SI.com’s Jenny Vrentas noted the NFL schedule does not appear to “reflect regional differences or concerns” related to the pandemic. Despite a Santa Clara County official earlier this month stating he “did not think we’d have any sports games until Thanksgiving, the 49ers were given a Sept. 13 home opener.” Likewise, N.Y. has been an “epicenter for the outbreak in the U.S., but MetLife Stadium will host games in Weeks 1 through 5” (SI.com, 5/7).
NOT BANKING ON DELAYS: NFL.com's Judy Battista noted the NFL "apparently isn't too worried about construction delays" at either SoFi Stadium or Allegiant Stadium. The schedulers "could have put the Rams, Chargers and Raiders on the road for the first few weeks," but the Rams open their new venue in Inglewood on "SNF" in Week 1. The following week will see the Chargers play at SoFi and the Raiders christen Allegiant on "MNF" (NFL.com, 5/7).
EARLY CHRISTMAS PRESENT: The Saints will host the Vikings on Christmas in the “first Friday game in the NFL since 2009.” The Saints have “never before played on Christmas Day” (NOLA.com, 5/7). The game will “air on Fox and the NFL Network, and stream on Amazon.” Christmas typically is a “showcase for the NBA,” but the NFL “often schedules games on the holiday when the calendar lines up.” While it played games on Christmas in ’17 (Monday) and ’16 (Sunday), it “did not play any games the last time Christmas fell on a Friday in 2015” (ESPN.com, 5/7).
NO THANKSGIVING TURKEYS: The three-game Thanksgiving slate is “loaded with entertaining quarterbacks but lacking in interesting matchups.” It begins with Texans-Lions (Deshaun Watson vs. Matthew Stafford) and follows with Redskins-Cowboys (Dwayne Haskins vs. Dak Prescott) and Ravens-Steelers (Lamar Jackson vs. Ben Roethlisberger) (N.Y. TIMES, 5/8).
CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE: In L.A., Sam Farmer notes the NFL is “heading into its next round of broadcasting negotiations, and it could not afford to come up with some kind of Frankenstein schedule complete with unsightly seams and untenable sacrifices.” The fact it was able to “construct a workable schedule that checks all the boxes is a credit” to NFL Senior VP/Broadcasting Howard Katz and his team: Michael North, Onnie Bose, Charlotte Carey and Blake Jones. They had to “finish the process via video conferences from home, as opposed to their familiar confines at NFL headquarters on Park Avenue.” The schedule is “normally built in a glass-walled room that’s frosted opaque with soundproof walls, encrypted computers, and can be accessed only by a special key card” (L.A. TIMES, 5/8).
