Lucas Oil Stadium may play host to Monday Night Football in Week 5, but it won’t be including the Indianapolis Colts. Instead, there is consideration for the Los Angeles Chargers and New Orleans Saints to play due to Hurricane Delta.
With the Colts on the road in Week 5 to take on the Cleveland Browns, The Athletic reported that the league has notified Lucas Oil Stadium as the primary contingency plan should Hurricane Delta force the Chargers and Saints to be moved off-site.
Colts have been told by the league there is a possibility the Saints and Chargers play a game at their home stadium Monday night, source said, and as @JeffDuncan_ reported. NFL might have to move the game due to Hurricane Delta. Nothing definite at this point.
— Zak Keefer (@zkeefer) October 7, 2020
There is reasoning behind Lucas Oil Stadium being the preferred location, and it isn’t the first time this has happened, per Jeff Duncan of The Athletic.
Indianapolis is the preferred destination because of its accessibility, small downtown footprint and team officials’ familiarity with its infrastructure. The Saints evacuated to Indianapolis in 2008 because of Hurricane Gustav and practiced for a week at Lucas Field in Indianapolis in preparation for their season-opening game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 1998, the team was stranded in Indy an extra day after a win against the Colts because Hurricane Georges closed the airport in New Orleans.
The Saints and Chargers would be able to practice there this weekend because the Colts will likely be out of town by Saturday to head to Cleveland.
Even though the Colts don’t have a Monday night game this season, Lucas Oil Stadium could see some primetime action between the Saints and Chargers in Week 5.
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