"If the lockout drags on, the NFL has a built-in mechanism to delay the start of the season until what is now scheduled to be the fourth week and still play 16 games and a full postseason.

Here's how they will make up those three weeks if necessary:

- In a bit of creative scheduling, teams playing each other in the third week of the season have the same bye week later in the year. For example, the Giants are scheduled play at Philly on Sept. 25. The Jets are in Oakland. The Giants and Eagles each have their bye in the seventh week. The Jets and Raiders each have their bye in the eighth week. So, if the third week gets cancelled, the makeup games will move to the bye week. Of course, it becomes a lot more complicated if the lockout wipes out more than the first three weeks."