Four ways NFL schedule leaves room for coronavirus contingencies

[Snakebitten]

If #1 happens, Eagles could lose the Bengals and @49ers games and Cowboys could lose @Seahawks and Browns games.

1. Weeks 3 and 4 are the most likely to get wiped out if the NFL needs to drop to 14 games. There are no protect-at-all-cost division games in either week and all 32 teams are home once and away once during that span. There had been speculation of no conference games in the first four weeks, but the slate for Weeks 1 and 2 are chock-full of conference and division games that could be played in place of Weeks 3 and 4 or at the end of the season.

2. All teams are home once and away once in Weeks 1 and 2, as well. So, if the NFL needed to play a 12-game season, all schedules would be balanced with six home and six away games. The 49ers, Titans, Cowboys and Steelers are the first teams with back-to-back home games, in Weeks 5 and 6.

3. All Week 2 opponents share the same bye week later in the season, so if those games are postponed there is an easy trap door where teams could lose their bye week.

4. ESPN reported Super Bowl LV in Tampa Bay could be pushed back by any number of weeks from Feb. 7.

https://nypost.com/2020/05/08/four-w...contingencies/

[slag]

None of this addresses the number of people in the stands

[Snakebitten]

I think they're going to wait as long as possible before that announcement to ensure they squeeze as much out of the fanbase as possible.

[Susquehanna Birder]

Even if they leave the stands empty, I don't see the NFLPA agreeing to have dozens of players together on the field, in a potentially hazardous environment.

[KenfromCanada]

Even if they leave the stands empty, I don't see the NFLPA agreeing to have dozens of players together on the field, in a potentially hazardous environment.

A lot can change between now and the fall, but I just can't see where the season starts. One person on the offensive or defensive line could infect multiple people over the course of a game. Unless something changes in the way of a vaccine before the start of the season, which is pretty unlikely, I just can't see how this season happens.

[Raptor]

A lot can change between now and the fall, but I just can't see where the season starts. One person on the offensive or defensive line could infect multiple people over the course of a game. Unless something changes in the way of a vaccine before the start of the season, which is pretty unlikely, I just can't see how this season happens.

Fauci did an interview with Peter King...he suggested heavy testing the day before and the morning of the game. Anyone coming up positive is immediately sidelined & quarantined.

im guessing the billionaire’s club will putting a ton of resources into testing so the “show can go on”!!

[IronEagle]

In all seriousness nobody knows what is going to happen. I see some teams are offering refunds for people with underlying conditions without the ticket holder giving up their long term ticket rights.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...ia-peter-king/

[Raptor]

In all seriousness nobody knows what is going to happen. I see some teams are offering refunds for people with underlying conditions without the ticket holder giving up their long term ticket rights.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...ia-peter-king/

There is good financial incentive for the NFL to remain positive at this point.

Despite all the variables and huge unknowns I expect the NFL to give a positive spin right up the last possible minute. There will announcements of delays and amended schedules as the we move forward until the whole thing is canceled.

[Susquehanna Birder]

Fauci did an interview with Peter King...he suggested heavy testing the day before and the morning of the game. Anyone coming up positive is immediately sidelined & quarantined.

This might work in ideal conditions, but I don't think they have a quick-result test developed yet. Apparently the shorter-term tests are for antibodies...and there is only an assumption that reinfection won't happen. Even Fauci suggests that the various strains of this bug will be difficult to nail down.