Tag: 2020 NFL schedule

NFL could shorten upcoming preseason

According to NFL Network, the league could shorten the upcoming 2020 preseason schedule.

The NFL is still of the belief that the 2020 regular season will go on as expected, and already planned for, in September. But it appears the preseason may not.

Teams across the league have released schedules for their preseason exhibition games, but those reportedly might not go on as expected. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the NFL and players union are talking about potentially trimming the preseason slate due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic:

The NFL has already had numerous changes to their current offseason due to the pandemic, but in all likelihood, many players may not mind having less exhibition games to account for. That’ll help avoid injury.

However, players might see the least amount of actual football in league history this offseason prior to games counting in the regular season. The league recently sent a memo to teams in regard to getting players back in the building for workouts. In that, it was stressed the teams should conduct social distancing and virtual meetings and practices, when possible. The NFL and NFLPA have yet to agree on a time frame for players to return to facilities, but that slate of rules isn’t exactly anything that reminds one of a physical sport.

In addition, the league and players could use this opportunity to take a look into the future as well. The latest CBA agreement calls for an addition of a 17th regular season game starting next year, along with a shortening of the preseason. Teams could be getting a head start on prepping for an offseason with a shorter preseason in the coming weeks.

 

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Bills to log seventh-most travel miles in NFL next season

Buffalo Bills and their travel miles in the 2020 NFL season.

A year after having some of the best travel in the NFL in 2019, the Bills will have a much different element ahead of them with their 2020 NFL schedule.

In 2019, the Bills traveled a total of 8,710 miles to complete their slate. That number more than doubles in 2020.

With their slate ahead of them, assuming is goes on as planned, the Bills will have to travel approximately 20,066 miles next season. That’s the seventh-most in the NFL, a year removed from having the third-least amount of travel in the league.

Of course this all has to do with opponents. Last season the Bills faced the NFC East and AFC North. The North actually has teams such as the Steelers and Browns who some argue should be in Buffalo’s usual division because of how close the three teams are. The East is one of the more bizarre divisions based on locations and the Bills had to travel to the Cowboys because of that. All things considered, Buffalo to Dallas was the furthest trip the Bills had to make a year ago.

Looking ahead, the Bills face both western divisions in the AFC and NFC next season. Because of this, the Bills have much larger-scale travel coming, including road games at the Raiders (AFC), Cardinals (NFC), 49ers (NFC) and Broncos (AFC).

But the Bills seem confident already in their travel style. Earlier this offseason, it was revealed that the Bills were the only AFC East team to not request back-to-back west coast games. The NFL allows teams traveling across the country to request having such games in their upcoming schedules.

The Dolphins requested to have their meeting with the 49ers and Broncos back-to-back, while the Jets have the Seahawks and Rams. The Patriots have both LA teams, the Chargers and Rams.

For the Bills, they’ll have their work on the west coast sprinkled around. In Week 3 the Bills visit the Raiders, then there’s Week 10 at the Cardinals, Week 13 at the 49ers and then a final trip to the Broncos in Week 15.

According to this list from the NFL Wire, the Bills have the second-most travel among AFC East teams in 2020 with the Dolphins at 21,183 miles. The Patriots will travel (19,266 miles while the Jets check in at 17,246 miles.

 

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CBS Sports has the Vikings finishing 9-7 in 2020

CBS Sports predicted that the Vikings will clinch a 2020 playoff berth in Week 17, by beating the Lions in a close matchup.

CBS Sports predicted each game on the Vikings’ 2020 schedule, and though the outlet projected the young secondary to get burned multiple times, it still had Minnesota finishing with a winning record.

The Vikings will finish 9-7 in 2020, CBS Sports predicted, which could very well be good enough for a playoff spot. In fact, CBS Sports has the Vikings doing just that, in late-game fashion against the Lions.

Here’s what the outlet said about the Lions-Vikings game in Week 17:

“Faced with an opportunity to clinch one of the NFC’s extra wild card spots, the Vikings go down to the wire with Patricia’s Lions, who get another boost from Stafford’s big arm. In the end, Cousins is ultra-efficient down the stretch to capitalize on Detroit’s ailing secondary, with Dan Bailey securing Minnesota’s trip back to the playoffs on a late field goal. Vikings win 27-24.”

Overall, a Vikings’ playoff berth, even if the team gets knocked out early, would be a fine outlook for a Minnesota team that is relatively young.

Texans DC Anthony Weaver excited to face Chiefs, Ravens in first two weeks of 2020

Houston Texans defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver says he is excited to take on the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens to start off 2020.

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Anthony Weaver’s welcoming gift for being promoted to Houston Texans defensive coordinator is he has to stop Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson in consecutive weeks.

The Texans face the Kansas City Chiefs in Game 1 of the 2020 NFL season at Arrowhead Stadium, and then go home to NRG Stadium for a Week 2 showdown with the Baltimore Ravens.

Rather than feeling sorry for himself or blaming the schedule makers for giving Houston a rocky start to the season, the first-year defensive coordinator embraces the opportunity of facing a challenge.

“It’s absolutely exciting,” Weaver told reporters on May 13. “It’s an opportunity for us to put our defense out there and showcase it to the entire world, and show them what we’re going to be.”

The Texans had success against the Chiefs in Week 6 of 2019 at Arrowhead with a 31-24 win. However, in the divisional playoffs, Kansas City overcame a 24-0 deficit, which was bad enough, but then the eventual Super Bowl champions blew the doors off Houston with a 51-31 final score.

Regardless of how one looks at the playoff game, the fact of the matter is Houston’s defense gave up 51 points.

In Week 11 at the Ravens, the Texans defense also had a hard time stopping an offense led by the next generation of quarterbacks as Baltimore stomped Houston 41-7.

The Texans were coming off a wild-card playoff win ahead of their rematch against the Chiefs. Houston was coming off a bye week after a game in London.

Weaver and the Houston coaching staff has all offseason to prepare for these two games, as difficult as they will be.

Said Weaver: “In terms of preparation, that will all be determined when we figure out exactly how this training camp situation and everything is going to go due to COVID. We’re all going to be in the same boat. Everybody will have the exact same amount of preparation time, all players involved, us, Kansas City, Baltimore.”

Weaver expects the defense to be “ready to go” against the Chiefs and Ravens.

“They’ll be champing at the bit and I’m sure having to play those guys in those first two games will be a little bit of extra added motivation going into camp as well,” said Weaver.

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Podcast: Discussions on Jags signings of Mike Glennon, Aaron Lynch, top-3 games on schedule

James Johnson and Phil Smith go into details about the top-3 games on the Jags schedule and what the Jags’ latest veteran additions mean.

With the Jacksonville Jaguars schedule now official, fans of the team are pretty excited to see the product on the field despite national pundits having doubts about the team. To discuss the top-3 games we’ll be eying and the floor and ceiling for their record, Jags Wire contributor Phil Smith and I hit the booth for episode 16 of the “Bleav in the Jags” podcast.

Before getting into our thoughts on the schedule, we also discussed the Jags’ additions of edge rusher Aaron Lynch and quarterback Mike Glennon, both of whom should provide a a veteran presence at two key positions in training camp.

Feel free to listen to the archived episodes of “Bleav in Jags,”too, and subscribe via Apple podcasts, Google Play, or Spotify.

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3 factors that could make or break the Falcons in 2020

No NFL team is without flaws when the season begins, although some have more concerns than others.

No NFL team is without flaws when the season begins, although some have more concerns than others. After missing the playoffs in 2018 and 2019, the Atlanta Falcons were more aggressive this offseason.

The team moved on from six of last year’s starters, and signed some of the biggest names on the free-agent market. Still, there are a few question marks surrounding the Falcons’ 2020 roster.

Here are three factors that could determine Atlanta’s success or failure this season.

Is Todd Gurley healthy?

Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

After the Rams bit a $10 million bullet by releasing running back Todd Gurley, the Falcons swooped in and landed the 25-year-old All-Pro on a one-year, $5.5 million contract. Gurley replaces Devonta Freeman — who wasn’t the same last season — in an attempt to improve a running game that averaged just 85.1 yards per contest in 2019. But is Gurley healthy? Last season, he averaged 3.8 yards per carry and didn’t look anywhere close to the player he was in previous seasons.

Even in a down year, however, Gurley still went over 1,000 all-purpose yards and accounted for 14 touchdowns. With a left knee that’s been rumored to be arthritic, it’s worth wondering if the former first-round pick can get back to being the play-maker that nearly won the NFL’s MVP award two years ago. The Falcons had numerous chances to select a running back in the 2020 NFL Draft but opted against it, indicating the team is confident that Gurley will return to form.

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Falcons win playoff game in USA TODAY’s 2020 season predictions

The Atlanta Falcons didn’t completely collapse after their heartbreaking 2016 Super Bowl loss, as the team went on to win a wild-card game over the Rams in 2017.

The Atlanta Falcons didn’t completely collapse after their heartbreaking 2016 Super Bowl loss, as the team went on to win a wild-card game over the Rams in 2017.

Following two 7-9 finishes in 2018 and 2019, though, the pressure is on the Falcons to perform this season or it could be the end of head coach Dan Quinn and GM Thomas Dimitroff’s time in Atlanta.

In Nate Davis of USA TODAY’s 2020 NFL record predictions, he has the Falcons finishing 9-7 and earning a wild-card berth:

“A team that could have a first-rounder at every position when the offense goes three-wide – RB Todd Gurley, TE Hayden Hurst and WR Laquon Treadwell are recent pick-ups – quietly went 6-2 in the second half of 2019. However Atlanta can’t afford another slow start given it must hit the road to face the Chargers, Chiefs and Bucs in December, which also includes home dates with New Orleans and Tampa Bay.”

Davis predicts each game all the way up to the Super Bowl. He has Atlanta defeating the Green Bay Packers in the NFC wild-card before losing to the New Orleans Saints in the divisional round.

This would definitely be an improvement, but if the Falcons end up losing to the division-rival Saints — whom Davis has winning the Super Bowl — it would be yet another tough playoff loss for fans to get over.

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Bills finalize 2020 preseason schedule

Buffalo Bills 2020 preseason schedule.

Last week when the NFL released their 2020 regular season slate, the preseason schedule was still in its rough draft stages.

Now the preseason schedule is completed.

Here’s the Bills’ finalized 2020 exhibition season schedule, the final time the team will play four preseason games before the league reduces the number of games from four to three in 2021. That’ll go hand in hand with the 17-game new 17-game schedule:

Week 1: Friday, Aug. 14 at Ravens (7:30 p.m.)

Week 2: Friday, Aug. 21 vs. Falcons (7:00 p.m.)

Week 3: Saturday, Aug. 29 vs. Colts (4:00 p.m.)

Week 4: Thursday, Sept. at Lions (7:00 p.m.)

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Bills only AFC East team to not request back-to-back west coast games

Buffalo Bills only AFC East team to not put in 2020 schedule requests.

When traveling NFL teams have some flexibility. Clubs can request one little curveball in their schedules.

If a team, such as the Bills, is heading a few time zones away out west, they’re allowed to request those games to be back-to-back. The 2020 season is an example of Buffalo having a chance to do that.

However, the Bills evidently did not do that.

Per Sharp Football, the NFL granted every one of these requests made by teams ahead of the 2020 season. Teams that did so were the 49ers, Rams, Raiders, Chargers, Cardinals, Patriots, Jets and Dolphins. That means the Bills were the only AFC East team to not want some of their West Coast games to be back-to-back.

It’s kind of a science that you can’t prove whether or not it works. Kind of a… to each their own. Advantage? Less travel. Disadvantage? A team does not have their home facility to work at… and they can’t go home and see their own families.

The Dolphins requested to have their meeting with the 49ers and Broncos back-to-back, while the Jets have the Seahawks and Rams. The Patriots have both LA teams, the Chargers and Rams.

For the Bills, they’ll have their work on the west coast sprinkled around. In Week 3 the Bills visit the Raiders, then there’s Week 10 at the Cardinals, Week 13 at the 49ers and then a final trip to the Broncos in Week 15.

 

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16 storylines for Bills in 2020 schedule

Storylines for each Buffalo Bills 2020 regular season scheduled game.

With the Buffalo Bills 2020 regular season schedule having been delivered to us last week, there’s plenty of intriguing matchups.

In fact, you can find some type of storyline for each and every one of them. Some are obvious, like the QB king of the AFC East skipping town. Others are underlying ones.

With that, here are 16 storylines for Bills fans each week of the team’s upcoming schedule:

Bills wide receiver John Brown. Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

WEEK 1- SUNDAY, SEPT. 13, 1:00 P.M.: JETS AT BILLS

For the fifth-straight season, the Jets or Ravens start their year against the Bills. It’s Gang Green this time around. Once again, we’re going to see the same ol’ storyline, but in a bit bigger manner. In the third season of any NFL player, you’re supposed to get the full package. This is Josh Allen vs. Sam Darnold, magnified by it being the start of each of their third pro years. Who looks better?

WEEK 2- SUNDAY, SEPT. 20, 1:00 P.M.: BILLS AT DOLPHINS

After starting in the AFC East, the Bills stick with the division and head to Miami for the Dolphins. It’s expected that this will be quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s first-ever home game in South Beach. Could actually be a big crowd in Miami for once for this one. His first game is in New England against the Patriots. How does Tagovailoa handle the Bills for the first time?

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