Are you ready for the first all-Boston NFL doubleheader of the 2020 season?
For the first time since the Boston Braves and Red Sox split the affections of Hub hardball fans, we have two professional teams playing in the same major league.
The New England Belichicks kick off Sunday on CBS at 1 p.m. The Tampa Bay Bradys play on Fox at 4:25.
The Belichicks, a.k.a. the New England Patriots, open their season vs. the Miami Dolphins at an empty Gillette Stadium. There will be no cheerleaders, no musket men, no Brady, and no guarantee of winning the AFC East for the millionth straight season.
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The Bradys, formerly known as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, will play the Saints in the empty Superdome in New Orleans. Playing as the Buccaneers for a half-century, Tampa Bay was the losingest team in professional sports. Most recently, the Bucs have finished last seven times in nine seasons. All that is expected to change now that they are the Bradys.
We will be watching. Both games. This weekend and every weekend.
Take a look at the 2020 NFL schedule. Whoever drew this thing up was mindful of New England’s dual allegiances. The schedules for the Belichicks and the Bradys have been staggered perfectly over the first three months of the season. We will be able to watch both teams, every weekend, without a conflict until December.
The Belichicks and Bradys don’t play on the same day at the same time until Dec. 20 (Belichicks at Miami, Bradys at Atlanta, both at 1 p.m.). There’s a second conflict Jan. 3, but the NFL probably will flex one of those so you can watch both without split screens.
I am all in on this weekly twin feature. Late lunch with the Belichicks. Early dinner with the Bradys. A new tradition like no other. Pass the cheeseballs and bacon-wrapped tater tots. Gonna be a lot of long Sundays.
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The Belichicks haven’t been this interesting since 2001, when they opened the season with Drew Bledsoe at quarterback and a second-year kid named Brady on the sideline. After Brady took over at the end of Game 2, the Belichicks won more than any other team in the history of the sport over the next two decades.
They made it almost boring. They won their division 11 consecutive seasons and 16 times in 17 years. They annually earned a first-round bye and a second-round home playoff game. Nine times they turned this into a Super Bowl trip. Ho-hum. We always knew what was likely to happen.
Not anymore. With Brady gone, Gronk gone, O-line coach Dante Scarnecchia gone, and eight players opting out, the Belichicks come into the 2020 season as a blank slate. They could go 13-3. They could finish last. We’re finally going to learn whether New England’s coach can intimidate his rivals without Brady.
In place of QB-12, the Belichicks have 31-year-old former league MVP Cam Newton at quarterback. No one knows what is going to happen with Newton. He could be hurt. He could be the guy who had only three winning seasons in nine years with the Panthers. He could be the guy who wouldn’t jump on a live fumble in the Super Bowl.
Or he could be Superman. He could do for the Belichicks what Kevin Garnett did for the 2008 Celtics, what David Ortiz did for the 2004 Red Sox.
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Across NFL America, franchises are lined up to punish the Belichicks for their success and their arrogance. The Dolphins, Bills, and Jets finally think they have a chance to overthrow New England. Let’s see how Mr. Do Your Job does his job without Brady behind center. It is the ultimate challenge for the head coach of the Belichicks. Being right can be as much fun as being in first place.
To the south, the quarterback of the Bradys also wants to prove a point. He wants to advance the brand of TB12. He wants to prove to the world that a 43-year-old man can play quarterback in the NFL at a high level. Most of all, he wants to make Belichick look bad for not appreciating his contributions to all the success in New England.
NFL fans and pundits across America love the Bradys. Traditionally a league punching bag, Tampa-with-Tom is getting all kinds of respect as a playoff contender, even a Super Bowl threat.
Bill Parcells isn’t buying. He told the New York Post, “When you’re talking about a player who’s 43 years old … quite frankly, my expectations are not as high as a lot of people’s … he’s going to the losingest franchise in the history of the NFL … We’ll see.”
Love it. The Tuna doesn’t know what’s going to happen, but he’s going to watch the Belichicks and the Bradys every week. Just like you and me.
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Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at daniel.shaughnessy@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @dan_shaughnessy.
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