2011 NFL season The playing of the 2011 NFL season , the 92nd regular season of the National Football League , is contingent upon the adoption of a new collective bargaining agreement ( CBA ) between the league owners and the National Football League Players Association , the players ' labor union . The season is tentatively scheduled to begin on Thursday , September 8 , 2011 at Lambeau Field , the home of the Green Bay Packers , Super Bowl XLV champion ; and end with Super Bowl XLVI , the league ' s championship game , on February 5 , 2012 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis . However , a work stoppage is expected if there is no CBA in place , which may , depending on how long it lasts , shorten or cancel the entire season . Potential labor dispute . NFL owners unanimously voted in 2008 to opt out of their current collective bargaining agreement ( CBA ) with the National Football League Players Association ( NFLPA ) following the 2010 season . That last labor agreement gave players about 60 percent of the league ’ s $ 8 billion in revenue . A major reason for opting out is that the owners want a better deal to help pay for investments they have made on new stadiums and other expenditures . On the other hand , the players are very skeptical that the owners are losing money , and therefore are resisting to take the necessary pay cuts across the board . As bargaining chips , the owners have proposed to extend the regular season from 16 to 18 games , establish a rookie wage scale , and implement other health and safety issues . But the players are concerned that these health and safety proposals would be offset by the potential injuries that might occur during those two extra games . Anticipating a lockout initiated by the owners if no deal is made , a number of players have voted to decertify the union , which would expose the owners to potential antitrust lawsuits . However , the players would then lose the ability to collectively bargain with the owners . The league is also exempted from most facets of antitrust laws as a result of Public Law 89 - 800 , passed in the wake of the AFL – NFL merger in 1970 , complicating any potential lawsuit against the league . The players union has also hired firms to lobby members of the U . S . Congress on their behalf , claiming that a work stoppage could potentially cost each NFL city $ 160 million in lost business , a figure that the league owners say is inflated . If there is a work stoppage , it would technically begin on March 4 , 2011 , a day after the current CBA expires , but a provision ensures that the 2011 NFL Draft will still take place . As for other contingency plans , the league has yet to make these public , including whether to temporarily change the postseason format ( like after the 1982 strike ) . NASCAR , which traditionally holds its opening race the weekend following the Super Bowl , has postponed the start of their 2012 season back to February 26 , to avoid competition with either a delayed Super Bowl or any extension of the season . Schedule . If the entire 2011 season is played as scheduled , it would begin on Thursday , September 8 , 2011 at Lambeau Field , with the Super Bowl XLV champion Green Bay Packers as the host team ; the last regular season games would be held on Sunday , January 1 , 2012 ; the playoffs would then start on Saturday January 7 , 2012 ; and Super Bowl XLVI , the league ' s championship game , on February 5 , 2012 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis . Under the NFL ' s scheduling formula , intraconference and interconference matchups will be : The league ' s plans for an International Series game is on hold until the labor issues are resolved . The league needs a few months in advance to plan the logistics of such a game played on foreign soil , and a prolonged work stoppage would threaten to cancel it . If the International Series game can be held , the league is in negotiations with Croke Park in Dublin , Ireland as a potential host site . However , under the terms of the Bills Toronto Series agreement , a regular season game will still be scheduled to be held in Toronto . Additionally , under the NFL ' s scheduling formula , the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins are the two AFC East teams eligible to face the Dallas Cowboys for the 2011 Thanksgiving Classic . The Detroit Lions will face an NFC team ( the possibilities are the Chicago Bears , Green Bay Packers , Minnesota Vikings , Atlanta Falcons , Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers ) . The teams for the Thanksgiving nightcap on the NFL Network will be determined in the spring . Christmas Day , December 25 , 2011 , falls on Sunday . The league ' s general policy when this happens is to hold the majority of its games during the day on Christmas Eve , with one or two National Football League Christmas games on Christmas evening . Media . This will be the sixth season under the current television contracts with the league ' s television partners : CBS ( all AFC Sunday afternoon away games and one Thanksgiving game ) , Fox ( all NFC Sunday afternoon away games and one Thanksgiving game ) , NBC ( 17 Sunday night games and the kickoff game ) , ESPN ( 17 Monday night games over sixteen weeks ) , NFL Network ( eight late - season games on Thursday and Saturday nights , including one Thanksgiving game ) , and DirecTV ' s NFL Sunday Ticket package . These contracts run through at least 2013 . On December 22 , 2010 , the league announced that its national radio contract with Westwood One has been extended through 2014 . The league also extended its contract with Sirius XM Radio through 2015 . The league has yet to announce plans to compensate their media partners should the season be shortened or canceled if there is a work stoppage . The networks that carry the NFL have also yet to announce their own contingency plans , and possible alternate programming . A work stoppage could potentially cost these networks billions of dollars in ad revenue and other entertainment platforms that depend on the games being played . ( Under the NFL ' s television contracts , the networks must still pay the league regardless of whether or not the league plays any games . ) Meanwhile , the United Football League has set aside a portion of their television contract for their 2011 UFL season , as a potential package of replacement programs for the networks . Uniforms . The New York Giants plan to adopt a new throwback uniform as their new alternate uniform . The throwback would replace their red alternate jerseys that the team wore from 2004 – 2007 . 2011 will mark the last season that the Denver Broncos will be wearing their navy blue jerseys as their primary colored jersey , as the team plans to designate their orange alternate jersey the team ' s new primary jersey color for the 2012 NFL season . The move is being made due to overwhelming fan support to return to using orange as the team ' s primary home jersey color , which harkens back to the days of the Orange Crush Defense , as well as John Elway ' s return to the organization as the team ' s executive vice president of football operations . The team had considered making the switch for the 2011 season , but were too late to notify the NFL of the changes . The move will also likely mean the retirement of the Broncos ' blue pants , which Elway was not a fan of as a player and would not aesthetically match up with the orange or white jerseys . The aforementioned navy blue jerseys , which had been the team ' s primary home jersey color since they were first introduced in 1997 , are expected to be the team ' s new alternate colored jersey . On February 9 , 2011 , the Buffalo Bills announced that the team plans to introduce redesigned uniforms for the 2011 NFL season . No details were given on what the uniforms would look like , but it was said that the charging buffalo logo would be kept . An official unveiling of the new uniforms will be at a fan appreciation event later this year . This would be the first full redesign of the Bills ' uniforms since the 2002 NFL season . Coaching changes . The uncertain labor issues were speculated to have a minimizing effect on coaching changes prior to the 2011 season , with owners predicted to be more hesitant than usual to hire a high - price , high - profile head coach . Eight coaches were fired either during or immediately after the 2010 NFL season , compared to three in the year prior ; only one of the new hires ( John Fox ) had ever been a head coach in the NFL prior to their hirings or promotions .