The NFL has cut into the Buffalo Bills’ upcoming schedule finally. According to various reports, the NFL has cut off Weeks 1 and 4 of the upcoming 2020 preseason schedule. Prior to this, the only offseason activity the league cancelled was the 2020 Hall of Fame game.
For the Bills, that means their preseason meetings at the Ravens on Aug. 14, and their yearly-exhibition game against the Lions, which was set to be in Detroit, is also cut.
The NFL has yet to confirm the cuts yet, but one such as this was expected to come down at some point due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The first and final weeks of the preseason typically are the two games that mean the least to starting players in terms of playing time.
With the cuts, each snap will become that much more important. In addition, if the cuts truly are the first and fourth games and teams will play their regularly scheduled Weeks 2 and 3 games, that’s big for Buffalo.
Both of the games potentially cut for the Bills are on the road, meaning the other two would be at home. If that’s the case, the Bills could be among the safest teams in the entire league in terms of battling COVID-19 since they wouldn’t be doing any traveling. In this scenario, the Bills would be “quarantined” in Orchard Park from the start of training camp on July 28 until September 20 when the Bills travel to the Dolphins for a Week 2 meeting. Their regular season opener is home against the Jets.
In their other two games on Aug. 21 and 29, respectively, Buffalo is scheduled to welcome the Falcons and Colts to Orchard Park. Once the NFL does officially announce the cuts, expect some clarification on the matter of changing locations of games.
Putting the Bills on the road for at least one of the these games could be dubbed a safety precaution of sorts for other clubs, so the league might end up doing some tinkering of schedules. Some reports indicate that might be the case, but nothing official yet from the league.
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