where each team ( 32 total ) plays 16 games
256 games , where each team ( 32 total ) plays 16 games