Brady to face Brees in opener as league unveils its 2020 schedules
Tom Brady will make his Tampa Bay Bucs regular-season debut Sept. 13 against Saints star Drew Brees in New Orleans, the first matchup of 40-plus quarterbacks in NFL history.
The Miami Dolphins and rookie quarterback Tua Tagavailoa, meanwhile, will kick off the season on the road Sept. 13 against a revamped New England Patriots lineup.
And Gardner Minshew’s Jacksonville Jaguars will kick off the 2020 season at home Sept. 13 against the Indianapolis Colts.
All 32 NFL teams released their schedules early Thursday evening with the hope the league will be able to navigate the
NFL OPENING WEEKEND Buccaneers at Saints, Sunday, Sept. 13 coronavirus pandemic and find a way to play the 2020-21 season.
The Kansas City Chiefs will open defense of their Super Bowl championship by hosting Houston on Sept. 10 in the NFL’s annual kickoff game.
The Texans won a regular-season game at Arrowhead Stadium in 2019, then blew a 24-0 lead in the divisional round of the playoffs.
The opening of SoFi Stadium in the Los Angeles area that Sunday night has the Rams hosting the Cowboys.
Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas will debut on Monday night, Sept. 21, with the Raiders facing Brees and the Saints.
The Chiefs, who won their first Super
Bowl in a half-century in February, need baseball’s Royals to move their game for Sept. 10, which now is part of a doubleheader two days earlier. The teams’ stadiums share parking lots.
The NFL schedule, not to mention offseason activities and the preseason, has to be considered tentative given the current prohibition on large gatherings.
But Commissioner Roger Goodell has said the league is planning for a normal season, albeit while making contingency plans.
“The league and the clubs have been in contact with the relevant local, state and federal government authorities and will continue to do so,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said.
The traditional Monday night doubleheader on opening weekend will have Pittsburgh at the New York Giants, who have a rookie head coach in Joe Judge, and Tennessee at Denver.
“The No. 1 positive is we’re getting ready to play football, so that’s the biggest thing,” Judge said. “Once you get the schedule, it starts moving a little bit faster in your mind in terms of preparing for what’s in front of you.”
Top overall draft pick Joe Burrow and the Bengals start off against the sixth overall selection in April’s draft, Justin Herbert, and the Chargers in Cincinnati. The Bengals will face the other highly rated rookie quarterback, Tagavailoa, in Week 13 when they play the Dolphins.