The NFL has taken a business-as-usual approach to its offseason. That continues this week with the release of the 2020 schedule. The league announced Monday night that it will unveil the schedule Thursday at 8 p.m. ET. This year, the interesting part of the schedule will come in seeing how schedule-makers account for the possibility that the COVID-19 pandemic could affect the season. The expectation is the league will design the schedule so it easily can be shortened, with backloaded divisional games and interconference games early on the docket. The NFL currently is planning to start the week after Labor Day, as usual, with 16 games for each team over 17 weeks with a Super Bowl conclusion on the first Sunday in February.
So Far the NFL has been the only Pro Sport not effected by Covid-19.....Pray we don't get a 2nd wave.
Not sure what you mean. All aspects of the off-season have been effected and there are players and staff and management with the disease as we speak. The entire 2020 season hangs in the balance. Not ganging up on you, VV... just sayin...
Will the schedule carry clues of possibly shared stadiums? When the schedule is released on Thursday night, the specific configuration of 256 regular-season games will be scoured for clues regarding contingency plans that the league surely has formulated, given the pandemic. Some will be obvious. Some may not be. A sense has been percolating for weeks now that the league will schedule interconference games exclusively during the first four weeks of the season, allowing for the first month to be scrapped and a season of 12 games to determine postseason positioning based solely on games against other teams from the same conference. Whether that’s indeed the case will be known from the moment the sheet is removed from the 2020 schedule. Other clues may be harder to spot. For example, will the schedule allow for the possibility of certain teams sharing stadiums? If, for example, games can’t be played in California (either in open stadiums or at all), would the three California teams be relocated for the year to places where fans may attend? The Chargers could play in Phoenix, for example. The Rams could play in Las Vegas. The 49ers could go to Denver. For something like that to happen, the team that usually plays in that stadium and the team that temporarily would be playing in that stadium would need a schedule that doesn’t conflict. Those teams would need to have home games on different weeks or home games separated by one or more days on the same weekend. The phenomenon could apply on the East Coast, too. What if New York and New Jersey decline to open stadiums or permit teams to play in closed stadiums? The Jets, Giants, and Bills could head to Florida, with their home games played in Tampa, Jacksonville, and Miami, not necessarily respectively. The scheduling process already is complex enough without cross referencing schedules of teams in states that may not open stadiums with teams in states that may. Still, it will be interesting to see whether the schedule leaves the door open for the possibility of a home team in a state expected to be open later this year sharing space with a team from a state that could be closed. The mere fact of leaving the door opening for doubling up will have another potential impact on the effort to get the games played. If the NFL has the option to relocate teams for 2020 from states that won’t let games proceed to states that will, the league will have real leverage in the inevitable discussions/negotiations with governors and other politicians regarding the effort to get all games played. NBC
So Far..............is what I said and meant. Super Bowl was played........Draft was done in Virtual Mode. Sounds like the schedule will come on Saturday May 9th ??? I compared the NFL to the NHL....MLB....NBA....
The 2020 NFL schedule will be unveiled Thursday night at 8 ET on the NFL Network, the NFL app and NFL.com. Opponents for all 32 teams were previously released on Dec. 30, 2019, but Thursday will see the 2020 slate unveiled with times and dates. Hence, Thursday will be the first opportunity to look forward to just when the league's biggest and best matchups will be played. NFL Network coverage will be highlighted by Schedule Release '20, which will be a three-hour show breaking down the upcoming 2020 NFL regular season with analysis of the biggest games, how divisions are looking and the primetime showdowns. Live streaming of NFL Network is available across devices (smartphone, PC, tablet and connected TVs) through the NFL app or NFL.com/watch for subscribers of participating NFL Network providers. The NFL app and NFL.com will provide complete team-by-team and weekly schedules of all 256 regular season games, listing opponents, sites and times. The NFL family surpassed $100 million in contributions to COVID relief efforts two weeks ago during the Draft-A-Thon and the fundraising continues through this week's schedule release. Fans may continue to contribute if they are able, by visiting NFL.com/relief to support six nonprofit organizations serving those most in need across the nation.
Teams with 4+ Primetime/Thanksgiving games Ravens 6 Cowboys 6 Patriots 5 Chiefs 5 Bucs 5 Packers 5 Steelers 5 Eagles 4 49ers 4 Bills 4 Saints 4 Seahawks 4 Raiders 4 Rams 4 Bears 4 The biggest news is that the Bills got 4 games. THe Raiders have a new stadium. The Bucs were always gonna get it for Brady and Gronk. The Bucs got it for them, the Bills finally got it for respect.
Strong slate of games in Week One shows NFL expects to start on time Prior to the release of the 2020 NFL schedule, there were reports and rumors that the NFL planned to fill the early portions of the schedule with games that could easily be canceled. That didn’t happen. Instead, the NFL put together a strong slate of Week One games, showing that the NFL is fully planning to start the season on time, rather than potentially delay the start of the season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 NFL season opens with the traditional Thursday night game hosted by the Super Bowl champions. The NFL scheduled Houston to visit Kansas City, a prime time matchup between two of the league’s best young quarterbacks, Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes. That’s exactly the kind of showcase game the NFL would use to start the season with a bang — not the kind of game the NFL would schedule if it feared Week One wasn’t going to happen. Also in prime time in Week One is Cowboys at Rams on Sunday Night Football. The Cowboys are the league’s biggest TV draw, and they’re opening the new stadium in Los Angeles. That’s a big game for the league. Among the Sunday afternoon games in Week One is Buccaneers at Saints, with Tom Brady facing Drew Brees. Brady’s arrival in the NFC South makes the two Bucs-Saints games among the marquee games of this NFL season. And contrary to reports early this week that the NFL planned to open the season with AFC vs. NFC games that could easily be canceled without affecting the playoff race, the Week One schedule is filled with divisional matchups and other games between teams that are expected to battle for playoff spots. Only two Week One games, Raiders-Panthers and Steelers-Giants, match the AFC against the NFC. If we’ve learned anything in the last four months, it’s that a lot can change in the next four months. But right now, the NFL is setting up its schedule with the plan that it will start Week One on time. NBC
Thursday, Sept. 10 Kansas City Chiefs 34, Houston Texans 20 Sunday, Sept. 13 Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Football Team (1 p.m. ET on FOX) Miami Dolphins at New England Patriots (1 p.m. ET on CBS) Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings (1 p.m. ET on FOX) Indianapolis Colts at Jacksonville Jaguars (1 p.m. ET on CBS) Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions (1 p.m. ET on FOX) Las Vegas Raiders at Carolina Panthers (1 p.m. ET on CBS) New York Jets at Buffalo Bills (1 p.m. ET on CBS) Cleveland Browns at Baltimore Ravens (1 p.m. ET on CBS) Seattle Seahawks at Atlanta Falcons (1 p.m. ET on FOX) Los Angeles Chargers at Cincinnati Bengals (4:05 p.m. ET on CBS) Arizona Cardinals at San Francisco 49ers (4:25 p.m. ET on FOX) Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints (4:25 p.m. ET on FOX) Dallas Cowboys at Los Angeles Rams (8:20 p.m. ET on NBC) Monday, Sept. 14 Pittsburgh Steelers at New York Giants (7:10 p.m. ET on ESPN) Tennessee Titans at Denver Broncos (10:20 p.m. ET on ESPN)
