2021 N.F.L. Schedule: A 17-Game Season and Quarterback Showdowns - The New York Times

Tom Brady and the Buccaneers begin their Super Bowl defense against Dak Prescott and the Cowboys in the season opener.

Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady will begin his quest for an eighth Super Bowl victory at 44 years old when the Buccaneers play the Dallas Cowboys in the N.F.L.’s first game of the 2021 regular season on Sept.

Brady will face a team led by quarterback Dak Prescott, who will be 16 years Brady’s junior when he makes his expected return from a gruesome ankle injury that caused him to appear in only five games last season.

It incorporates the addition of a 17th game for each team, the first expansion of the N.F.L.’s regular season since 1978.

To make way for the added game, the league moved the Super Bowl by one week, to Feb.

The Panthers also host the Jets, with the new Carolina quarterback, Sam Darnold, set to face the team that traded him weeks before drafting his replacement, Zach Wilson, with the second overall pick.