NFL Sets New Schedule for Patriots, Broncos, Chiefs, Bills, Dolphins, Chargers

After postponing Monday's scheduled game between the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos, the NFL has reconfigured the upcoming slate.

The NFL confirmed that the Patriots-Broncos game will be played next Sunday. The Broncos will now play the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 8 during their original bye and the Miami Dolphins in Week 11 during Miami's original bye week.

ESPN's Adam Schefter first reported the changes.

The NFL's current plan is contingent on the Tennessee Titans and Buffalo Bills playing their Week 5 game Tuesday. The Titans shut down their facility again Sunday after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19, putting that game in jeopardy.

With the Titans and Bills still set to meet Tuesday, Buffalo's Week 6 game against the Kansas City Chiefs has been moved from Thursday Night Football to Monday, October 19.

It is unclear what the NFL will do if the Titans-Bills game has to be postponed. The Titans already used their bye after their Week 4 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers was moved. To this point, the NFL has no contingency plan in place.

That the NFL lacks a backup plan in regard to these games speaks poorly to the league's planning. The NFL chose not to bubble its players, a decision that put them at risk of an outbreak—as we saw in Major League Baseball. To exacerbate that issue, the NFL also released a standard 17-game schedule, giving teams almost no flexibility in the event of a multiweek outbreak.

Odds are the NFL will have to scramble and add a week to the end of the regular season to accommodate cancellations if this trend continues.