The Los Angeles Chargers have the best social media team.
The Chargers are big winners of social media thanks to a phenomenal series of tweets on Wednesday.
We will find out when and where Los Angeles will be playing on Thursday evening.
But prior to the schedule release, the Bolts’ social media crew poked fun by creating a thread, comparing their future opponents to different flavors of Pop Tarts, normal and abnormal flavors.
The NFL is set to release the league schedule. How might player movement, new faces and the current global climate impact the schedule?
The National Football League does a tremendous job of keeping itself relevant throughout the calendar year. Part of this ability lies in how they package “hope.” The NFL draft gives each fan base the idea that with the right few picks, next year could really be the year for their favorite team. Television ratings reflect that, and this year – as the only “game” in town – ratings were through the roof.
Another bit of news the league uses each year to stay in the global conversation is the release of the upcoming schedule. Normally, logistics do not move the needle for most people, but somehow the release of the NFL schedule creates hours of conversation and endless topics on predicted win/loss records, games to watch, and the like. (Believe me, we will be doing all of that here at Touchdown Wire).
But with the current global climate and concerns over a season starting on time – if at all – the schedule release is taking on a bit more importance. To that end, what might the 2020 NFL schedule look like when it’s released Thursday at 8:00 p.m. EST?
(Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)
Traditionally, the NFL opens each season with the defending Super Bowl Champions hosting a Thursday-night affair. Banners are raised, trophies are shown off and the team and its fans come together one final time to toast the success of the previous season. (One exception to this tradition was last year, when the league opened the NFL100 season by having two of the oldest franchises square off, the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears).
So in all likelihood the league turns back to the Super Bowl winners this year, with the Kansas City Chiefs opening the season up at Arrowhead Stadium. Some obvious choices for their opponent from their slate of home games stand out immediately. This year the New England Patriots and the Houston Texans are scheduled to visit Kansas City, and either a rematch of the Divisional Round last season or a contest between two teams with a growing rivalry makes a great deal of sense. The Patriots and the Chiefs opened up the season a few years back when the Patriots were coming off a Super Bowl, so we could expect New England to make the trip to Kansas City this year.
There might be a potential catch to this, as we will discuss in a moment, so a dark horse selection might be one of their NFC South opponents this year. In 2020 the NFC South and the AFC West are the teams slated to play each other in non-conference games, so you could see either the Carolina Panthers or the Atlanta Falcons scheduled to open the season in Kansas City.
Who will the Los Angeles Chargers be squaring off against this season?
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the full 2020 NFL schedule, including preseason, will be released this week with no changes expected. The regular-season opener will still be slated for Thursday, Sept. 10, while the Super Bowl will remain as scheduled for Feb. 7 in Tampa, FL.
The league is considering alternative plans due to the coronavirus pandemic, and one of them could involve the Chargers not being able to open up the season in their new stadium (SoFi Stadium). If they do, there’s a chance that fans might not be able to spectate, just like the other 31 teams.
The good news is that there will be football no matter what.
With that being said, we are just days away from finding out the official date and time Los Angeles will be facing off against these opponents:
Home: Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, Atlanta Falcons, New York Jets, Carolina Panthers, New England Patriots, Jacksonville Jaguars
Away: Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, Buffalo Bills, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints, Cincinnati Bengals
Jared Goff called playing in front of empty stadiums “not ideal.”
As the 2020 NFL season nears, there remains an overwhelming sense of uncertainty about when it will begin and what form the schedule will take. No one truly knows whether the season will start on time, if it will be shortened or if there will be fans in the stands when play does eventually resume.
The Rams are facing the possibility of playing home games at their brand new stadium without fans in the seats. SoFi Stadium has already had its opening event canceled – a Taylor Swift concert in July – and it remains to be seen if public gatherings will even be allowed this fall.
Jared Goff was asked this week about the possibility of playing games in an empty SoFi Stadium and he’s not crazy about it.
“Not ideal,” Goff said on a video conference call. “Not what you want to do. I understand there are a lot of bigger implications in place right now as far as health of the world. But I know that’s not the vision we had moving to L.A. and I know that’s not the vision Mr. Kroenke had, ultimately, but if that is what it is, we have to roll with it.”
Goff fully understands the severity of the situation and the uncertainty of it all, saying he has no idea if fans will be allowed to attend games whenever they do take place.
“I don’t think it’s anything we want to do, but I’m preparing for full stadiums. Is that going to happen? I don’t know. I don’t know what the percentages are. I’m not a doctor. I’m not a scientist. Where will this progress? I don’t know. You guys don’t know. No one knows. So, we’re going to see in the next three or four months and then find out.”
This is supposed to be a memorable year for the Rams as they undergo a brand refresh, complete with new logos, uniforms, helmets and of course SoFi Stadium. But the coronavirus could delay the season, and thus the new era of the Rams in L.A.
Governor Gavin Newsom doesn’t sound optimistic about the upcoming NFL season.
The NFL is pushing forward with its regularly scheduled programming despite the coronavirus pandemic bringing the world to a halt. Free agency and the new league year started on time, the draft will still be held on April 23-25 – albeit, in a different, fan-less setting – and the expectation is that the season will start on time.
California governor Gavin Newsom said this weekend that he doesn’t expect the season to begin on time with fans in stadiums – at least not in his state.
On his daily press briefing just now @GavinNewsom tells me flatly re #NFL starting season on time w/fans in stands in the CA stadiums: "I’m not anticipating that happening in this state." @AdamSchefterhttps://t.co/ejqC423Vtk
Kirk Herbstreit of ESPN said recently that he’d be shocked if there was football this fall, which was a strong statement from the college football analyst. President Donald Trump doesn’t seem to agree with that sentiment, though and has a more optimistic view of the situation.
He thinks the season will start on time in September.
In conference call with major league sports commissioners on Saturday, President Donald Trump said he believes the NFL season should start on time in September, sources familiar with the call told @wojespn and me. More on call coming at https://t.co/rDZaVFhcDQ.
Considering the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s no way to be sure sports will return any time soon. The NFL isn’t currently in season like the NBA, NHL and MLB are supposed to be, but there’s still a lot that needs to be accomplished before the season can begin. OTAs and minicamps have already been canceled and training camps are supposed to take place in July and August.
Without any of that offseason work, players will be at greater risk of injury when they do eventually start playing, nor will they be in football shape.
