Under the formula, every team within a division plays 16 games as follows:
» Home and away against its three division opponents (six games).
» The four teams from another division within its conference on a rotating three-year cycle (four games).
» The four teams from a division in the other conference on a rotating four-year cycle (four games).
» Two intraconference games based on the prior year's standings (two games). These games match a first-place team against the first-place teams in the two same-conference divisions the team is not scheduled to play that season. The second-place, third-place, and fourth-place teams in a conference are matched in the same way each year.
Beginning in 2010, a change was made to how teams are paired in the schedule rotation to ensure that teams playing the AFC and NFC West divisions would not be required to make two west coast trips (e.g. at San Francisco and at Seattle), while other teams in their division had none (e.g. at St. Louis and at Arizona). The pairings of teams are listed in the 2010 NFL Record and Fact Book (pages 16-19).
