On Thursday, the National Football League released its 2020 schedule and is continuing to plan for a regular season that will take place as planned. There had been some rumors that the league would put interconference games, or at least games outside the division, at the start of the season, so that if the first few weeks needed to be canceled, the impact on playoff tiebreakers would be less severe. However, they did not make that decision, as the schedules appear to be normal in terms of distribution. If you’re one of the sports betting enthusiasts who puts down a combined $100 billion in wagers on pro and college football each year, then you’re doubtless excited to see the season get underway. Here’s a list of some of the most exciting matchups we expect in 2020 for your NFL Betting.
The Best Games in the Calendar After the Schedule Release
Miami at New England (September 13)
This game reprises Week 17 of the 2019 campaign, when Ryan Fitzpatrick led the Dolphins on an unlikely fourth-quarter rally to give Miami a win at Gillette Stadium — and to knock the Patriots out of their first-round bye, into the path of the Tennessee Titans. Now, of course, Tom Brady is long gone, and Jarrett Stidham is likely to make his debut as the #1 guy. Miami will also likely have a new quarterback after drafting Tua Tagovailoa, unless Miami decides to keep Fitzpatrick in the starting role while the team grooms the talented left-hander. Can Miami win back-to-back in New England?
Tampa Bay at New Orleans (September 13)
Tom Brady vs Drew Brees in Week 1 of the regular season is an intriguing game to watch. Brees has already inked a deal with NBC Sports for his career after football, while Brady will be enjoying the freedom of life after Belichick. The Buccaneers have had a way of swiping early wins against the Saints in recent years. The fact that Jameis Winston is switching sidelines, now a member of the Saints, just adds a layer of intrigue.
Tennessee at Denver (September 14)
The opening week of Monday Night Football pits the AFC semifinalists against a Denver team that has committed to quarterback Drew Lock. Tennessee brings a grinding offense that pounds the ball and eats up a lot of clock; will they run out of gas in the thin Denver air? Or will they continue that intense play that helped them roll all the way to the AFC title game? Ryan Tannehill got a big extension in the off-season — will he continue to play hungry? There are lots of questions that we will see answers to in this game.
N.Y. Giants at Dallas (October 11)
Jason Garrett is now the Giants’ offensive coordinator after ending a long career as the Cowboys’ head coach. It will be interesting to see if Garrett can exploit the holes in a Dallas defense that lost a ton of free agents and did not add much in the draft or via free agency, or if the criticism that he had settled for a plodding offensive style in Dallas will remain true in Gotham. Garrett just has a second-year quarterback — but it was about this time last year that Dallas blew a game to a New York team that was a heavy underdog and featured a second-year quarterback, but that team was the Jets.
Minnesota at New Orleans (December 25)
You don’t see a lot of NFL games on Christmas Day — especially not on a Friday. So when you’ve had enough of those relatives, you can switch on this rematch of that wild card game that the Vikings swiped last year — and the NFC divisional game that the Vikings also swiped a couple of years ago. Sean Payton has to be climbing the walls to figure out a way to beat these Vikings in a meaningful game — and a Week 16 game could be crucial for both team’s playoff positioning.
