We are 24 hours away from the release of the 2020 NFL schedule. The first big report on what to expect has come out. The NFL plans to schedule non-conference games each of the first four weeks of the season John Clayton told Pittsburgh’s 93.7 The Fan.
.@JohnClaytonNFL tells @937theFan that the NFL schedule will be NFC vs AFC for the 1st 4 weeks of the season. Steelers play the NFC East. So 1st 4 games would be Cowboys, Eagles, Redskins, and Giants.
— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) May 6, 2020
A short time later, more reports came out to the same effect, including The Athletic’s Vic Tafur who said the NFL will schedule “disposable non-conference” games in the first month.
Anticipate NFL schedule being released tomorrow with possibly disposable non-conference games the first 4 weeks. So #Raiders, in some order, would host Bucs and Saints and travel to face Panthers and Falcons in first month.
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) May 6, 2020
This season the Raiders’ non-conference schedule is the NFC South. They face the Saints and Buccaneers at home and the Falcons and Panthers on the road.
The reason for this plan would be in case there are games which end up being canceled early this season due to the coronavirus pandemic. If they have to start the season late and cancel any games, non-conference games are the “disposable” ones.
This morning I laid out the five games on the Raiders schedule which seem most likely to be featured in prime time. The first of those games is their home opener.
My guess is the first game at Allegiant will be a prime time match-up with the Saints. The second will be another prime time match-up with the Buccaneers. With games in Atlanta and Carolina the other two games of the first four. That is, of course, if those games are played at all.
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