All but the hardest of FootballBros (like Albert Breer) knew this was going to be a tough NFL season to pull off, if you really envisioned every team playing 16 games exactly how the schedule was laid out.
Once the NFL broke their pseudo-bubbles from training camp, things were going to get dicey as players and coaches came more in contact with the real world — never mind the onset of cold and flu season.
But you figured those who led the NFL would have some common sense and make the difficult decisions to help the league through a successful 2020 campaign.
As usual, when it comes to the NFL league office, we were wrong.
It started in the planning for the season. Now it's spread to weekly decisions.
Despite not being able to be in their own facility to this point — and maybe not even Friday — the NFL continues to push the Patriots full-steam ahead towards hosting the Broncos on Sunday at Gillette Stadium, just as it did with Monday night's game in Kansas City.
I wish I were kidding, but I'm not.
The Patriots could play their second-straight game with both of their quarterbacks not taking a single snap in practice prior to taking the field. Yeah, that's really safe. Yeah, that really makes a lot of sense.
But this is Roger Goodell's NFL. You have to suspend reality and sensibility to muddle through.
Of course, all this started in the offseason when the NFL had the benefit of all the time and planning in the world. How did they use it? They just plowed ahead with the same-old, same-old.
We're the NFL, we're always right. Nothing we do is ever wrong. Nothing affects us.
If the league office had any people with common sense and not just Goodell's yes-people (he rid the league office long ago of anyone who would give him real advice) and greedy owners weighing in to make sure their pockets are lined properly, the NFL would have constructed a schedule that had a high probability of success.
Something along the lines of only divisional games, plus the other intraconference division on the schedule and the two other AFC opponents based on the previous year's standings. Then you build in bye weeks because Covid issues were bound to pop up, plus that would help the players stay healthy considering preseason practices and games were severely curtailed.
For the Patriots, it would look something like this:
Sept. 13 Miami Dolphins
Sept. 20 at Buffalo Bills
Sept. 27 vs New York Jets
Oct. 5 at Baltimore Ravens
Oct. 11 BYE
Oct. 18 at Miami
Oct. 25 vs. Buffalo
Nov. 1 at Jets
Nov. 9 vs. Texans
Nov. 15 BYE
Nov. 22 vs Las Vegas Raiders
Nov. 29 at Kansas City Chiefs
Dec. 6 vs Denver Broncos
Dec. 13 at Los Angeles Chargers
Dec. 20 BYE
Dec. 27 BYE to get players into a conference playoff bubble
Jan. 3 Wild-card round
Jan. 10 Divisional round
Jan. 17 Conference championships
Jan. 24 Bye
Jan. 31 Super Bowl
Other provisions, for this postseason only:
- No byes;
- Two additional playoff teams in each conference based on overall record;
- Teams enter a postseason bubble.