What You Need to Know about NFL Football 2018-19

So here’s a fall dilemma that many of us face. No, it’s not which chunky sweater to wear, or which pair of cute boots to buy. Or where to hike or cycle this weekend, or whether we should try the Kiki Challenge. The dilemma is how to talk about NFL football with all the people in our lives who live for the start of the NFL season and who become utterly unintelligible when they start chattering about it. And some of them chatter about it a lot. Which can lead to side-eye, eye rolls, loud sighing, and all kinds of relationship problems at work and at home. Ugh. This is supposed to be the best time of the year! Why do they have to ruin it with sports?

Fear not, dear reader, help is on the way.

We convened our Sports Desk to get their thoughts on the bare minimum you need to know to be able to participate in a conversation about pro football without embarrassing yourself or annoying any of the NFL fans in your life during the 2018-19 season.

Why should you care, you say? Well, even though you may not personally be a fan, football is hugely popular in the US. 70% of US consumers described themselves as “fans of the NFL” and 30% of Americans named football as their favorite sport.

That means someone you know — perhaps someone you love, or who signs your paycheck, or to whom you are trying to sell something — is an NFL fan.

Don’t you want to be able to communicate effectively with that person for the next four months?

To set you up for success this fall, here are the 10 essential facts that you could reasonably be expected to know about the NFL as a layperson and non-sports fan. Master them, and you’ll be good to go all season long.

1. Basic organizational facts. The NFL has two conferences: the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). Each conference consists of 16 teams and is divided into four divisions — East, West, North, and South — of four teams each. Each team plays the other teams in their respective division twice (home and away) during the regular season, in addition to 10 other games assigned to their schedule by the NFL. Here’s how to make remembering all of that really simple: pick a team that will be “your” team (personally, we love the New England Patriots); know the conference and division they play in; know who their arch-rival is; and ignore everything else. 

2. Key dates and games. The regular NFL season begins this year on Thursday, September 6th and ends on Sunday, December 30th. During the regular season, each team plays 16 games during a 17-week period, and fans will often refer to which week of the regular season we’re in (like “Week 4.”) So maybe keep track of that if you have a super-fan in your life.

3. The Super Bowl is the final game of the entire season; Super Bowl LIII will be the 53rd playing of the championship game – it’s scheduled for February 3, 2019 (the first Sunday in February) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. Do not plan anything important on that entire weekend (like your wedding), as it will be a fruitless effort. Everyone will be watching the game (or at least pretending to). Watching the ads is fun, actually.

4. Preseason play. You’ll definitely hear NFL fans talking about the “preseason games” right now. Pay no attention. You don’t need to know anything about this — save your fire for the regular season. OK, if you want to know just a tiny bit: there are 5 weeks of games, and the key questions are who makes the cut to be on the team that season, and in some cases, who the starting quarterback will be. All of that gets decided over Labor Day weekend.

5. Post-season play. At the end of the regular season, the top six teams in each conference proceed to the playoffs: the four division winners, and the top two “wild card” teams. The two conference champions face each other in the Super Bowl. You should pay attention to the playoffs if “your” team is involved, or if the fans in your life are really into it. Otherwise, not. You can take January off and pop back in for the Super Bowl.

6. Regular season schedule. While it may appear that NFL games are played randomly and continually throughout the week, as a general rule, every week there is one Thursday night game, one Sunday night game, and one Monday night game. The rest are all on Sunday afternoon. This means that you should expect NFL chatter from football fans on Friday morning about the Thursday night game; on Monday morning about all of the Sunday games; and on Tuesday morning about the Monday night game. At least you get 4 days off.

7. Teams to watch. The championship last season was won by the Philadelphia Eagles, who defeated the New England Patriots (the “Pats”) in the Super Bowl in a surprising upset victory. At the start of the 2018-19 season, the experts’ view is that the best team in the AFC is the New England Patriots. The Pittsburgh Steelers are next in line. In the NFC, the Eagles have some quarterback issues to work out. Carson Wentz, their starting quarterback last season, was injured mid-way through the season. Nick Foles came in as his backup, and led the team to the championship. But Foles has been playing miserably in the preseason. Who will start this season? Stay tuned. The Los Angeles Rams, Minnesota Vikings, and Green Bay Packers are also considered contenders for the NFC championship this season.

8. Players whose names you should know. There are a handful of names your should know, whether or not they’re on “your” team. In a recent national survey, 11 percent of respondents named New England Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady as their favorite player, followed by Green Bay Packers’ quarterback Aaron Rogers at 7%. Memorize those two names, plus the name of “your” team’s quarterback, and you’ll be in good shape. Want some extra street cred? Mention Sam Darnold, the top college pick for the NFL this year. He’s a quarterback for the New York Jets, and hopes are currently very high for him. Or Saquon Barkley, who was also a first-round pick in the college draft — he’s considered the best all-around athlete from the draft, and he’s playing for the New York Giants. Finally, your friends may bring up Khalil Mack of the Oakland Raiders, a talented young player who may soon be traded to another team. And Odell Beckham Junior (“OBJ”), who just signed a record-breaking $95 million deal with the New York Giants (and is a really, really cool dude).

9. The Commish. The NFL Commissioner (the CEO of the league) is Roger Goodell; he’s been in the role since August 2006 and his tenure has been somewhat controversial.

10. Where and how to watch. National television rights for NFL games are shared across NBC (Thursday night), FOX (Super Bowl), CBS (Thursday night), ESPN (Monday night) and the NFL Network (simulcasting games on CBS and NBC, plus pre-season). You can stream games on your mobile device this season on CBS All Access, Yahoo, and Go90; Sunday and Monday Night Football are also available on mobile devices on NBC and ESPN, respectively.

One last bit of advice? If you want to be totally up to speed this fall, check out TWIST – This Week in Sports Talk. We publish it every Sunday, and it has the rundown on everything you need to know to successfully join the conversation about sports. Read it, and we promise you’ll never drop the ball.

Now go forth, and pick “your” team. You got this. Then we can talk about those boots.

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