2011 NFL season 2011 NFL season The 2011 NFL season was the 92nd regular season of the National Football League. It began on Thursday, September 8, 2011, with the Super Bowl XLV champion Green Bay Packers defeating the Super Bowl XLIV champion New Orleans Saints 42–34 at Lambeau Field and ended with Super Bowl XLVI, the league's championship game, on February 5, 2012, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis where the New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots 21–17. Due to a labor dispute between league owners and players, a lockout began on March 11 and ended on July 25, lasting 18
Super Bowl nomenclature returned to Roman numerals for Super Bowl LI, following the 2016 regular season. The most recent Super Bowl was Super Bowl LII, on February 4, 2018, following the 2017 regular season. The game was created as a part of a merger agreement between the NFL and its then-rival league, the American Football League (AFL). It was agreed that the two leagues' champion teams would play in the AFL–NFL World Championship Game until the merger was to officially begin in 1970. After the merger, each league was redesignated as a "conference", and the game has since been played between the