Alright the first set of COVID-19 tests are back and everyone tested negative from the Texans-Chiefs game. Here’s a question though: why the hell did it take so long? If it takes a week to get results I have a feeling this could end up biting the NFL on the ass down the line when a team plays Sunday and then Thursday and they find a positive test or two. Then instead of two teams, you have issues with four. Not good.
But saying that it’s a good start. Many are seemingly waiting for something to happen with the NFL. I am the opposite. I am hoping they get through the entire season unscathed by the Coronavirus. I wish them well because I wouldn’t want to see the players or coaches affected by it. Maybe we should all feel this way. Be optimistic. Problem is, some in sports media can’t help but be pessimistic and I assume this is mostly to get attention. If I was more popular I assume I would get a deluge of comments from the sports media defending their industry. And that’s their right. But like almost every employment sector you have to employ the 90/10 rule: 10% of the people employed in that sector shouldn’t be because they are terrible at their job and/or dangerous to their co-workers and the other 90% sometimes suffer because of that. Very, VERY few jobs aren’t like this (and in some cases that last number is larger).
OK enough of that. Schedule time! Here we go:
Thursday
| Cincinnati at Cleveland | 8:20, NFL Network, TSN1/3/4/5, CTV Two |
Sunday Early
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Buffalo at Miami | Buffalo, Rochester | Kitchener, Toronto | Ottawa | ||
| Denver at Pittsburgh | Seattle, Cleveland, Boston | Saskatchewan, Northern Ontario | Vancouver Island, Alberta, Atlantic | ||
| Jacksonville at Tennessee | Spokane | ||||
| NY Giants at Chicago | Minneapolis, Detroit, Burlington | ||||
| Carolina at Tampa Bay | Burlington, Boston | Ottawa, Montreal, Atlantic | London, Toronto | ||
| Detroit at Green Bay | Detroit | ||||
| LA Rams at Philadelphia | |||||
| Atlanta at Dallas | |||||
| Minnesota at Indianapolis | Minneapolis | Winnipeg | TSN5 | ||
| San Francisco at NY Jets | Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane, Rochester | Vancouver, Alberta |
Sunday Late
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Baltimore at Houston | Cleveland | All affiliates | |||
| Kansas City at LA Chargers | All affiliates (except Cleveland) | All affiliates | |||
| Washington at Arizona | Buffalo |
Sunday/Monday Primetime
| New England at Seattle | Sunday, 8:20, NBC, TSN 1/3/4/5, CTV Two |
| New Orleans at Las Vegas | Monday, 8:15, ABC, TSN 1/3/4/5 |
Notes on the Canuck-Specific Schedule
- OK it’s only two games that no one can get up here without Sunday Ticket/DAZN/RedZone/going to certain bars/illegal streaming/whatever. And both of them are in the early timeslot so that is good for this early in the season.
- Chiefs-Chargers get pretty much all the viewers for the late timeslot. Ravens-Texans at least get CTV Two all to themselves so that’s something.
- CROSS-FLEX! I’m waiting to see how many people get upset over this. I mean unless you are a Giants or Bears fan and don’t get the game in your area this makes no sense. They really do need to do away with the conferences being almost entirely on one network, at least in the regular season. Playoffs it makes sense but in the regular season, who cares. Get RedZone. It will cure all your NFL ails.
- The early audience is spread around quite nicely. Four different games get fairly decent Canadian audiences. Have to admit that so far it has been good for the NFL fan in Canada where it comes to coverage of different games.
- You will notice ABC is doing Monday Night Football. That’s right, the original network of MNF will be showing the first game ever in the new Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Should be good. Also, ESPN is doing a Megacast and one part of the Megacast may be available on TSN2 meaning for the first time ever, an NFL game will be on all five TSN stations at once. Good stuff. The rest of the Megacast will be available on TSN Direct.
There you go. Schedule complete. So far there honestly hasn’t been much drama to start the season. Kind of feels like we are in the eye of the storm though. I mean what’s an NFL season without drama? None of us know because it has never really happened. So it’s just a matter of when and how ridiculous the soap opera atmosphere is. Anyway, enjoy the games and enjoy your weekend.
Bossman's Blog 