Did the NFL's Schedule-Makers Screw the 49ers?
The 49ers may have gotten a raw deal with their 2020 schedule.
I thought they got a blessing in disguised when the schedule-makers put the two New York road games back to back. But the 49ers may have gotten screwed, according to Sports Illustrated's Connor Orr:
"They were gut punched with the dreaded back-to-back cross-country road games against the Jets and the Giants. Normally this would not be a huge deal. Teams tend to stay out on the East Coast in between games and acclimate to the time zone shift. But in the age of COVID-19, this is going to be exceptionally difficult. Let’s assume the season begins on time, putting the 49ers in New York and New Jersey (the epicenter of the pandemic) between Sept. 20 and Sept. 27. Are we confident that an area—New Jersey specifically, given that the stadium is there and the percentage of cases is a bit lower than New York—that has seen 133,000 total cases so far will be hospitable enough for a large group of players and personnel to visit and stay safely with little concern?"
Orr brings up a great point I hadn't considered. Assuming the seasons starts on time, how could the 49ers possibly spend a week in New York between games? Staying there would put the entire team at risk.
If the 49ers have to fly home to Santa Clara after playing the Jets, then fly back to New York a few days later to play the Giants, there's no guarantee the 49ers would win both of those games.
But the 49ers usually stay in Youngstown, Ohio when they play back-to-back cross-country games. They stayed in Youngstown last season between Weeks 1 and 2. Fewer than 65,000 people there, so it's not densely populated like New York.
I have no idea if the 49ers can stay in Ohio next season. I assume they will stay there. And if they do, they probably will win both New York games easily.
But if they have to fly back to California before the second New York game, then they really did get screwed.
