It has still not been decide by the NFL if the 2020 season will even happen. Some of the latest changes to the season are sending signs to fans that they are being extremely cautious and not making any promises. My suspicion is that the NFL wants to watch what is happening with the NBA, MLS, MLB and NHL and see if they can actually pull off a condensed season.
Preseason
So far the NFL has cancelled two preseason games. I know that we were clamoring to see Indy (again) in the preseason but it appears that Week 1 and 4 are trashed. The reasoning is that the NFL believes teams need more time to get into football shape. It also buys the NFL two more weeks to see the trends of COVID-19. We can kiss the game against the Chiefs goodbye too. There are other rumors that the player’s association wants to get rid of preseason altogether.
What we are all really missing out on is seeing this new look team take snaps. The biggest impact will be not seeing Joe Burrow walk out in stripes for the first time. As a total though we are not missing much. Andy Dalton’s first and fourth preseason games totaled 112 yards passing, 1 INTs, 0 TDs and 1 sack. The argument is often made about how important preseason games actually are but Joe Burrow would probably throw for 112 yards in one drive to himself anyway.
Another hit will be cohesion on the OL and DBs. The Bengals need to figure out in camp what that OL setup is going to be. I recall last preseason seeing some serious problems at LT during the preseason with Bobby Hart and that ensured that he should never play that position. The interior of the OL needs to shake out mostly. The DB lineup is set however they need to play together. Waynes, Alexander and Bell need to get a flow with Bates and WJ3. They also need to get real-time play with LB handoff coverage in the zone. Since the LBers are also revamped (only Pratt returning) there is going to be some miscommunications that need to get figured out in the preseason.
Season
It is still not a certainty that a season is going to happen. If it does everything is going to be very different. The NFL is already removing fan seats in the first 6-8 rows and putting in advertisements. In addition teams are already making statements that they hope “some fans” will be able to come to games. The Bengals even sent out emails to season ticket holders offering deferment to 2021 if they choose. This tells me that attendance allowance is going to be greatly reduced and social distancing rules will apply in the stands.
The other rumor is that fans will have to sign COVID-19 waiver forms to attend the games. We have already seen this in political rallies so this is not unheard of. Holding a team responsible for you getting sick as a fan almost seems ridiculous to me anyway but it certainly is a legal CYA move.
We still have the concern about infection among the team. No sport has really addressed this with the exception of allowing more players to be added to the roster. The concern is still about massive outbreaks and where better to share a highly contagious virus but a locker room.
The key is that the NFL season needs to be extremely flexible for any chance that it will occur. The NFLPA and NFL owners need to work hand-in-hand to find a way. We saw that MLB almost did not have a season due to greed. We are seeing NBA players opt out of the condensed playoff/season due to health risks. We are going to see this with NFL players too; it is just a matter of time. It will really surprise me if a season even happens as COVID-19 cases are spiking again across a lot of states in the U.S. Cross your fingers folks and hold your nose!