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The NFL released its optimistic regular-season schedule last week, and pundits immediately noticed Patriots fans would be able to watch Tom Brady with his new team. That’s because the Patriots and Buccaneers will only play at the same time twice this season, though that was not by design like some believe, the league says. “Putting …
The NFL released its optimistic regular-season schedule last week, and pundits immediately noticed Patriots fans would be able to watch Tom Brady with his new team.
That’s because the Patriots and Buccaneers will only play at the same time twice this season, though that was not by design like some believe, the league says.
“Putting together the 256-game schedule is very complex — it’s a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma,” league spokesman Brian McCarthy told ESPN. “The minimal conflicts here are coincidental.”
Another reason why the two teams don’t have common start times is they’re playing in a combined nine primetime games, none of which are against each other, thanks to the eventful offseasons they had.
In late March, Brady ended his fruitful 20-year relationship with the Patriots and signed a two-year, fully guaranteed $50 million contract with Tampa Bay.
A month later, Rob Gronkowski came out of retirement and was traded by the Patriots to the Buccaneers for draft picks.
While Brady, the 30-year-old Gronkowski and the Buccaneers will try to ride their dynamic offense to a Super Bowl, the Bill Belichick and the Patriots will aim to prove they can do the same without the two future Hall of Famers.
When the two teams first share common start times in Week 15 (Dec. 20), the Buccaneers will visit the Falcons while the Patriots will play in Miami.
The only other instance will include the Patriots hosting the Jets, and the Buccaneers playing the Falcons at home during the final week of the regular season (Jan. 3).
According to some football analysts, the Patriots have one of the toughest schedules while the Buccaneers’ ranks in the middle of the league.
Brady will be 43 by the time he makes his debut with Tampa, whenever that might be.
The league’s plans to start the season on Sept. 10 are not concrete due to the coronavirus pandemic.
