NFL issues statement saying Patriots’, Buccaneers’ scheduling quirk is ‘coincidental’

The Patriots and Buccaneers will only play at the same time twice this season.

New England Patriots fans looking forward to watching Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski in 2020 are in luck.

The Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers aren’t scheduled to play a game at the same time until Week 15. Both teams have five primetime games and it’ll give Patriots fans all the opportunities needed to tune in and see how their former quarterback and tight end are doing.

League spokesman Brian McCarthy sent an email out and said it’s all just coincidental.

“Putting together the 256-game schedule is very complex — it’s a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma,” McCarthy said, via ESPN. “The minimal conflicts here are coincidental.”

The Patriots open the season against the Miami Dolphins at 1 p.m. ET, and the Buccaneers will face the New Orleans Saints at 4:15 p.m. The only scenarios the teams will play at the same time are in Week 15 and 17.

Brady and Gronkowski will spark a ton of interest in Tampa Bay, so whether or not the scheduling was coincidental or not — it’s a smart move.

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