NFL season 2015

The season officially started on March 10, 2015 at 16-00. But already from March 7, clubs began to contact players' agents, offering them new contracts or renewing old ones. All season contracts must be concluded before March 10th. ^[one]

Free Agents

Draft

From February 17 to February 23, drafted newcomers were sorted by value. The draft took place from April 30 to May 2 in Chicago . ^{[2] The} previous fifty drafts (since 1965) took place in New York. ^[3]

Training for the 2015 season began on July 22 and lasted until the end of preseason , September 3. Most of the training is played by beginners.

Team training starts no earlier than fifteen days before the first preseason scheduled games. At this point, the lineups can reach 90 people. By the third week of preseason, the number of players in a team is reduced to 75, and by the end of preseason, the roster of teams should not exceed 53.

Also, before the start of the regular season, each team played four friendly matches. The final preseason schedule is announced at the Pro Football Hall in the Hall of Fame on Saturday, August 9th. Game Hall of Fame is an annual tradition of greeting newcomers. Games take place at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium , which is located in Canton , Ohio . The game is broadcast by NBC . ^[4] .

The 65th preseason game ended Thursday, September 3rd, a week before the start of the regular season. At this point, each team had played 4 games, with the exception of Steelers and Vikings, they had five games.

The regular season began on Thursday evening after the celebration of the so-called Labor Day in the United States - every first Monday of September. During the 17-week season, 256 games were played, and each of the 32 league teams spent 16 games. According to the schedule, each team has one game week. In the season 17 games fell on Monday, while 2 of them were held at the end of the first week. Unlike previous seasons, the final game of the season on Monday was not. The games were held on Thursday, including the opening of the season on September 10, as well as 3 Thanksgiving games. The schedule of the season provides for 16 games on Sunday, January 3.

Game formula

Under the NFL game formula, it is understood that each team from the division will hold two meetings (one at home, one away) with three other teams. In addition, each team will play against four teams of another division from another conference. A similar formula changes every year.

For this season there will be the following formula: ^[5]

Highlights:

• NFL Kickoff Game - the opening game of the season, the meeting was attended by the champions of last year - New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers. The first game of the regular season was held on September 10, 2015 at 20-30 EDT at the Gillette Stadium , last year's champions defended their title. The result of the game is 28-21 in favor of the Patriots.
• International Series - Games outside the United States. Three games will take place at Wembley Stadium in London, UK. ^[6] The Miami Dolphins and New York Jets on Sunday, October 4, will broadcast CBS. This is the first divisional game in the International Series. Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills on Sunday October 25th, this will be the third jaguar match in the International Series. And the Kansas City Chiefs will play with the Detroit Lions on Sunday November 1, the Fox channel will broadcast the game. ^[7]
• Thanksgiving games will be held November 26, 2015, Thursday. On this day, only the teams of the National Football Conference participate for the second season in a row. The first game will take place between the Detroit Lions and the Philadelphia Eagles , and the match will be broadcast on Fox . The second game will take place between the teams “ Dallas Cowboys ” and “ Carolina Panthers ”, for the latter this is the first appearance in Thanksgiving games; The official broadcast of the match can be seen on the CBS channel. The broadcast of the third match will be on NBC , where they will play Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears . Brett Farv , a former Packers quarterback from 1992 to 2007, will be invited to the game as a special guest. ^[eight]
• Christmas games fall on Friday, December 25, 2015. The game between the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers teams, which starts at 17:25 local time, will be broadcast by the NFL Network sports channel. In recent years, this is the second case when the night game will be held on Christmas Eve (the first case was in 2007). When scheduling, they are usually guided by the rule to transfer games that fall on the evening before Christmas.

Divisions

AFC = American Football Conference, NFC = National Football Conference

Conferences

The playoffs of 2015 began with the Wild Card games that hit the weekend, Saturday, January 9, 2016, and Sunday, January 10, 2016. Division games were held on Saturday, January 16, 2016, and on Sunday, January 17, 2016. Next, the winner from each group met with two teams from each conference. The winners conference was held on Saturday, January 24, 2016, between the champion team of the American Football Conference and the champion team of the National Football Conference .

On February 7, 2016, the winner of the 2015 Super Bowl 50 was determined. The game was held at Levi's Stadium , Santa Clara , California . Instead of the traditional designation of the Super Bowl serial number by the Roman number, the Arabic number “50” was chosen. Jamie Weston, creative director of the NFL, commented on the choice, citing the main reason for the difficulty in creating an aesthetically appropriate logo with the Roman number “L”. ^[9]

The following changes were made to the rules of the 2015 NFL season ^[10] :

• During the game, a medical timeout is allowed when the player is disoriented and / or has suffered a concussion. This timeout does not apply to a team whose player has been injured. In terms of compliance, it is possible to replace an injured player and one player from an opposing team.
• Linebackers can now be assigned numbers from 40 to 49.

To mark the 2015 anniversary season of the Super Bowl 50, various events will be held with a focus on the gold color. Gold color will be present in all NFL logos, including the Draft, Kickoff and Playoffs logos. A 50-yard mark will be drawn in gold, and starting from week 7 of the regular season, logos with gold trim will appear on staff jackets and hats. High schools whose players or coaches are members of the Super Bowl 50 will receive a golden soccer ball as a gift from the NFL . ^{[11] [12]}

• The Cleveland Browns team unveiled a new uniform on April 14, 2015. Three colors, orange, brown and white, from which nine different combinations can be made. The city name “ Cleveland ” will be located on the chest above the player’s number, and the inscription “Browns” will be vertically on the side of the leg. This arrangement of inscriptions on the form is used in the NFL for the first time. ^[13] Small changes were also made to the team logo. The orange color on the helmet became brighter and more saturated, and the mask became brown.
• For the first time in the history of the existence of the San Francisco Forty Niners club, they presented an alternative form, where black prevails: red t-shirts combined with black breeches. ^[14]

Referee Bill Livi resigned after completing the 2014 season. ^[15] On May 13, 2015, John Hussey was appointed in his place. ^[16] A further 10 officials were hired, including the first female judge, Sarah Thomas , to serve as a line judge. ^[17] The son of Walt Coleman , Wolt Coleman IV, will also take the position of judge. ^[18]

• NFL Official Website