NFL Announces 2011 Schedule

Despite the lockout imposed on the players by the NFL team owners, the league announced, on Tuesday, the 2011 schedule.

The NFL team owners declared a lockout of players following the move by the players' union to dissolve themselves and pursue court action against the league. Players like Osi Umenyiora, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees filed antitrust lawsuits against the NFL to attempt to halt a lockout. Owners accused union chief DeMaurice Smith of negotiating in bad faith and imposed a lockout.

If players are granted, in court, the request for a preliminary injunction to end the lockout and the league is unable to get a stay of the injunction pending an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, the NFL would go back into operation at least temporarily. If that happens, the upcoming season potentially would be played, while the players’ antitrust litigation against the owners would continue to play out in court.

Talks between representatives of the league and of the players, mediated by Chief Magistrate Judge Arthur J. Boylan, at a federal court in Minneapolis, and are expected to be continued today.

If the lockout issue is resolved in a timely manner, the season will start with the traditional Thursday night opener at Lambeau Field where the Super Bowl champion, Green Bay Packers will face the 2009 Super Bowl winners, the New Orleans Saints.

In the first Sunday of the regular season there will be games in Washington and New York areas on the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Washington Redskins will host the New York Giants at FedEx Field that afternoon, while the New York Jets will host the Dallas Cowboys at the New Meadowlands Stadium in the first Sunday night game of the season.

New England Patriots will travel to Miami to meet the Dolphins, while the Denver Broncos are to host the Oakland Raiders in the first Monday night games of the season.

On Thanksgiving in Baltimore, there will be the first matchup of brothers as opposing head coaches of Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers. 

Jim Harbaugh, head coach of the 49ers is the brother of John Harbaugh, who is Ravens' head coach. The Harbaugh brothers, are the first set of brothers to head coach two different NFL teams. The game is to be played at 8:20 p.m. on Nov. 24, while in the other Thanksgiving games, Detroit Lions will be hosting the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys will be hosting the Miami Dolphins.

In the attempt to increase NFL's global appeal, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Chicago Bears game will be played in London on October 23. However, if the sport’s labor situation is not resolved by August 1, the game will be rescheduled and will be played in Tampa. 

There will be only one game scheduled for the first day of Christmas, Packers vs Chicago Bears, while other 13 games will take place on Saturday, December 24.

You can find the entire season schedule on the official NFL site .