Coronavirus: Weeks 1 and 4 of 2020 NFL preseason schedule will be eliminated
As expected, the NFL will cut the 2020 preseason from four games per team to two.
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Due to the coronavirus, there were no organized team activities this offseason with club facilities closed so it had been rumored that the NFL was going to cut the preseason from four games per team to two in order to allow clubs to spend more time in training camp. According to reports, the league will make that cut official no later than Thursday and will eliminate Weeks 1 and 4 of the exhibition slate. Those are the two most meaningless weeks annually when starters play little if at all.
The annual Hall of Fame Game, this year scheduled for Aug. 6 between the Cowboys and Steelers, was scrapped last week to bring Dallas and Pittsburgh down from five games to four with the other 30 clubs.
This means the debut of the new $5 billion-plus SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles will be moved back. Both the Rams and Chargers were set to play home games there in the first week of the preseason. They play each other in Week 2.
Cam Newton's first game with the Patriots -- if he even was to play Week 1 -- was to be Aug. 13 at home vs. Detroit. Now, ironically, it should be against his former Panthers team on Aug. 20. The NFL debut of first-round rookie quarterbacks like Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert will have to wait an extra week. The Nick Foles vs. Mitchell Trubisky QB battle on the Bears will begin Aug. 22 in Denver.
Here's what the schedule looks like as of now, barring any changes in the wake of this announcement. For example, it's possible the NFL will want to move things around to make sure every team plays once at home and once on the road -- ESPN and Sports Business Journal are reporting that will be the case -- although with no fans in attendance, that may not matter. Still, it wouldn't be fair for some teams to never leave home in the preseason and others to play both on the road.
Thursday, Aug. 20
Philadelphia at Miami (Tua's debut?)
Carolina at New England (Newton's Patriots debut vs. former team?)
NY Jets at Detroit
Friday, Aug. 21
Atlanta at Buffalo
Minnesota at Cincinnati (Burrow's debut?)
Las Vegas at San Francisco
Saturday, Aug. 22
Cleveland at Green Bay
Baltimore at Dallas
NY Giants at Tennessee
Jacksonville at Tampa Bay (Tom Brady's Bucs debut?)
Seattle at Houston
Kansas City at Arizona
Chicago at Denver
LA Rams at LA Chargers (Herbert's debut?)
Sunday, Aug. 23
New Orleans at Pittsburgh
Monday, Aug. 24
Washington at Indianapolis (Philip Rivers' Colts debut?)
Thursday, Aug. 27
Detroit at Miami
New England at Philadelphia
LA Chargers at Seattle
Arizona at Las Vegas (Raiders' first game in Sin City?)
Friday, Aug. 28
Pittsburgh at NY Jets
Cincinnati at Atlanta
Saturday, Aug. 29
San Francisco at Chicago
Indianapolis at Buffalo
Green Bay at NY Giants
Kansas City at Dallas
Tennessee at Tampa Bay
Washington at Jacksonville
Houston at New Orleans
Denver at LA Rams
Sunday, Aug. 30
Minnesota at Cleveland
Carolina at Baltimore
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