The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Giants open season on ‘MNF’ vs. Steelers
NEW YORK — The coronavirus pandemic did not stop the NFL from scheduling a Giants home game in Week 1 of the 2020 NFL season. On the contrary, it pushed Big Blue into prime time against the Pittsburgh Steelers in their first “Monday Night Football” home opener since 1995.
Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers also will make a Monday night Week 8 visit to MetLife Stadium, marking the first time in the 51-year history of “Monday Night Football” the Giants will host two Monday games in the same season.
And a late-season revenge visit from Odell Beckham Jr. and the Cleveland Browns helps to cap off a challenging schedule awaiting first-year head coach Joe Judge.
“I’ll tell you what, when you get the schedule, it definitely does give you a little surge of energy,” Judge said Thursday night. “The number one positive is we’re getting ready to play football, so that’s the biggest thing.”
The NFL’s contingency plan if it cannot start the regular season on time is simply to move the early weeks of the schedule onto the back end after its Week 17 slate. Any week could serve as the opening week.
Every team shares the same bye week as their Week 2 opponent. And the Super Bowl (Feb. 7) could be pushed back if necessary. But for the time being, the NFL is proceeding as if everything is on schedule, though obviously the preseason in August is no guarantee.
Judge’s head coaching debut against the Steelers will be the Giants’ first Monday night season opener since 2014, when they lost, 35-14, to the Lions in Detroit. But the date every national media outlet will have circled on their calendars is Nov. 2, when the Giants will come off an 11-day break to host Brady’s new bunch.
Most intriguing game: Week 8, vs. Buccaneers on “Monday Night Football”
Brady’s trademarked new “Tompa Bay” NFL dream team arrives with Gronkowski, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin in tow. And Eli Manning isn’t around anymore to knock off Brady in the big games. Daniel Jones unforgettably won his NFL debut last season at Tampa Bay, but he is 0-1 head-tohead against Brady after last season’s turnover-filled loss in Foxborough. He’ll seek revenge in this primetime matchup that promises
Toughest stretch: Week 3-8
The back end of the Giants’ schedule isn’t friendly, either, with a Week 13 trip to Seattle and a Week 17 visit from Dallas bookending home face-offs with the Cardinals and Browns and a trip to Baltimore. But the Giants will be fortunate if they reach that point in one piece: they host the reigning NFC Champion 49ers in Week 3, Washington in Week 6 and the Bucs in Week 8, and interspersed are trips to Los Angeles for the Rams (Week 4), to Dallas (Week 5) and to Philly in prime time (Week 7). The Giants have lost their last seven to the Eagles and their last six to Dallas.
Easiest stretch: Weeks 9-12
At Washington. Vs. Eagles. Bye week. And a trip to Cincinnati to face Joe Burrow. Not easy by any stretch, but a breather compared to the rest of the slate. They’re 3-2 in their last five against Washington, the only division opponent they’ve been able to beat.