In six of the last eight seasons, the New York Giants have kicked off the year in Week 1 against the Dallas Cowboys.
As fans anxiously await the release of the 2020 NFL schedule, there is speculation that the start of the season could be in question due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
We live in a different work than we did just a few months ago and with little certainty of what the future will hold for the NFL season, it may benefit the schedule makers to plan for adjustments — something they have reportedly been doing.
Last Thursday night, prior to Round 1 of the NFL Draft, commissioner Roger Goodell said that the NFL would release their schedule in the coming weeks and they planned to play a full 17 weeks.
At least that’s the plan for now.
“We are going to have an opportunity to do really something special tonight.” 🙏@nflcommish previews the 2020 #NFLDraft. 👇
📺: 2020 #NFLDraft | TONIGHT (8pm ET) on NFLN/ESPN/ABC pic.twitter.com/wxV0RoLiaU
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) April 23, 2020
It’s likely that the 17-week schedule is already finalized, but it may need to be adjusted if the pandemic prolongs. As things sit however, the league intends to move forward as planned and make changes when the need arises.
Could all of that uncertainty lead to a change for the near-annual Giants-Cowboys Week 1 kickoff? With the potential shortening of the season on the horizon, it’s possible NFL schedule-makers adjusted the first few weeks in the event they need to be trimmed at a future date. Accordingly, with divisional games being of the utmost importance, it would behoove the NFL to leave them off of some of those early weeks as a precaution.
The good news? We’ll find out next week whether or not that NFL considered those potential pitfalls and whether or not the Giants and Cowboys kick off the season against one another yet again.
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