There was a ton of action in Week 5. So many things happened that left many of shaking our heads in both amazement and despair.
The Dallas Cowboys season got thrown into question with the loss of star QB Dak Prescott. The Las Vegas Raiders look legit in their trouncing of the Kansas City Chiefs —the scoreboard doesn’t tell the whole story. We saw a Tuesday night football game, which is perhaps the only NFL game on Tuesday in history —at least that I’m aware of— and a handful of NFL schedule changes that could affect various teams as the season wears on.
NFL Schedule Changes and Its Impact
While the Pittsburgh Steelers are cursing the Tennesee Titans for their COVID ways, the Buffalo Bills are likely thanking them. Instead of playing on Sunday then having to face the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday Night Football, only getting three days of rest, the Bills now played a Tuesday night game instead and get to face the Chiefs on Monday Night Football.
The Kansas City Chiefs also benefit a bit from the swapped out schedule. Everybody on the field hates TNF. This year, the Kansas City Chiefs lucked out and don’t play a TNF game. The Pushing their game back gives them a full seven days of rest between Week 5 and Week 6 play. So, instead of playing all banged up on three days of rest after losing to the LV Raiders, they get to fully rest and re-evaluate before facing a tough Bills squad.
The Chargers were supposed to play the NY Jets in Week 6 but instead, they now get a bye. The problem here is now they’ll play 10 straight games because they no longer have a Week 10 bye. That said, this could be beneficial for Los Angeles because they don’t have to fly home from NOLA and play on short rest.
The Miami Dolphins made out like champs with the schedule changes. They basically get to hang out in Miami for almost a full month. They get the NY Jets in Week 6, then take a rest with their bye in Week 7, then host the Los Angeles Rams in Week 8. It’s good to be in South Beach.
The Pittsburgh Steelers should be mad at the Titans and Big Ben voiced his frustration. Not only did they get stuck with a Week 4 bye instead of Week 8, which means they get 12 straight games with no rest as they potentially head into the playoffs, but they also are forced into three straight weeks of road games. The best sportsbooks have the Steelers at +1200 to win the Super Bowl and +220 to win their division. I wouldn’t be surprised to see those odds fall as fatigue starts to set in during the back half of a tough schedule.
The New England Patriots, Denver Broncos, and New York Jets also got screwed by the schedule realignment. The Broncos are struggling as is, and now they get the New England Patriots and Kansas City Cheifs back to back in weeks 6 and 7. On top of this, just like with the Steelers, the Broncs and the Pats practiced all week expecting to play in Week 5, but they canceled the game last minute. So, not only did their bye week get moved, they didn’t get to take advantage of the rest. This is something that can seriously impact performance down the road.
The Jets are such a mess that it probably doesn’t matter that they have three West Coast trips in four weeks. They get The Los Angeles Chargers on the road in Week 12, then the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle in Week 13, then the Los Angeles Rams in LA in Week 15. Man, that’s rough. That said, these guys couldn’t find a win at the dollar store right now, so I’m not sure it will impact the outcome of their season all that much.
For those of us who like to make money from NFL football betting, these changes are something we should be aware of and keep in mind. The schedule adjustment changes the dynamic of the season. What players were expecting and prepared for isn’t happening. And many contender teams have been thrust into an arduous second half of football that could impact them in the playoffs.
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