Breaking down the NFL schedule for Capital Region viewers
All through this coronavirus pandemic, the NFL has tried to conduct business as close to usual as possible.
Thus the release Thursday night of its 2020 schedule. Even though the schedule is set more in quicksand than cement, the release catches the attention of the football fanatics.
That's particularly true in the Capital Region, where followers of teams other than the Giants wonder how often they'll be happy on a Sunday afternoon and when they'll need to head elsewhere to watch games.
The NFL emphasized that games are subject to approval by governmental and public health agencies.
Usually we wait until closer to the start of the regular season to do this, but in this drought of sports activity, we have broken down the schedule as it pertains to the Capital Region audience.
As usual, Giants fans have no concerns. All of those games will appear come hell or Daniel Jones being a bust.
The triumvirate of AFC East teams — Jets, Bills and Patriots — each with a connection to this area complicates the process.
The assumption here is that local CBS affiliate WRGB (Ch. 6), at least to start the season, will air the Jets when available. That could change, as it did last year, if the Jets stumble.
Bills backers should be in better shape, thanks to their 10-6 season and playoff appearance. Buffalo will have four prime-time games, guaranteeing a national audience, after getting none in the original 2019 schedule. (The Bills were flexed into a Sunday night game vs. the Steelers.)
That said, our projection of the number of Bills telecasts available to area viewers this year is the same as last season: 9. If Buffalo lives up to its preseason billing, the number could rise.
The Patriots generally wind up all right because of late Sunday afternoon and prime-time appearances....